Clare Stewart Steps Down As IFFR Managing Director — SkimNews
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Clare Stewart has stepped down as Managing Director of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) and will remain in post through next year's edition, her fourth leading the festival alongside Festival Director Vanja Kaludjercic
- Stewart will stay involved with IFFR's Displacement Film Fund, the short film grant initiative founded by Cate Blanchett — a program Kaludjercic singled out for Stewart's confident stewardship
- During Stewart's tenure, the IFFR team locked in 4-year subsidies from both the Dutch national government (OCW) and the City of Rotterdam (Gemeente Rotterdam), securing festival funding through the 2029 edition
- A bid led by Chief of Content Melissa van der Schoor also won increased 3-year support from Creative Europe running through 2028, Stewart citing these wins as evidence the organization has been 'stabilised'
- IFFR's Supervisory Board has begun recruiting a new Managing Director, with Stewart framing the timing as deliberate — giving her successor 'a decent runway into the next Dutch subsidy cycle'
- Kaludjercic praised Stewart's 'exceptional commitment, fearlessness and professionalism,' and said the two will remain 'closely connected' through the Displacement Film Fund's next phase
Why it matters: Stewart is handing off a financially secured festival — multi-year public subsidies through 2029 and Creative Europe backing through 2028 — rather than an institution in crisis, which is unusual for a film-festival leadership exit during a period the source describes as 'a very challenging era for film festivals globally.' The successor inherits a stabilized, four-year-funded organization with runway to negotiate the next Dutch subsidy cycle, buying IFFR continuity at a moment when comparable festivals face tightening budgets.
Ask SkimNews
