This week, the European Film Academy announced the five films nominated for Best European Documentary. Four of those five films will be shown at IDFA this year, including IDFA Forum alumnus A House Made of Splinters. The fifth film was shown at the festival last year.
The four nominated films screening at IDFA this year are:
This year, IDFA pays special tribute to Mantas Kvedaravičius, director of Mariupolis 2. Kvedaravičius was killed by Russian troops in April 2022 while documenting the Russian invasion of Ukraine. His fiancée managed to escape with the footage, after which Kvedaravičius' film team edited his final, unfinished film. This film is now being screened at IDFA as Mariupolis 2, along with his earlier film Mariupolis, presented as part of a special program by Free Press Unlimited.
The fifth nominated documentary, The Balcony Movie by Paweł Łoziński (Poland), screened at IDFA last year as part of the Masters section.
A portrait of 14-year-old Leonie, a successful teenage influencer from Berlin. It seems like a fairy tale, all the followers, attention and free products, but the continuous pressure to produce content threatens to overwhelm her family.
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Winter and war mean this Ukrainian children’s home near the front is fuller than ever. A group of resolute, no-nonsense women have created an almost magical place where they watch over children who are waiting for the government to decide their fate.
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Lithuanian filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravičius returned to the ruined Ukrainian city of Mariupol, a hell on earth where life goes on amid the bombardments. He was killed by Russian troops, but his crew went on to finish the film.
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To this day, Benito Mussolini’s style of fascism continues to inspire authoritarian leaders. The March on Rome shows how Mussolini used intimidation and violence to seize power, and how he used propaganda to mythologize events.
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