IFFR College Tour: Meet the Festival Director!

Ever wanted to know what it takes to organise one of the biggest film festivals in the Netherlands? Come along and meet festival director Vanja Kaludjercic and programmer Koen de Rooij. Afterwards, you will see a top film from IFFR 2023: Blue Jean.

Under the guidance of lecturer Fraser Robinson (ESHCC), we will find out what steps are needed before the International Film Festival Rotterdam can take place again at the end of January 2025.

Vanja will be joined by programmer Koen de Rooij to discuss the importance of volunteers for this festival.

About the movie: Blue Jean

In 1988, Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government introduced the now infamous Section 28, a law banning the promotion of homosexuality. Jean is gay, but not out. During the day, she works as a gym teacher at a secondary school, and in the evenings she plays pool at the local lesbian bar with her partner and friends.

Though she seemingly deftly navigates those boundaries, keeping those worlds constantly separated feels stiflingly uncomfortable: Jean responds neutrally to her students’ homophobic jokes, sidesteps her married sister’s casual, cruel remarks, and remains ill at ease staying with her partner’s community.

When the pressure of the stigmatizing law becomes too much and a new student appears, Jean must reconsider her timid political stance to determine who she is and who she can be.

The film, full of beautiful, deep, vibrant blue tones, is the debut of British writer-director Georgia Oakley.