International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) closes its 50th anniversary edition. Adapting to the changing circumstances, from 1 to 7 February the festival presented its competition programmes online on IFFR.com. From 2 to 6 June IFFR offered a hybrid festival, with premieres, film programmes and in-depth conversations online, and welcomed the first returning audiences to Rotterdam cinemas, which had been closed for over half a year. Presented in a new programme structure, IFFR 2021 included a total of 120 feature films, 44 of which were world premieres, next to 74 short and mid-length works. The 51st edition of IFFR will take place from 26 January to 6 February 2022. We had a chance to interview Vanja Kaludjercic, the festival artistic director, on the 2021 festival and the way it was handled during the pandemic.
Interview conducted from Amir Ganjavie for UNIVERSALCINEMA.CA