The Leiden International Film Festival was founded in 2006 by Alexander Mouret, Michaël Roumen, Michel Zorge, Wouter de Bres and Job Zeestraten.

[6] Some American indies that were screened in the Netherlands at the festival: Breaking Upwards, (Untitled), Safety Not Guaranteed, Howl, Towelhead, Winter's Bone, Please Give, Lola Versus, Precious, Little Miss Sunshine, Short Term 12, Whiplash, Tangerine, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl and Swiss Army Man.

Films that will be screening are: Ain't Them Bodies Saints, Bluebird, C.O.G., Coldwater, Computer Chess, Enough Said, Fruitvale Station, A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, Hide Your Smiling Faces, Kill Your Darlings, Prince Avalanche, The Spectacular Now, Starlet, Sweetwater and Trust Me.

The competing films were: Mistress America, The End of the Tour, Consumed, Cronies, Houses, Results, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Cop Car, Z for Zachariah, Rosewater, Tangerine and The Gift.

Films in competition this year are: First Girl I Loved, Lovesong, From Nowhere, Born to Be Blue, Swiss Army Man, Goat, American Pastoral, Transpecos, As You Are, Kicks, Joshy and Burn Your Maps.

Some films that were screened during the Panorama program include Amour, Argo, The Artist, Burn After Reading, Children of Men, Drive, Gone Baby Gone, Das Weiße Band, We Need To Talk About Kevin, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, 50/50, La grande bellezza, Inside Llewyn Davis, Mommy, Youth, I, Daniel Blake, Lion, The Birth of a Nation and Everybody Wants Some!!.

[14] Besides the American Indie and Panorama programs, the LIFF also hosts special screenings at locations like St Peter's Church (Pieterkerk) and the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden.