The International Film Festival Rotterdam is coming...

Some of the most thrilling experiences I've had in a cinema were at the annual Rotterdam Film Festival. You know, things like bumping into directors like Miike Takashi and Terry Gilliam. Or finding out that you just watched a world premiere, with the actors present. Typical festival stuff.

So I'd like to remind people that IFFR 2007 will be upon us soon!

The 2007 edition (the 36th!) will run from the 24th of January till the 4th of February, and I can hardly wait. The last few editions were massive, with over 350.000 tickets sold for several hundreds of movies and shorts. OK, for the Netherlands that's considered big. As always expect lots of movies from Asia and Eastern Europe that you normally won't be able to see in a cinema near you.

With screens threatening to disappear left and right in Rotterdam, every year it seems like it may be the last time they'll be able to host it in the city centre. At least in 2007 most of the familiar sites will still be there to be used.

The festival website has been up for some time now, and the first few titles are beginning to be confirmed so please check it out from time to time. The complete schedule will be released in a couple of weeks, first in hardcopy (I'll be stalking the paperboy) and then on the web.

This is their website, and more news will follow soon:
www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com