Best of IDFA on Tour 2026

South Africa, France, Germany | 2025 - Teboho Edkins | 38 min. | Dutch subtitles

On 10 March 2019, a Boeing 737 MAX airplane crashed just six minutes after taking off from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. All 157 people on board perished, including Max Thabiso Edkins, the younger brother of director Teboho Edkins. He and his father, film producer Don Edkins, decided to travel together to the crash site in order to seek something tangible in their grief.

Winner of the IDFA Award for Best Short Documentary

Iran, France, United Kingdom, United States, Denmark | 2025 | Mehrdad Oskouei | 76 min. | Dutch subtitles

At just 16, Soraya is already creating stunning drawings and sculptures that are as beautiful as they are dark. This strong-willed Afghan sculptor and illustrator has been trying for five years to escape Iran and join her mother in Austria. 

This subtly textured self-portrait interweaves chilling scenes of her escape attempts with political news from Afghanistan and videos in which she sings and dances—or shows her bruises. Soraya is married to a violent man, and she is determined to shape her own future. Mehrdad Oskouei directed this film entirely remotely, with Soraya filming all the footage herself over five years using her phone. 

This material is interspersed with shots of her drawings and surreal animations. Making art is no idle pastime for Soraya: she puts all her worries, joys, and fears into her drawings and the sculptures she makes from soaked egg cartons or clay that she finds along her escape routes. Many of her drawings feature recurring figures: a loyal fox who is her traveling companion, a pink moon that always watches over her, and a clown who never laughs—a character Soraya identifies with. 

Read our interview with Best Film Award-winner Mehrdad Oskouei on A Fox Under a Pink Moon here. 

Winner of the IDFA Award for Best Film in the International Competition.

Iran, Norway, Italy | 2025 | Morteza Ahmadvand, Firouzeh Khosrovani | 76 min. | Dutch subtitles

Maryam fled Iran decades ago and settled in the United States. Her parents remained in Tehran. Now that they are growing older and political unrest is intensifying, she is concerned. She persuades them to install security cameras in every room, so she can stay in direct contact with them from a distance. Maryam finds herself glued to this virtual connection, only now realizing how lonely they must have been all these years. 

Footage from these cameras inside Maryam’s childhood home forms the basis of this moving, tender, and philosophical film by Firouzeh Khosrovani and Morteza Ahmadvand, respectively director and art director of Radiograph of a Family (2020). The security footage shows the parents shuffling slowly but routinely through their rooms. 

Over this silent montage, at times intercut with home videos from her childhood, Maryam reflects on half a lifetime without her parents, on growing up in Tehran, and on why she can never return. Stylized images of birds seem to symbolize both a lack of freedom and courageous attempts to break free.

Winner of the IDFA Award for Best Film in the Envision Competition

United States | 2025 | Ross McElwee | 117 min. | Dutch subtitles

Ross McElwee’s films have always been personal. His own life has remained central even in works that tackled big subjects such as the tobacco industry (Bright Leaves) or nuclear weapons (Sherman’s March). But could he perhaps have overlooked something over all those years? The death of his son compels him to reflect. 

Remake is composed largely of old footage of his son Adrian: a bright and imaginative boy who turns into a typically sullen teenager, and later struggles with mental health issues and drug addiction. Footage that had no special purpose when McElwee shot it now seems like the pieces of a puzzle—not only to understand Adrian better, but also himself. 

Feelings of guilt and anger—always conveyed in McElwee’s calm, eloquent voice-over—are interwoven with thought-provoking ideas about the role of film in our lives, how images help us hold on to memories, and how they can also make the past seem like fiction. Remake has much to say, but keeps its essence simple: ultimately, this is a film about a father’s unconditional love for his child.

Winner of the Beeld & Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award

• Standard: €31 per ticket. 
• VriendenLoterij VIP-KAARThouders: €25 per ticket. Maximum of 2 tickets per VIP-KAART.
• Members/Friends of participating film theaters: €28 per ticket. 
• It is not possible to purchase a ticket for a single film, only for the program as a whole.
• Cineville passes are valid.

Check here for the most up-to-date overview and direct ticket sales links.