New four-day event will start in March 2012.

The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) and the Fundashon Bon Intenshon will partner on a new four-day film festival in Willemstad, Curaçao in 2012.

The first edition of the new festival, to be called Curaçao International Festival Rotterdam, will run March 29-April 1 2012.

Curacao is a Dutch Caribbean island near Venezuela.

The six-screen The Cinemas in the Otrobanda area will be the host venue.

The 20-film programme will include features, documentaries and shorts, with a special emphasis on Caribbean and Latin American films. Some IFFR 2012 features will run, but there will also be newer selections.

There will also be a programme for schoolkids and other special events such as a drive-in screening.

IFFR Director Rutger Wolfson said: “It is our pleasure to be organising Curaçao IFFR together with Fundashon Bon Intenshon; a great initiative which will expand the range of culture available in Willemstad. The festival wishes to inspire cinemagoers and young talented filmmakers from around the region. To the IFFR, this represents a welcome addition to the international activities the festival uses to draw attention to the films it screens and actively supports.”

An event will be held during the Rotterdam festival to look ahead to the first Curacao event, as Bon Intenshon becomes an IFFR sponsor.

Gregory Elias, founder and chairman of the Board of Fundashon Bon Intenshon, added: “We hope this festival will become an annual event which will, over time, allow Curaçao to present itself as a meeting place for filmmakers and producers from the Caribbean and Latin America.”

The festival’s website will launch at iffrcuraca.com.

This news comes as Aruba, which neighbours Curacao, kicks off its second international film festival tonight, running through June 16.

 

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