IFFB 2009

The acclaimed and much loved novel The Reader was the starting point for the IFFB 2009 opening film of the same title, directed by the much praised Stephen Daldry, an audience favourite since Billy Elliot. With award season bringing a fresh Golden Globe/Oscar glow to the title and Kate Winslet bagging the gold for her lead role, this was surely a title not the be missed by moviegoers the globe over. A welcome opening film indeed for a new festival, the film shed a fresh and warm light on the usually avoided topic of illiteracy which gained massive critical praise. This being a topic of special interest to Dutch Princess Laurentien van Oranje, the first festival was graced with the presence of Royalty at the Grand Opening.

Guestcurator Anton Corbijn

Guestcurator Anton Corbijn is as a praised photographer and relatively new film director just the person to represent the IFFB’s take on film as a multidisciplinairy medium. For the festival he selected an assortment of titles which easily won die hard film lovers over: The Big Lebowski, The Graduate, Lynch’s Blue Velvet, Harold and Maude and Taxi Driver. Classics are rarely this vibrant and lively.

Feature film programme

The feature film programme was a mix of both local and global greatness in cinema with directors close to the IFFB’s organisation such as Ton van Zantvoort whose A Blooming Business got it’s world premiere (which won easily a dozen awards since at international festivals) and bigger names of arthouse cinema. Titles  include: Mammoth (Lukas Moodysson), Katalin Varga (Peter Strickland), The International (Tom Tykwer), Bomb It (John Reis), Atlantis (Digna Sinke), Adoration (Atom Egoyan), Flick Radio (Bert Kommerij), My Winnipeg (Guy Maddin), Nights and Weekends (Joe Swanberg), Ricky (francois Ozon) and Typeface (Justine Nagan). The HEJA Audioence Award went to Rajesh Shera’s Ocean of an Old Man.

Shorts programme

The shorts were all about variety and the IFFB audiences got just that: six labo programmes full of the most exciting new short films by some of the most versatile film makers and artists working today. Some highlights were Dix (Bif), I Wish I Could Share The Happiness of Being Alone with Someone Else (Aaron Rookus), 4 (Edouard Sailier), Luis  & Lucia (DiluvioLab), Plot Point (Nicholas Provost) and Night Vision (Phillip Barker). The NPS Early Bird Award went to Roel Wouters’ controversial and much debated music video Running With the Beast. The jury comprised of Marina Blok, Leon van Rooy en Stan van Herpen.