The 35th International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) opened November 9 in the Royal Carré Theater with the world premiere of the Dutch documentary. All You See (see BDE review) by Niki Padidar. The film was simultaneously screened at 35 theaters throughout the Netherlands.
IDFA 2022 takes place from November 9 to 20 in more than 20 cinemas and festival locations throughout Amsterdam. This edition will welcome more than 3,000 professional delegates and guests.
Artistic Director Orwa Nyrabia took the stage to officially welcome all filmmakers, documentary professionals, and guests to Amsterdam.
He said: “With almost 3000 guests from 122 countries, a clear majority of women filmmakers in our program, and a selection of around 300 films and new media works from 82 countries, I can proudly confirm that IDFA is pushing the status-quo and delivering on its promises to be a proactive part of our age’s debates, a truly international platform, and a unique gathering for a pluralistic world of freedom-loving, risk-taking, utterly generous global documentary community. We are not done yet, there’s still a lot to do. But we have our proof of concept and the future can and will be better.”
The festival opened with Dutch multidisciplinary artist and director Niki Padidar’s first feature-length documentary All You See. In the film, Padidar, who left Iran at the age of seven, explores what it means to be subjected to the projections of others.
All You See is nominated for the IDFA Award for Best First Feature and the IDFA Award for Best Dutch Film.
During the March 9 opening ceremony, the €50,000 Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Documentary Stipend – made available annually by an anonymous patron – was awarded to media artist and filmmaker Pim Zwier.
The grant is intended to financially support Zwier’s next documentary project and his already-established career in documentary film. The award was presented by last year’s laureate, filmmaker Stefan Pavlović. Zwier received the IDFA Award for Best Directing for his film O, Collecting Eggs Despite the Times in 2021.
