Three filmmakers selected for second round of TalentScope Documentaire

Established documentary filmmakers in the Netherlands can apply to the Netherlands Film Fund for TalentScope Documentary, a program designed to support the next step in their artistic development. Through a curated and highly personalized trajectory, TalentScope focuses on deepening authorship while expanding filmmakers’ (international) scope and opportunities.

This year, three directors have been selected: Festus Toll, Anne van Campenhout, and Bibi Fadlalla.

Anne van Campenhout will develop her project Body of Knowledge, which explores the practice of body donation to science—a phenomenon that occurs more frequently in the Netherlands than anywhere else in the world.

“The first time I encountered a donated body is something I will never forget,” she says. “That sense of wonder—at both the complexity and the fragility of the human body—is what I want to evoke in the viewer. This subject goes beyond science; it touches on imagination, ethics, and philosophy. Within TalentScope, I want to explore how to make those deeper layers tangible through cinematic language.”

Bibi Fadlalla participates with Dalal, a youth documentary centered on a ten-year-old Sudanese girl spending her summer wandering the streets of Cairo, seeking refuge from tensions at home.

“My project focuses on the Sudanese diaspora, a community whose stories remain underrepresented in the international film landscape,” Fadlalla explains. “For me, TalentScope offers the opportunity to further develop my artistic voice and build new connections within the film world. Through this trajectory, I hope to find the right creative collaborations to tell a story that stays close to the lived reality of its characters, while resonating with a wider audience.”

Festus Toll will work on Stowaway Man, which follows a young Kenyan man who hides in the landing gear of an airplane in an attempt to reach the Netherlands.

"Being selected for TalentScope comes at exactly the right moment in the development of my first feature film’, Festus explains. ‘I usually don’t start with a rigid plan, but instead discover the film through the process of making it — by filming, editing, and responding to what unfolds in front of the camera and within archival material. By continuously revisiting what is emerging, both in front of and behind the camera, the film gradually takes shape. Within TalentScope, I especially want to create space to continue working in that way. For me, this programme primarily means having the time to create, the confidence to take risks, and the opportunity to let the film slowly evolve into a feature that truly emerges from within."

The program is organized by IDFA and is structured around two research questions formulated by the director: one focused on deepening their artistic authorship and one aimed at developing a new documentary project. The TalentScope program concludes with a curated program or public presentation by the director at The Documentary Pavilion.

During the TalentScope Documentary program, the filmmakers will be mentored by Gitte Hansen, IDFA’s new international Head of Studies for TalentScope Documentary. Gitte spent 20 years working as an executive producer and Head of Sales & Acquisition for First Hand Films, and has also worked as a mentor for many years for initiatives including IDFA Project Space and the international pitching event Below Zero.