By Charlotte Rampling, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Armando Iannucci, Sean Baker, Paul Schrader, Lucrecia Martel and many more

“A meeting of minds between filmmakers and audiences”, is how Festival Director Bero Beyer describes International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR). And this process continues after the credits have rolled. In the extensive Talks programme, IFFR 2018 presents insightful and urgent talks and masterclasses by prominent names from the world of international cinema. Many of the events are held in IFFR’s Talks location of old: the Hilton. Out of a need for more space, IFFR has added the place where it all once started back to its list of festival locations.  

In Masterclasses, three cinematic heavyweights share their wisdom concerning the art of film. Artistic polymath Alfredo Jaar, whose work is often inspired by the poetry of the oppressed, reflects on the role of the artist in a world that knows poverty, exploitation and genocide. Famed Argentinian filmmaker Lucrecia Martel, whose new film Zama also screens at IFFR 2018, will speak about her techniques for bending time and space. And Paul Schrader (The Canyons, Dark), who also wrote scripts for Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, will talk about his rich career as well as his new film First Reformed, which screens at IFFR 2018.

IFFR also presents a series of Big Talks by filmmakers (and one actress) whose films are screening at the 2018 edition of the festival. Charlotte Rampling discusses her role in the thriller Hannah by Andrea Pallaoro, Sean Baker explains the thoughts behind his colourful indie sensation The Florida Project and Robert Schwentke talks about his impressive war drama Der Hauptmann. The two filmmakers who have their own retrospectives at IFFR 2018, Artur Żmijewski and José Celestino Campusano, will also give separate Big Talks. Israeli artist Yael Bartana will speak on her recent piece What if Women Ruled the World?, Armando Iannucci
(The Death of Stalin) will dissect the art of satire and Ethiopian filmmaker Haile Gerima (whose milestone films Sankofa and Harvest 3000 Years are showing in IFFR 2018’s PACT programme) will investigate the ways in which film can engage social change. Further Big Talks will feature Italian artists Yervant Gianikian and Angela Ricci Lucchi (Journey to Russia), Czech stop-motion animator extraordinaire Jan Švankmajer (Insect) and Thai filmmaker and IFFR veteran Apichatpong Weerasethakul (SLEEPCINEMAHOTEL).

More speakers at IFFR 2018

Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Alfredo Jaar are both part of Frameworks, IFFR’s new platform asking renowned visual artists to present ‘Acolytes’: emerging talents deserving of a larger audience. In two separate Frameworks presentations, Jaar will introduce Portuguese artist Grada Kilomba and Weerasethakul will introduce Thai filmmaker Mont Tesprateep.

In several other sessions, IFFR presents diverse panels of experts who will speak about a range of topics within the festival’s theme programmes. One of these sessions is the six-hour long talk show Bridging the Gap, part of the theme programme PACT, which brings together a vibrant collection of cinema, debate, music and art.

For a complete overview of IFFR Talks, click here.

IFFR Talks

Opening IFFR Talks + Big Talk: Charlotte Rampling
Charlotte Rampling will tell us about her evolution as an artist and as a woman, and the challenges of her latest role in Andrea Pallaoro's Hannah (2017).
Thu 25 Jan, 17:00-19:00, Hilton, Le Jardin €5.50

Big Talk: Yervant Gianikian and Angela Ricci Lucchi
IFFR veterans Yervant Gianikian and Angela Ricci Lucchi will explain and demonstrate their method of manipulating found footage relating to early 20th-century warfare and colonialism. Moderated by Andrea Lissoni.
Fri 26 Jan, 12:00-13:30, Hilton, Le Jardin, €5.50

Masterclass: Alfredo Jaar
Alfredo Jaar will discuss the themes of art and its practice within a world often defined by poverty, exploitation and genocide.
Fri 26 Jan, 14:30-16:00, Hilton, Le Jardin, €8

Big Talk: Sean Baker
Sean Baker (The Florida Project) presents a universe of complex protagonists whose lives seem distinctly remote, at least initially.
Fri 26 Jan, 16:30-17:30, Hilton, Le Jardin, €5.50

Frameworks/Alfredo Jaar Presents: Grada Kilomba, IFFR Acolyte 2018
Alfredo Jaar will introduce controversial, polemical Portuguese artist Grada Kilomba within IFFR’s Frameworks programme. Together, Jaar and Kilomba will explore the interface between dialectics and artistic expression.
Fri 26 Jan, 18:00-19:00, Hilton, Le Jardin, free admission

IFFR Presents House on Fire: Panel Tamil Nadu Filmmakers
Tamil Nadu cinema is unlike anything in the rest of India. Two auteurs, Ram and Balaji Mohan, will explain with guest programmer Olaf Möller and German researcher in Indian film Stefan Borsos, the particular conditions for filmmaking in India’s southernmost state.
Sat 27 Jan, 11:30 - 13:00, Hilton, Le Jardin, free admission

IFFR Presents PACT: Panel Pan Africa Archive
An inquiring programme about the dynamics of archives and archival collections, introduced by Dr. Rhea L. Combs and Jon Goff from the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. In collaboration with Smithsonian, BNG and others.
Sat 27 Jan, 12:00-13:30, Hilton, Rotterdam, free admission

IFFR Presents PACT: Workshop Haile Gerima
Critically acclaimed and influential director Haile Gerima will share his vision on the importance of independent cinematic expression as opposed to formulated conventions and stereotypes.
Sat 27 Jan, 14:00-15:45, Hilton, Le Jardin, €5.50

IFFR x De Balie: Valeska Grisebach
IFFR and Dutch cultural institution De Balie have organised a thought-provoking panel talk with German filmmaker Valeska Grisebach following the screening of her new feature film Western. With director Grisebach, film critic and 'Western' specialist Gawie Keyser and sociologist/philosopher Jan Willem Duyvendak.
Sat 27 Jan, 15:30, Kino 1, €11

Big Talk: Apichatpong Weerasethakul
In this interview, moderated by Volksbühne Artistic Director Chris Dercon, Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul will talk to us about his unique, uninhibited approach.
Sat 27 Jan, 17:00-18:30, Hilton, Le Jardin, €5.50

IFFR Presents A History of Shadows: Facing the Times
Four filmmakers from the History of Shadows programme – Pablo Sigg (Lamaland), Fabrizio Ferraro (Les Unwanted de Europa), Giovanni Donfrancesco (Il risoluto) and Dominik Graf (Der rote Schatten) – will embark upon a wide-ranging discussion asking questions like: how do we de-victimize those vanquished by history, and how do we make time matter again?
Sat 27 Jan, 17:30-19:00, Hilton, Rotterdam, free admission

IFFR Presents PACT: Bridging the Gap
Bridging the Gap is this year’s follow-up to last year’s Minding the Gap and brings together a collection of cinema, debates, music and arts in a vibrant six-hour long non-stop talk show. Part of IFFR’s theme programme Pan-Africanism in Cinema Today. In collaboration with The Nest Collective from Nairobi.
Sun 28 Jan, 12:00-18:00, Theater Rotterdam Schouwburg, Kleine Zaal, free admission

Big Talk: Jan Švankmajer
Czech animator and filmmaker Jan Švankmajer is a legend in his own right. His cutting-edge, surrealist and yet ever politically-conscious work spans five decades and serves as an important inspiration for many generations of filmmakers. IFFR 2018 screens Insect, which he said will be the last feature-length film of his career.
Sun 28 Jan, 12:00-13:30, Hilton, Le Jardin, €5.50

Masterclass: Lucrecia Martel
Hailing from Argentina, filmmaker Lucrecia Martel tackles both sexual and socio-political tensions in a style that is increasingly ambitious yet unmistakably her own. Using clips for illustration, Martel will discuss her body of work and take questions from the audience.
Sun 28 Jan, 14:30-16:30, Hilton, Le Jardin, €8.00

IFFR Presents: The Cleaners
What is the moral and psychological prize to be won by keeping the internet “clean”? After this special screening of The Cleaners – part of the Critic’s Choice ‘Sustainable Criticism’ series – IFFR will host a debate with co-director Hans Block and media experts who deal with questions like this on a daily basis. Moderated by Kevin B. Lee.
Sun 28 Jan, 16:30, De Doelen, Jurriaanse Zaal, € 11

Peace Lecture/Vredescollege
IFFR’s new head sponsor, vfonds, presents a special Peace Lecture (in Dutch) by former Dutch minister of Defense Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert before a screening of the film Der Hauptmann by Robert Schwentke.
Sun 28 Jan,16:30, Pathé 1, €11/€8

IFFR x De Balie: The Freedom Lecture by Kim Kyungmook
A collaboration with Dutch cultural institution De Balie, IFFR will host South Korean filmmaker Kim Kyungmook as he delivers De Balie's 21st Freedom Lecture.
The Freedom Lecture is an initiative of De Balie and is made possible by the Stichting Democratie en Media and vfonds.
Sun 28 Jan, 17:30-19:00, Hilton, Le Jardin, €5.50

Frameworks: Apichatpong Weerasethakul Presents Pathompon ‘Mont’ Tesprateep, IFFR Acolyte 2018
Moderated by May Adadol Ingawanij
Apichatpong Weerasethakul will introduce young Thai filmmaker Mont Tesprateep, who continues bravely down the trail blazed by his acclaimed and prolific compatriot, albeit with his own detours.
Sun 28 Jan, 20:00-21:00, WORM, free admission

IFFR x Piet Zwart Institute: Over the Moon symposium
This symposium by The Piet Zwart Institute is part of IFFR’s thematic Curtain Call. A day filled with talks and presentations on both historical and contemporary approaches to visualizing space. Talks by Johann Lurf, Alejandro Bachmann, Natalija Majsova, Kurt Vanhoutte, Cath Le Couteur and Lawrence Rek. And one Big Talk by Angelo Vermeulen. Programme by The Piet Zwart Institute (The Lens-Based Media study path). With additional support from the Swiss Embassy.
Mon 29 Jan, 10:00-18:30, Hilton, Coolsingel, free admission (except for the Big Talk)

Big Talk: Angelo Vermeulen
Artist, biologist, space researcher and Senior TED fellow Angelo Vermeulen will take us on an interstellar journey – but not the one most of us have been conditioned to imagine. He will share with us his idea of what is truly future-oriented.
Mon 29 Jan, 17:00-18:30, Hilton, Le Jardin, €5.50

Ammodo Tiger Short Competition Artist Talks: Louis Henderson
Louis Henderson is an artist and filmmaker whose work investigates the connections between colonialism, technology, capitalism and history. His most recent work Sunstone was made in collaboration with Filipa César and will have its festival premiere at IFFR 2018.
Mon 29 Jan, 12:30-13:45, KINO 3, free admission

Ammodo Tiger Short Competition Artist Talks: Laure Prouvost
Laure Prouvost is known for her lush, immersive films and mixed-media installations. Prouvost’s most recent work DIT LEARN will have its world premiere at IFFR 2018.
Mon 29 Jan, 14:30-15:15, KINO 4, free admission

Masterclass: Paul Schrader
Stark and uncompromising, tender and reflective, Paul Schrader has found his heroes at the margins of society. In hist Masterclass he speaks on his latest film First Reformed and his fascinating career as a whole.
Mon 29 Jan, 14:30-16:30, Hilton, Le Jardin, €8

Big Talk: Artur Żmijewski
Curator and writer Galit Eilat will engage in discussion with Artur Żmijewski on his recent installation Realism (2017), his oeuvre and his attitude towards the persona of the artist, considering both the content and the controversy surrounding some of his work.
Tue 30 Jan, 12:00-13:30, Hilton, Rotterdam, €5.50

Big Talk: Robert Schwentke
For his new film Der Hauptmann, Schwentke returns to his fatherland for a film looking at a piece of history so far more or less ignored by cinema: the final-phase crimes committed by the Nazi German armed forces against civilians, as well as its own members. How do you tell a story nobody has so far dared to touch?
Tue 30 Jan, 14:00-16:00, Hilton, Le Jardin, €5.50

Big Talk: Yael Bartana
Curator and writer Galit Eilat talks to artist Yael Bartana about her recent piece What if Women Ruled the World? (2017). Together they will examine different options and modes for female agency in today's disorienting geopolitical theatre.
Tue 30 Jan, 14:30-16:00, Hilton, Rotterdam, €5.50

Big Talk: José Campusano
José Campusano may well be the 'anarchist' of contemporary Argentine cinema. Campusano seems to possess the antidote of rawness that our increasingly plastic world needs, and will share some of this with us during his talk, moderated by Argentinian film curator and critic Roger Koza.
Tue 30 Jan, 17:00-19:00, Hilton, Le Jardin, €5.50

IFFR Presents: The Buddy Film Project
The Buddy Film Project is a platform and springboard for refugee filmmakers and creatives in the Netherlands. Founder Dewi Evita Reijs will give a peak behind the scenes and explain how to set up a DIY buddy project.
Tue 30 Jan, 19:30-21:30, Hilton, Rotterdam, free admission

IFFR Presents: Sustainable Criticism
This year, the Critic’s Choice programme provides a platform and playground for researching the concept of ‘Sustainable Criticism’. Curators Jan Pieter Ekker and Dana Linssen will talk to a wide range of experts and practitioners about the rethinking of film criticism in the post-truth and #metoo era.
Wed 31 Jan, 17:00-18:30, Hilton, Rotterdam, free admission

IFFR Presents: Panel What Constitutes a Country?
Across numerous countries, a fierce battle for independence is being fought, fueled by economic and political motives. Moderator Farid Tabarki will explore this topic with, amongst others, filmmaker Ineke Smits who will take us to Abkhazia with clips from her work-in-progress titled How Sosruko Stole Fire From the Giant. International lawyer Marieke de Hoon will elaborate on the legal issues of such conflicts.
Wed 31 Jan, 19:00-21:00, Hilton, Rotterdam, free admission

Big Talk: Armando Iannucci
British producer/writer/director Iannucci has delivered a heady brew of satire, sarcasm and absurdity and a host of brilliantly observed characters, replete with human faults, contradictions and foibles. At IFFR, Iannucci will discuss the art of producing satire.
Sat 3 Feb, 17:00 - 18:30, De Doelen, Jurriaanse Zaal, €5.50

The complete line-up of IFFR Talks will be announced on Wednesday 17 January.

International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) – one of the largest cultural events in the Netherlands, and one of the biggest audience-oriented film festivals in the world – offers a high quality line-up of fiction and documentary feature films, short films, exhibitions, performances, masterclasses and talkshows. IFFR actively supports new and adventurous filmmaking talent through numerous industry initiatives including co-production market CineMart, through the BoostNL and Propellor initiatives, its Hubert Bals Fund and Rotterdam Lab. IFFR takes place from Wednesday 24 January to Sunday 4 February 2018. More information can be found at IFFR.com.