LIFF – Leiden International Film Festival

Being an international city, Leiden also hosts one of the biggest international film festivals in the country: Leiden International Film Festival. 14th edition of the festival will take place from October 31 to November 10. 10 days full of movies from all over the world also includes premieres, special film events and parties.

I went to the movie ‘Frontrunner’ in the 2018 edition of LIFF last November, in the beautiful Kijkhuis movie theatre. This is one of the best points of the whole festival: you get to watch movies in different spots in Leiden, including Trianon, Stadsgehoorzaal, Scheltema and even Rijksmuseum Van Oudheden. With over 100 movies, LIFF has something for everyone, no matter how busy you are. There are sessions starting from early morning to late in the evening.

While you can buy the tickets via www.liff.nl, at as low as 9 EUR, you can also buy them 1 hour before the start time of the session, during the festival.

LIFF is also known for discovering the best directors and actors before they become world-known. Director of Jurassic World, for example, won the LIFF competition in 2012 while John Boyega appeared in LIFF with Imperial Dreams, before landing to the leading role in Star Wars. So, watch the names you hear in LIFF theatres closely.

Summer Special

A beautiful addition to 10-day long LIFF tradition was the Summer Special where festival movies were screened in the open-air theatre assembled in The historical Pieterskerk square during June 20, 21 and 22. Films started at sunset (10.30 PM) were aired for free. It was amazing to see how international Leiden is, with a square full of people watching movies in English, without subtitles. The movie I watched was Do the Right Thing, showing life in an Afro-American neighbourhood in New York during a hot summer.