Rotterdam, late Januarrrry, earrrrlly February.. cold airrrrr, restless creatives buzzzzing around, shivering in their trendy cotton. Curious moviegoers making their way to the cinema’s. An unmistakable hum of stories waiting to be told and people who are out to witness them. The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is more than just a cinematic event; in a way, it is a living, breathing organism where narratives converge, boundaries between life and art blur, and personal narratives of those who create and those who watch… merge and take on new dimensions.
And this year, we’ll be there—not just as spectators and fans of film. AIBM is also searching for resonance, collaboration, and a deeper understanding of what moves people to watch films at IFFR, and what lingers after watching. This is no regular night out at the cinema. And Kvadrat is as much about the audience as it is about the art. These lovers of art who come out in number to watch film and share its breath. People with stories of their own, looking for fun, bueaty, emotion, validation, and fresh perspectives on their own lives. And yeah, a good time out.
KVADRAT C1 | FILM _
The IFFR has always been a place for the bold—a festival that thrives on artistic risk, giving space to the experimental, unfiltered, raw. It’s a space where emerging voices stand side by side with established auteurs, where film is more than entertainment—it’s a language, a testimony, provocation, or sometimes, just a whisper that lingers. And for us, this ties directly into what we’re building with KVADRAT—a program that is about music, art and film, and about bridging the unseen spaces between people, cultures, and the future of the old continent. After doing a first run of six episodes dedicated to music at ESNS 2025, KVADRAT moves on to film, and we travel down to Rotterdam to put the chair to the people.
The concept really exists to connect people through exposure to shared experience. We all watch movies, we all listen to music, we all love art even if we don’t know it. And by using music, art, and film as talking threads we uncover personal stories, and give a platform to cultural and personal expression. These stories become our common ground. A reference for how to relate to each other. The IFFR is a festival built on a similar philosophy: a platform where voices from all over the world can meet, sound, and—most importantly—be heard. It’s the ideal place to seek out European filmmakers, performers, emerging talents, artists.. all who live the urgency of independent storytelling and carry the weight of keeping culture alive beyond algorithms and mass media sanitization. But even more important, it’s the place where film-culture is witnessed and cherished by thousands of international film lovers. We are here for them just as much.
EXPERIENCE
There’s something about being physically present at events like these that shifts perspective, and goes deeper than going to the cinema alone. Consider yourself invited, and you should really take it up. The digital world has its reach, but nothing replaces the act of sitting in a dimly lit theater, absorbing a story that was once just an idea in someone’s mind. Or a story that happened, and too few have talked about. While they may try, no algorithm decides which film you see. No social media filter pre-packages the experience. It’s just you, the story, a bag of popcorn, and whatever it leaves behind in your head. And doing this for a few days, for a week even, is a unique experience.
So, we too go to IFFR with intent—not to watch movies, but to immerse in an experience, to listen to those who witnessed stories, who went out to get in!
It’s about what lingers after the credits roll—. It’s about that moment when walking away and the story is fresh in your mind, a sound, an image, maybe a single moment of agency that inspires a conversation with a friend over a beer. Maybe the film inspires action. Maybe it’s just a fun night out with a friend.
Who knows? But one thing is certain… the chair… she, is a-waiting!
