Industry

In 2025, IDFA’s Industry Program offered professionals a diverse lineup of discussions, knowledge-sharing talks and sessions, invite-only Think Tanks, and advisory meetings examining the current state and future of documentary cinema, fostering dialogue on how filmmakers work, collaborate, and sustain their practices in today’s complex world.

The 2025 festival addressed the pressing realities in the field. A number of talks and sessions were focused on the financial challenges filmmakers face, from establishing equitable co-productions to securing fair pay. Another strand focused on audience reach and challenges within the distribution chain. Alternative distribution models were explored in one talk, while another examined the educational potential of documentary as a dialogue-starter for children and young people discussing sensitive topics in a divided world. A third strand focused on emerging technologies and the way AI continues to reshape research, production, and storytelling. Together, the program invited guests to explore both new opportunities and the ethical challenges facing the field.

As in previous years, IDFA partnered with national and international organizations, including the French authors’ rights organization LaScam and Dutch industry associations such as NAPA and the Dutch Directors Guild. The program also featured over fifty Industry Consultancies, where small groups engaged in in-depth discussions with seasoned experts.

This edition provided additional focus on the delegations attending IDFA. With a series of knowledge-sharing Delegation Showcases, delegation members were invited to connect and learn more about the distribution and production landscapes in the represented countries.

Across more than a hundred sessions, delegations, and networking events, the Industry Program offered the space to build connections between film professionals and further the exchange of knowledge and ideas.

In 2025, IDFA Forum selected 51 projects from 841 entries, underscoring the international co-financing and co-production market’s continued role as a key platform for artistic documentary film. The selection reflects a wide range of projects and approaches, accommodating the needs of diverse stakeholders across the international documentary field.

The 33rd edition takes place within a rapidly evolving financing landscape. As production budgets tighten across the sector, international co-production and collaboration has become an increasingly vital model for filmmakers to maintain their artistic freedom. In response, IDFA Forum refined its format in 2025 to better support filmmakers navigating these conditions – particularly in early development stages, where strategic partnerships are critical.

This year, IDFA’s Markets introduced key changes to their format. Producers Connection was more closely integrated into the Forum program, taking center stage along the Forum Pitch projects and reflecting a shift toward more flexible, exploratory forms of collaboration. IDFA Forum’s activities were additionally centralized around Internationaal Theater Amsterdam (ITA), bringing participants and decision-makers into closer proximity and creating more opportunities for exchange across the festival.

During this year’s Forum Awards, All Fixed Up (China) by Hao Zhou won the IDFA Forum Award for Best Pitch Project. Four Comrades, One Echo (Netherlands) by Kiva Liu won the Best Producers Connection Award, The Cord (France) by Nolwenn Hervé won the Best Rough Cut Award and the IDFA DocLab Forum Award went to Body Count (Philippines/Germany) by Cris Bringas. Dreams of the Wild Oaks (Iran) by Marjan Khosravibaledi was recognized with a Special Mention for Best Rough Cut Project. 

In 2025, thirteen titles that previously pitched at IDFA Forum made it into the official festival selection or IDFA harvest; three films were selected in IDFA's competition and four titles are in world or international premiere. In September, IDFA presented a fall showcase of 25 films that previously took part in IDFA Forum and/or were supported by the IDFA Bertha Fund. Many of these films celebrated their world premieres in 2025 at major festivals from across the world, including Sundance, the Berlinale, CPH:DOX, Visions du Réel, Tribeca, and Sheffield DocFest.

Docs for Sale, IDFA’s marketplace for artistic documentary films from around the world, facilitates networking, knowledge exchange, and distribution. In 2025, Docs for Sale took place in Het Documentaire Paviljoen. Alongside the five-day marketplace, its online catalogue provides year-round on-demand access to a curated selection of documentary films for members. The Docs for Sale catalogue 2025-2026 featured 270 films.

During the festival, independent producers and sales agents had the opportunity to showcase their films, connect with industry professionals, and negotiate deals with buyers, festival programmers, and distributors.

IDFA Forum and Docs for Sale are supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of the Netherlands and Creative Europe MEDIA. IDFA Forum’s Producers Connection is supported by Eurimages and Buma Music in Motion.

The DocLab Industry Track, newly repositioned in 2025, translated substantive knowledge into professional practice, focusing on immersive and interactive storytelling. This includes XR (extended reality), virtual and augmented reality, and other interdisciplinary forms that expand documentary beyond the linear screen into spatial and participatory experiences.

Alongside the IDFA DocLab program, the Industry Track brings together independent artists, creative technologists, and cultural institutions working across the development and distribution of immersive work.

The DocLab Industry Track includes the DocLab Forum, with a selection of 12 immersive and interactive projects, the DocLab R&D Summit, and the DocLab Playrooms.

Designed as a living lab, the program supports the development of new formats, fosters interdisciplinary collaboration, and strengthens connections across the field. It also functions as an ongoing network, with the festival as its annual meeting point.

This year marked the launch of an exciting new research consortium: Shared Realities. Over the next two years, IDFA DocLab will join forces with artists, producers, and researchers from leading institutes in the immersive field to make these groundbreaking experiences more sustainable, accessible, and captivating for audiences worldwide. This ambitious initiative is made possible through support from the Creative Industries Fund NL and the Creative Industries Immersive Coalition (CIIIC), part of the National Growth Fund program of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science focused on Immersive Experiences (IX).

Shared Realities is led by IDFA DocLab, with research support from the Hogeschool van Amsterdam and production by POPKRAFT. Artistic input comes from Dutch makers including Ado Ato Pictures (Tamara Shogaolu), Ali Eslami, Polymorf, Studio Biarritz, and WeMakeVR.com. The program is further supported by exhibition and distribution partners ARTIS-Planetarium, Nu:Reality, and PHI Centre, as well as international research collaboration with the MIT Open Documentary Lab.