The 39th International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) starts today with a line up which includes 380 short and mid-length films, and 31 selected works in competition for the coveted Tiger Award. Amongst those 31 short films, IFFR, a festival with a distinctive taste for experimental work which prides itself in supporting new feature directors, has included works by two artist film-makers funded through Film London Artists’ Moving Image Network (FLAMIN).

Sara Preibsch’s White Shoe Station is inspired by the story of the ‘Piano Man’, the mysterious virtuoso musician who hit the headlines after being found suffering from amnesia on a Sussex beach in 2005. Part of the same competition is Redmond Entwistle’s Monuments. Another production supported through the FLAMIN initiative, the film portrays the fictional struggle between cinema and sculpture in the development of the work of American artists Robert Smithson, Gordon Matta-Clark and Dan Graham.

The 2010 Tiger Shorts selection also includes a variety of films by other artists previously supported by FLAMIN - Mark Lewis (Rear Projection (Molly Parker)), Charlotte Ginsborg (Melior Street) and Inger Lise Hansen (Adrift). The winners of the three Tiger Awards for Short Films, with prize money of 3,000 Euros each, will be announced on 1 February.

Meanwhile, the 32nd Clermont-Ferrand International Shorts Film Festival is warming up ahead of its start on Friday. The festival presents a selection of the best recent national and international shorts, including two works funded through Film London’s production schemes: Jenny and the Worm and A Family Portrait.

Jenny and the Worm, by Ian Clark, will be screening in the International competition for a chance to bag the Grand Prix. The fantastic tale of a boy who finds a creature with supernatural talents was funded through Film London’s PULSE digital shorts scheme in 2008 and was showcased at last year’s London Film Festival (LFF). 

The more experimental Lab competition at Clermont-Ferrand will host a screening of Joseph Pierce’s PULSE-funded film, A Family Portrait. The animated film, which was also part of last year’s LFF shorts line-up, will screen alongside the FLAMIN-supported short Marker by Susanna Wallin and the latest from Ralitza Petrova (By the Grace of God) - whose previous work Rotten Apple was funded through Film London’s London Borough Film Fund Challenge (LBFFC).

Clermont-Ferrand, in the French central region of Auvergne, is considered one of the foremost short film festivals in Europe – largely owing to its respected short film market, attended by over 200 organisations and now celebrating its 25th year.

To find out more about these festivals, including full programme information, visit the official websites:

39th International Film Festival Rotterdam (27 January to 7 February 2010)
32nd International Shorts Film Festival / 25th Short Film Market Clermont-Ferrand (29 January to 2 February 2010)