Huub Bals

Who was Huub Bals?

Hubertus Bernardus “Huub” Bals was the first director and creator of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, formerly named Film International. The IFFR started small in the Calypso cinema and film theatre 't 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.'