Marketing and communication

IDFA’s online reach continues to grow steadily across its own channels. In 2025, website traffic increased to 1,810,513 visits. Despite a reduction in activity on Meta’s social media platforms, follower numbers continued to rise. Instagram grew by 26% to over 70,000 followers, including growth generated through Het Documentaire Paviljoen. LinkedIn increased by 15%, reaching nearly 22,000 followers. Targeted newsletters to educators, professionals, audiences, partners, and funders reached nearly 95,000 recipients in 2025.

In addition, IDFA publishes two festival publications. The Programma Magazine is designed for Dutch-speaking audiences, with a print circulation of 20,000 and a digital reach of 1,041,000 through national newspaper De Volkskrant. The Program Guide is created for the 2,600 professionals who attend IDFA each year.

Next to its own channels and paid partnerships, IDFA reaches a broad audience through earned media in partnership with national, regional, and international press. In 2025, free publicity in the Netherlands resulted in nearly 1,400 media items (print and broadcast), representing a PR value of almost €5 million and a potential reach of nearly 85 million views. Internationally, IDFA generated around 1,000 print media items, with a PR value of nearly €3 million and a potential reach of 16 million views.

Throughout the year, IDFA produces a wide range of content tailored to specific audiences, platforms, and strategic objectives. In 2025, the content strategy was expanded to include more in-depth and contextual content in line with IDFA’s mission, vision and core principles, and developed in accordance with the IDFA style guide. Several published articles are available in the online archive.

Expanding IDFA’s reach to younger and more culturally diverse audiences remains a key priority. In 2025, IDFA increased its visibility through collaborations with influencers positioned at the heart of its intended young, creative audience, including Nicolaas Veul, Nadia Moussaid, and Angelique Houtveen. IDFA also invested more substantially in podcast partnerships with strong reach among women aged 28–34, including Damn Honey and Tussen 30 en Doodgaan.

These initiatives and collaborations resulted in the strongest growth among new ticket buyers between the ages of 28–34, with an increase of 35%*. This edition also saw an increase among students, of whom 76% were first-time visitors and 24% returning visitors. In total, nearly 4,000 students attended IDFA.

IDFA additionally invested in reaching new (young) audiences through partnerships with organizations and media such as Cineville, De Groene Amsterdammer, OneWorld, de Volkskrant, and WePresent. IDFA 2025 also welcomed a new media partnership with investigative platform Follow the Money. IDFA also established an extensive collaboration with NPO Doc the documentary-focused editorial platform of Dutch public broadcaster NPO, whose editorial team generated and distributed IDFA-focused content during the festival on NPO’s own social media channels and newsletters.

* Data based on date of birth registered using MyIDFA accounts.

For film professionals, IDFA continues to position itself as an international, inclusive, innovative, and sustainable institute for creative documentary and new media. Throughout the year, IDFA reaches the professional community using its own channels. During the festival, this reach is extended through international media partnerships with Variety, Screen, and The Film Verdict, alongside the extensive press who attended IDFA 2025.

In polarized times, IDFA is frequently called upon to articulate its position. Filmmakers, staff, audiences, partners, and journalists expect clarity about the organization’s values and framework. In 2025, IDFA formalized a set of principles and guidelines that further articulate its mission and vision, building on existing policies and IDFA’s longstanding institutional history.