Read all the latest news from the festival and IDFA's year-round programs here, in addition to in-depth articles.
The summer period is no time for IDFA's programming team to sit back and relax. In the week before the submission deadline of July 15, hundreds of films are still being submitted by filmmakers. And that's before all the submitted films are even viewed and assessed. Joost Daamen, Senior Programmer at IDFA, explains how he and the team evaluate more than 3,000 documentaries and arrive at the final festival selection.
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In anticipation of its next festival edition, the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is pleased to launch a revamped program structure with two main competitions at the forefront. The new setup sees the introduction of the International Competition and the Envision Competition, which, in dialogue with each other, will make up the center of the IDFA program alongside a slew of new awards that celebrate the art of documentary filmmaking. Submissions are now open for the 34th edition of IDFA, taking place November 17 to 28, 2021.
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Many stories start with silence, before speaking follows. Does a story ever end with silence? When it comes to emancipatory tales – those portraying lgbtq+ experiences, for example – silence is always a start, never an end. How is silence told, without centralizing speech as progress?
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IDFA announced the winners of the IDFA 2020 competition programs on November 26, 2020. All award videos can be watched here.
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Last week, Lahore-born, Brooklyn-based filmmaker Saad Khan enjoyed the world premiere of his film Showgirls of Pakistan in the IDFA Competition for First Appearance. After the premiere, we spoke about everything from the making of the film and drawing inspiration from Pakistani culture to the fluidity of gender performativity and why mujra dancers deserve to have their story told in their own way.
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Throughout the festival, the IDFA programmers present their favorite hidden gems within the program. Today: Laura van Halsema, the senior programmer responsible for the Competition for Mid-Length Documentary, the Competition for Dutch Documentary and the Kids & Docs Competition this year. She recommends Green Bank Pastoral by Federico Urdaneta.
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Throughout the festival, the IDFA programmers present their favorite hidden gems from the festival program. Today: Raul Niño Zambrano, the senior programmer behind the IDFA Competition for First Appearance, the IDFA Competition for Student Documentary, and the Queer Day selection—picks The First Woman.
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Throughout the festival, the IDFA programmers will present their favourite hidden gems within the selection. Today: Joost Daamen, the senior programmer who's responsible for the Competition for Feature-Length Documentary and the Paradocs program this year. He recommends Odoriko by Yoichiro Okutani.
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Throughout the festival, the IDFA programmers present their favorite hidden gems within the program. Today: Wotienke Vermeer, New Media Program Manager and co-programmer of IDFA DocLab Spotlight. Her tip: The Leaked Recipes Cookbook by Demetria Glace.
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Throughout the festival, the IDFA programmers present their favorite hidden gems from the festival program. Today Annabel Troost, researcher & editor at IDFA DocLab, recommends Sylvia.
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