Huub Bals
Hubertus Bernardus "Huub" Bals (February 3, 1937 – July 13, 1988) was the first director and creator of International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), formerly named Film International. IFFR started small in the Calypso cinema and film theatre 't Venster (now Lantaren/Venster) in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, in 1972, with only 4500 visitors and 31 films. In the forthcoming years the film festival expanded gradually under the watchful cinephile eye of Bals to 150.000 visitors and multiple cinemas in 1988 – Bals' last festival – and developed into an annual film event of great international importance, with already more than 350.000 visitors in 2010. Thanks to Bals many new film countries and continents have been introduced to The Netherlands, among which Russia, China, Taiwan, Africa and Latin-America.
'The masters of the cinema of tomorrow are from the Third World.'
Huub Bals | |
|---|---|
Huub Bals at Film Festival Rotterdam, 1983 | |
| Born | February 3, 1937 Utrecht, The Netherlands |
| Died | July 13, 1988 (aged 51) Utrecht, The Netherlands |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Occupation(s) | first director of International Film Festival Rotterdam (1972–1988), organizer of the Cinemanifestatie in Utrecht (1966–1972) |
| Known for | film programming, cinephilia, personality |