IDFA Forum 2020 takes place online from November 16 to 20. Selected projects will be introduced to industry experts who can dramatically shape their future trajectories and potential for success.
IDFA Forum will kick off on Monday, November 16 at 14:00 CET. You can access the program by logging in to your MyIDFA account. You can find the streaming links on your customized home page, or navigate to our Festival Schedule to enter the streams that way.
The Forum program on Tuesday and Wednesday will follow a similar schedule, with some variations.
On Tuesday, November 17 at 14:15 CET the second day of the Forum starts.
On Wednesday, November 18 we are returning to two streams of different Forum programming.
All pitches are open to all Forum attendees. One-on-one meetings will be organized for selected projects on Thursday, November 19 and Friday, November 20.
On Friday November 20 we invite you to a celebratory closing event online where the Best Pitch will be awarded to a pitch team from the Forum and DocLab Forum. The winners will be awarded in cash, and chosen by an international jury.
Important: To access all Forum activities, please remember to login to your MyIDFA account. All Forum pitches can be accessed through our Festival Schedule. Decision makers who are taking part in a feedback panel after a pitch will receive information separately about how to join these via Zoom.
IDFA Forum will host online presentations for this year's selected Rough Cut Projects. These presentations will take place at the start of the Forum program on Tuesday, November 17 and Wednesday, November 18.
A short moderated online presentation will provide a sneak peak into the teams' almost-finished films. The full rough cuts can be found on the teams' project pages on idfa.nl, available for all Forum and Docs for Sale decision makers after you login to your MyIDFA account.
The deadline for accreditation is October 10, 2020.
On Thursday, November 19 and Friday, November 20, the Forum team will hold one-on-one meetings between all project teams and various funders, commissioning editors, producers, and other experts.
Project representatives and decision makers can find their personal meeting schedule in their MyIDFA account, under the Appointments section. On the day of the meeting, 20 minutes before it starts, the meeting becomes clickable and participants can join it by clicking on the agenda item.
This year's presentations will moderated from our studios in Amsterdam. The 2020 moderators for IDFA Forum are Fleur Knopperts, Ido Abram, Isabel Arrate Fernandez and Margje de Koning. The IDFA DocLab Forum will be moderated by Anna Pedroli and Harm van de Ven.
Forum launches three new awards recognizing project teams with promising projects and strong pitches. Join us online for the award ceremony Friday 20 November at 19.00 CET by following this link. The award ceremony is open to Forum and Docs for Sale passholders.
A jury will be selecting winners in the following categories:
The IDFA Forum Award for the Best Project – €2,500
The IDFA Forum Award for the Best Rough Cut Project – € 1,000
The IDFA DocLab Forum Award for the Best Project – € 2,500
The Forum team will offer online chat support throughout the event. If you need additional assistance, feel free to contact us at forum@idfa.nl. We have also gathered information about how to attend IDFA as an industry professional here.
IDFA Forum attendees can register for online group meetings with a range of experts who offer specific advice on all aspects of the documentary business, such as distribution and sales, marketing and outreach, etc. These expert meetings will be held Thursday, November 19 and Friday, November 20 in various time zones. Prior to the event, we will send an invitation to all observing producers in attendance. Don't miss this great opportunity to pick the brains of these international experts.
For the fourth year in a row, we organize the Producers Network for accredited producers. This year the event will be hosted online. A key industry event for producers looking for new international co-production partners, the Producers Network includes meetings and short plenary presentations in which participants can meet and learn more about co-production and financing possibilities in specific countries and regions. The Producers Network is also a significant opportunity to meet many other producers who are participating in IDFA's online industry activities.
All accredited guests worldwide can freely view IDFA-selected films in the Press & Industry Library, available online and on-demand from November 18 until December 6.
Additionally, Forum participants who are present in Amsterdam during the festival can purchase discounted tickets for all screenings and events via our website and at the Guest Box Office in De Brakke Grond. The presale for press and industry guests begins on November 9. General ticket sales begin on November 12.
Read more practical information about attending the festival here, and check our overview of what's available online versus in-person here.
The selection committee for the 2020 edition of the IDFA Forum and IDFA DocLab Forum included the following professionals:
Alex Szalat, Asako Fujioka, Anton Calleja, Bob Moore, Cecilia Lidin, David Koh, Emelie Persson, Gary Byung-Seok Kam, Ingrid Kopp, Iris Lammertsma, Jorge Caballero, Leah Giblin, Martha Orozco, Mikael Opstrup, Mohanad Yaqubi, Oli Harbottle, Philippa Kowarsky, Robin Smith, Stefan Kloos, Tiny Mungwe, Ulla Haestrup, Vanja Jambrović.
IDFA Forum is made possible by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of the Netherlands and Creative Europe Media.