Film and Media Studies student Madeleine Collier is among International Film Festival Rotterdam’s 2021 Young Film Critics.
Since 1998, International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has hosted the Young Film Critics training program, which fosters the next generation of film critics. IFFR considers film criticism an essential companion to the films it screens and recognizes its capacity to spark meaningful debate in the festival setting. Participants in the program become part of the editorial staff, producing festival coverage as they receive mentorship from IFFR’s editorial team and established film critics.
Collier joins Alonso Aguilar from Costa Rica, Jason Tan Liwag from the Philippines, Łukasz Mańkowski from Poland, Serena Scateni from the United Kingdom, and Zanji Sinkala from Zambia in the Young Film Critics program.
IFFR presents a curated selection of fiction and documentary feature films, short films, and media arts, highlighting new work by emerging filmmakers. IFFR also reserves space for retrospectives and themed programs. Additionally, IFFR is an active supporter of innovative and exciting filmmaking through its co-production market CineMart, its Hubert Bals Fund, Rotterdam Lab, and other industry activities.
“We believe in the power of cinema to increase our understanding of society,” IFFR states on the website. “We trust its potential to infuse positive social change. We collectively expand the creative space for film citizenship and celebrate the diverse forms of cinema.”
Today, IFFR boasts 340,000 admissions with almost 2,700 film professionals in attendance. It is one of the largest audience and industry-driven festivals in the world. In addition to screening more than 570 films from upwards of 80 countries, IFFR features a dynamic series of exhibitions, performances, master classes, and talks.
Collier is a New York-based writer, researcher, and filmmaker currently pursuing an MA in Film and Media Studies. Her writing and research interests include useful cinema, dubbing practices, emergent media, representations of labor, queer cinema, and glitch art. Her work has appeared in Film Quarterly, Film Comment, AfterImage Journal, and elsewhere.
This year’s festival will run from February 1 to February 7 and from June 2 to June 6. Registration for the festival is available here.
