Explore all films and interactive documentaries that have been shown at IDFA over the years. Many are available to watch online (by using the filter Watch Online), some for free! We're working hard to keep the selection as broad and accessible as possible, but unfortunately, some titles are available to stream within the Netherlands only.
In a replica of the last remains of Europe’s last primeval forest Białowieża, the avatar Shahram Yazdani sings his Farsi version of the popular hit song “Nature Boy.” Nature is presented as a virtual construct, meandering between the mythical and the actual.
If you look closely enough, even something as mundane as morning exercises can convey a germ of political resistance.
In 1958, the 'Save the Children Fund' asked Stephen Peet to make a film about the Fund's work in South Korea, some years after the Korean War had ended. The purpose of the film was to raise funds. In order to keep the expenses as low as possible, Peet left for Korea alone with his Bolex camera and a few reels of black-and-white film, and worked with an interpreter there. He was shocked and angry because of what he saw in South Korea, particularly the bad living conditions of the people. He wanted to convey those emotions in his film. He filmed for two months in and around the city of Pusan.
After volunteering as a blood donor, the HIV virus is found in 31-year-old Li Ziliang. He is immediately fired by his boss for fear of infection. Every time he walks on the street, he is surrounded by groups of people that stare at him. ‘One touch and you’re finished’, one of them thinks. ‘People with AIDS should be cursed. Only immoral people get AIDS’, another one comments. Nobody wants to sell anything to Li, because they do not want to touch the money that has passed through his hands. Only in distant Beijing can he walk around undisturbed. His wife is at her wit’s end, too, because she also lost all her friends. One day, she gets on her bicycle and never returns. She leaves Li behind with three children, who will not find anyone to take care of them after he has passed away.
