Read all the latest news from the festival and IDFA's year-round programs here, in addition to in-depth articles.
We are pleased to announce that IDFA’s markets are now open for all project and film submissions. As of today, project teams can submit their entries for IDFA Forum—including the Producers Connection, Forum Pitches, and Rough Cut Presentations—as well as for IDFA DocLab Forum and Docs for Sale.
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The IDFA DocLab R&D Program operates as a living lab and place for creative exchange during the annual International Documentary Festival Amsterdam. It explores specific research questions that arise from developments in the interactive and immersive storytelling field. Each year, an integral component of the IDFA DocLab research program is the R&D Summit, a think tank event for experts from all corners of the interactive and immersive storytelling industry to (re)connect with their peers around specific topics and share insights, questions, and recommendations that sprung from their various practices.
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The first 15 films in the catalogue have been supported by IDFA through the IDFA Bertha Fund or via their participation in IDFA Forum.
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IDFA’s Filmmaker Support department is delighted to present the third year of IDFA Project Space, the latest in the organization’s expanding slate of talent development programs. Taking place both in Amsterdam and online from June to September, IDFA Project Space has selected sixteen international filmmaking teams with a documentary project in progress—either in the development and production or editing phase. Next to the anticipated return to meeting in person, the full week of tutoring and high-profile plenary sessions (previously known as IDFAcademy Summer School) in July will provide projects with tailored and in-depth support.
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Director Mariam Al-Dhubhani and producer Mohammed Al-Jaberi have taken home the IDFA Spotlight Award for their project Let’s Play Soldiers, part of the Documentary Work in Progress track at Beirut Cinema Platform. Pitched as a powerful coming-of-age film on Nasser, a child soldier in Yemen, the project has been hailed for its sensitive approach as it seeks to reclaim representation of Yemenis. Winning the award has secured travel and stay at IDFA 2022 for the director, and festival accreditation, a professional consultancy, and participation in the online sessions of IDFA Project Space for both the director and producer.
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The IDFA Bertha Fund is now accepting project submissions to the IBF Europe – Minority Co-production funding scheme. Read more about the grant program and apply by June 22, 2022.
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The IDFA Bertha Fund is delighted to announce it has selected eleven projects for IBF Classic, the Fund’s flagship grant program for documentary projects in development, production, and post-production. Of the 268 eligible submissions this round, four are selected for development support and seven for (post-)production support, resulting in a total granted amount of €205,000. As announced late last year, the new amount marks the beginning of the Fund’s increased support for filmmakers, in which more projects will receive larger grants.
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The Syrian director’s acclaimed sophomore feature is the latest film to receive distribution support from the IDFA Bertha Fund. The 30k grant will see the film have targeted screenings in Denmark, Sweden, and Palestine, touring as a double bill with Farah’s debut feature, A Comedian in a Syrian Tragedy.
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With the festival around the corner, IDFA is pleased to present this year's Industry Program. The packed lineup of talks, presentations, consultancies, and lots more is open to accredited guests at IDFA 2021, with all activities taking place in-person in Amsterdam and select talks and consultancies available on VOD. The Industry Program at IDFA 2021 runs from Friday, November 19 to Wednesday, November 24.
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This year, IDFA presents a focus program that explores our relationship with the abstraction of the future, looking at the how the documentary form – frequently preoccupied with images and narratives of the past and the present – can focus its gaze forward in time. Matt Turner reflects on this tool of cinema to open up this space for reflection.
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