IDFA’s Filmmaker Support department is delighted to present the third year of IDFA Project Space, the latest in the organization’s expanding slate of talent development programs. Taking place both in Amsterdam and online from June to September, IDFA Project Space has selected sixteen international filmmaking teams with a documentary project in progress—either in the development and production or editing phase. Next to the anticipated return to meeting in person, the full week of tutoring and high-profile plenary sessions (previously known as IDFAcademy Summer School) in July will provide projects with tailored and in-depth support.
The geographically diverse selection includes various filmmakers with earlier ties to IDFA, including seven projects previously supported by the IDFA Bertha Fund and five filmmakers that previously screened a (short) film at IDFA: Carol Nguyen with No Crying at the Dinner Table, Hala El Kouch with The Perfect Picture, Ross McClean with Hydebank, and Shirley Abraham & Amit Madheshiya with The Cinema Travellers.
Taking the lesson of increased flexibility from our online editions, IDFA Project Space will invite a larger cohort of local and international talents, to join the online Plenary Sessions and Filmmaker Talks, aimed to inspire and empower the filmmakers throughout the filmmaking process. This enables the program to offer more support to more filmmakers.
From June to September, the program will provide tailored support to the selected projects, each in a different stage of production, adapting the guidance to their creative development and specific needs.
June
The IDFA Project Space program will launch online from 7 to 10 June, offering participants online meetings and Filmmaker Talks—taking inspiration as its starting point. The June program will include a session with psychotherapist and documentary producer Rebecca Day, and Filmmaker Talks with Saeed Farouky & James Bulley (A Thousand Fires) and Radu Ciorniciuc (Acasă, My Home).
July
With much enthusiasm, we look forward to welcoming participants to join us in Amsterdam for a week of intensive talent development activities from July 4 to 9. During the in-person week, the selected filmmakers and teams will discuss their projects in detail during one-on-one meetings with their assigned tutor. We are thrilled to share the renowned tutors for IDFA Project Space 2022: editors Ollie Huddleston, Gladys Joujou, Qutaiba Barhamji; editor and filmmaker Maya Daisy Hawke; producer Gema Juárez Allen; and director Aliona van der Horst.
Participants will also be invited to exchange experiences and feedback with each other, and to be inspired by the accomplished directors, editors, and producers present as tutors. The filmmakers selected for the IDFA Project Space NL supported by NPO Fund will have the kick off of their workshop during this week. These filmmakers, as well as a variety of Dutch filmmakers, will be invited to attend the week’s screenings and talks.
September
Between July and September, participants can schedule a follow-up meeting online with their tutor based on their specific needs. The program will conclude in September, with a week of online programming made up of additional talks and meetings.
Development & Production Category
Beyond The Fold (United Kingdom, United States)
dir. Ross McClean
Ryan finds solace caring for a flock of sheep inside a Northern Irish prison’s walls. Released into a dizzying environment, he ventures to start his own flock.
Interzone (Italy, Netherlands)
dir. Agnese Cornelio
An unconventional peace journey led by a group of rave organizers.
The Living Room War (Vietnam)
dir. Thy Trang Ngoc Nguyen
After a TV broadcast revealing my grandfather’s secret life at the end of the Vietnam War sparked a new cold war within my family, this film unravels the story of three generations of women, shaped by Vietnam’s history and its unspoken trauma.
Niñxs (Mexico)
dir. Kani Lapuerta
In the magical town of Tepoztlán, Mexico, Karla faces a binary society that tries to fit her into one gender or another. Between games and prejudices, this transgender girl is on her journey to adolescence, taking off a timid but certain flight towards the construction of her own identity.
No Place Like Home (Ireland)
dir. Myrid Carten
You can't choose what you inherit. Or can you? No Place Like Home uncompromisingly portrays how trauma passes down. Framed around a contested family house in rural Ireland, it's about the cost of love—and how difficult it can be to escape.
Our Seeds (Turkey)
dir. Erhan Arik
A farming couple, Oruç and Güneş, live from wheat seed inherited from their ancestors. They want to pass the inherited wheat to their children but their childrens’ dreams are different.
The Place Where I Belong (Lebanon)
dir. Hala El Kouch
After the explosion of August 4, a Lebanese filmmaker and poet decides to walk on her own in the streets of Beirut for the first time in her life, to get to her therapy session. This promenade, however, ends up having a bigger impact than just a walk on the life of Hala, not only changing her perspective on her city but the direction of her entire life.
Something there is that does not love (South Africa)
dir. Arya Amber Lalloo
A meditation on the colonial imaginary and the role of the optical in its creation.
The Visitors (Canada)
dir. Carol Nguyen
A family return to Vietnam for the first time in 40 years, seeking closure to their past by uncovering the life of their late brother/husband/father, who’s schizophrenia diagnosis was kept secret. Through old memories, portraits of Vietnamese death rituals, and by entering the ghost world, we discover questionable, yet universal ways of handling grief.
The Wall of Death (Morocco, France)
dir. Amine Sabir
For 40 years, the Ennassiri family has taken the road every summer with their motorcycle acrobatics show. Despite illness, the parents refuse to let their daughter Zahra take over. While the health crisis stops the family business, its uncertain restart weakens the family's precarious existence.
Anonymous project
Rough Cut Category
Flotacija (Serbia)
dir. Zoe Aiano & Alesandra Tati
Living conditions in Majdanpek, Eastern Serbia, are so bad that even the dragons are leaving. With a long tradition as both miners and dragon hunters, the Marković family struggle to keep the magic alive as their town gets swallowed up by the demands of industry.
Lord, take me soon (Spain)
dir. Guillermo F. Florez
Carmen was born in 1935 in Spain. As a post-war teenager she was sent to a monastery. Fourteen years later she was expelled from church “for her behavior”. She decided never to follow orders again, and consequently had a life full of adventures. Today Carmen is going to commit suicide.
Ozogoche (Ecuador)
dir. Joe H. Silva
The Cuvivi bird migrates from the northern continent to the Ecuadorian highlands. They dive into the Ozogoche Lakes, ending their journey in collective suicide. The locals await the flock with rituals and celebrations, while they wait for the return of their loved ones that migrated in the opposite direction.
PIK-NIK (India, Hungary, United Kingdom)
dir. Arko Datto
Through a series of cinematic tableau vivant PIK-NIK documents the annual theatrical spectacle of picnic culture of East Indian winters, providing new visions of the complex shifting realities of present-day India.
Untitled Project (India)
dir. Shirley Abraham & Amit Madheshiya
The logline for this project is not available. For more information, you can contact IDFA Project Space team.
