The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is the premiere film event in the Netherlands. On par with the Cannes Film Festival, the Berlinale and the Venice Film Festival, it attracts hundreds of thousands of attendees each year to the modern port city of Rotterdam. The festival, held at six centrally located cinemas in Rotterdam, takes a special interest in independent and experimental films, as well as films from under-represented countries, with an emphasis on Asian cinema.


There's also a sense of humility about the festival, which eschews red-carpet events in favor of a more balanced treatment of industry insiders on the one hand, and audiences on the other - an attitude that makes for a relaxed, convivial atmosphere that dispenses with the construct of stardom, and certainly contributes to the loyalty of its attendees. 

The film festival is held yearly in late January; for visitors whose trips don't coincide with this extraordinary event, check out some of the Netherlands' other film festivals, particularly those held in Amsterdam:

• Imagine Film Festival (April) - Twelve days of science fiction, horror, anime, cult films, thrillers and other fantastical films at the EYE Film Institute. The related Fantastic Children's Film Festival  travels the country with a repertory of fantastic children's films.
• Food Film Festival (May) - Feast on feature films, shorts and documentaries, each of which explores a different facet of food, its traditions and production. The festival is an initiative of the Youth Food Movement, the Dutch chapter of the Slow Food Youth Movement. 

• Camera Japan Film Festival (October) -  This festival rounds up the year's best Japanese films for a chiefly non-Japanese audience; many Japanese films have their Dutch or even European premiere at the festival.
• International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam(November) - The mother of all documentary film festivals, the IDFA takes over cinemas across Amsterdam each fall with its focus on creative documentary.