Rotterdam flies young flag

This year's 34th edition, which opens Jan. 26 for a 12-day run with Alexander Payne's "Sideways" and French short doc "The 10th District Court, Moments of Trials," by Raymond Depardon, boasts some 44 world premieres.

The fest itself regularly draws upward of 350,000 visitors and 2,500 professionals.

"The Tiger Awards focuses not only on new talent but also on filmmakers trying to develop new cinematic language and in some cases, using new technology to do it," notes Den Hamer, who shared the co-directorship with former fest topper Simon Field until he ankled last year.

She cites competish pics from Asia and Russia that are cutting edge not just in ideas and visual presentation but also in technology.

Also part of IFFR's new cutting-edge profile: Tiscali has come aboard as a major sponsor, while fest's sidebars now include Russian Parallel Cinema (tied to Russian Filmmaker in Focus Yevgeni Yufti) and Cinema of the Future: Sturm und Drang.

There's even a focus on Middle East issues and Islamic identity, including the first feature film to emerge from Iraq since the fall of Saddam, "Underexposure." Pic is directed by Oday Rasheed and co-produced by Tom Tykwer's X-Filme Creative Pool.

Den Hamer points to Cinemart, the grand old dame of co-production and co-financing sidebars, but one with a growing commitment to new talent and an increasing number of projects being harvested from the IFFR's Hubert Bals Fund which supports pics of non-Western origin.

Rotterdam Film Fund director Jacques Van Heijningen calls Rotterdam a "major launching pad for new talent," coming from the fest as well as the fund.

Earlier, the fund, whose x2.7 million ($3.5 million) budget is expected to double in the next five years, had sought to lure filmers from Amsterdam and even other territories. Now, says Van Heijningen, it intends to produce its own crop. The city is throwing money at educational programs directed to the audiovisual arts and putting the finishing touches on its $33 million audiovisual center.

The fund is courting companies such as MTV, which has been considering making Rotterdam its new Benelux headquarters.