Biography

Bero Beyer was born on November 12, 1970 in Bremerhaven, Germany. He is a producer and writer, known for Paradise Now (2005), Atlantic. (2014) and Salt of This Sea (2008).

Director of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) since August 1st, 2015.

Chosen to be the director of the Netherlands Film Fund starting in 2020.

It is also a challenge to make sure that the audience is as diverse as the city. Half of Rotterdam is of non-Dutch heritage, so they should be able to see themselves on screen. That is more important than the quantity of people coming in. We only want to grow if we can stick to our principles. [2018]

[on launching Rotterdam Film Festival's own SVoD platform 'IFFR Unleashed'] As one of the biggest festivals, it's our responsibility to be doing IFFR Unleashed. We should be figuring out stuff. On our own VOD platform, we can put the context of the festival alongside the film itself. If there's a film like Pity (2018) [directed by Babis Makridis], his previous film [L (2012)] premiered here so we can put that on IFFR Unleashed as well. (...) Hopefully the IFFR Unleashed platform will be a next step, because it gives you not just the films but more. [Feb.2018]

The concept of a festival works. In 'festival land' all is well. But what you see is that not only are there many festivals, but that arthouse cinemas are creating spaces that are like mini festivals. It's getting crowded, so we should be talking about better collaborations between festivals. I think there's untapped potential between festivals to work together and realise we are in the same boat. I think there are also always discussions about the quality and value of the 'world premiere' - how long is the film's life? [2018]

[on Rotterdam Film Festival's own SVoD platform 'IFFR Unleashed'] It is heartening to see that our new distribution model is gaining traction. The fact that nearly all films have found an audience despite limited marketing shows that the content speaks for itself. We rely on our unique curatorial capacity and the strong connection between filmmakers and IFFR. This has proven fruitful so far. Our online streaming is a valuable and important addition to the contemporary distribution landscape and lends a year-round presence to both IFFR and filmmakers by championing their films year-round. [Sept. 2018]