Anna Does Rotterdam - International Film Festival Rotterdam, January 24 - February 4

I have press accreditation for the International Film Festival Rotterdam through Toronto's CIUT 89.5 FM, so I spent the the duration of the Festival frantically running around Rotterdam from film to film. I even got to do some sight seeing along the way. So get ready for it. ANNA DOES ROTTERDAM!!!


Rotterdam's famous Swan Bridge












Rotterdam is the second largest city in the Netherlands and the industrial capital of the country (population 600 000). Located on the Maas River, Rotterdam is the largest port in the world and is also called the “Gateway to Europe”.

Rotterdam was founded in the mid 13^th century, but on May 14, 1940 the city centre was destroyed by a German bombardment, and as a result, Rotterdam now has a very modern city centre with world famous avant-garde architecture, which is quite different from other Dutch cities.

A very cool building with green ligths on the facade. The lights create different patters (map of the world, radar, and here, a seagull)

Rotterdam is also the centre of the world famous International Film Festival Rotterdam, which draws a large number of industry professionals and presents many international premieres, and is (like the Toronto International Film Festival), open to the public.

In front of the Doelen Centre, the festival headquarters. With Dutch Tim and Martin.

The Festival offers a selection of worldwide independent, innovative and experimental cinema and visual arts. It’s devoted to supporting independent filmmaking from around the world, and offers many international and very buzz worthy premieres. Nationally, the festival also promotes the distribution of independent cinema in collaboration with various Dutch organizations.

During twelve festival days, hundreds of filmmakers present their work to an audience of around 3000 film professionals in 18 festival locations around Rotterdam. This year there will be a total of 675 films screened, 97 of which are premieres. That’s a total of 1500 screenings.

I'll post film reviews soon, so check back!

Back in Amsterdam

Since I got back from Poland I've been keeping busy! My first night back we hit an 80s party at a very cool club, which is in an old church. We don't really have any 80s fashion but tried to be as tacky as possible with what we had.














Then on my second night back we went to Amsterdam's Music Theatre to see the Marriage of Figaro. Luckily, I just saw this opera last week in Poland, and I studied it during my Music Minor in undergrad, so I knew what was going on (it was sung in Italian and subtitled in Dutch). The staging was much more impressive in the Dutch version (than the Polish one) but it was also an hour longer (4h total), so towards the end we were very antsy.










Now I'm getting ready to go and cover the Rotterdam Film Festival, so my next post will be after that!

Second visit to Poland, Jan 5-19

The main reason I go to Poland is to spend time with my grandparents.

With my grandfather at his park.











And this year I was in Poland for the first time for my gran's Birthday, she's 80!











And another picture of a European city square with a Christmas tree; this one is Lodz.











And a better, less foggy shot of Manufaktura, the new shopping and entertainment complex.










The most exciting part of this trip was that I booked a holiday to Tunisia and Lybia for May, can't wait!

Happy New Year!

We started New Years Eve with a get togheter in Pad 22, which now held about 30 people.

Girls of Pad 22; the new super group











Then headed off to Dam close to midnight











And welcomed 2007











With thousands of other drunk people




















Happy New Year from Pad 22!











The aftermath...