The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam unveiled October 8 the 55 documentary projects selected for IDFA Forum 2024. In total 820 projects were submitted for consideration. “The 32nd edition of the festival’s co-production and co-financing market presents a rigorous selection of films this year, featuring projects with resonant stories, daring artistic visions, and a willingness to push narrative and stylistic boundaries,” the festival writes.
This year’s selection is dominated by women filmmakers across all formats, including the Forum Pitch, Producer Connection, Rough Cut Presentations, and IDFA DocLab Forum, the festival further notes. Production countries span all continents, with Europe taking the lead, followed by Asia, the Americas, and Africa. IDFA Forum takes place in Amsterdam’s Felix Meritis and Pathé City from November 17 to 20.
“IDFA proudly presents a very strong selection of projects that capture the spirit of the times and reflect on our society in a critical and idiosyncratic way. It is a varied selection in terms of both theme and style, made by talented newcomers and established makers who together represent a colorful palette of voices,” said Adriek van Nieuwenhuijzen, Head of IDFA Industry. Scroll down for all selections.
Producers Connection and the Forum Pitch (overview provided by IDFA Forum)
The Forum Pitch and Producers Connection present a total of 33 projects this year. The selection includes notable filmmakers who make their return to IDFA. Aliona van der Horst, whose Gerlach (co-directed with Luuk Bouwman) snagged the IDFA Award for Best Dutch Film in 2023, is now pitching her project The Return, a tender film centering on a charismatic elderly couple in Kyiv, as they navigate questions of belonging and identity, and the significance of language in the war-torn country. Eva Mulvad, whose Love Child was pitched in 2017 and screened at IDFA in 2019, heads back to the festival to pitch her new project House of the Holy Father, co-directed with Andreas Koefoed. In an intriguing cinematic exercise that straddles fiction and documentary, the film seeks to bare intricate workings of domination and manipulation, as ex-members of the notorious Christian sect Faderhuset direct scenes with well-known Danish actors, including Trine Dyrholm and David Dencik.
After showcasing his IDFA Bertha Fund-supported film Motherland (co-directed with Hanna Badziaka) as part of IDFA Special in 2023, Alexander Mihalkovich returns to the festival to pitch Transparency Booth: Echoes of the Future, alongside Anna Kapustina. The project ushers us through ‘Perestroika’ in the ‘Transparency Booth’, an inflatable confessional that allowed for a rare moment of unhindered self-expression in the final years of the USSR—which, from today’s vantage point, offers revealing insight into history’s foresight. A strong slate of emerging directors bolsters the line-up. Ruoyun Chen will present People’s Republic of Letters, which portrays young Chinese poets suspended between worlds and words—either residing in diaspora or contemplating it. Bircan Birol will debut her project Your Honour, training her unflinching yet compassionate lens on her close friend, Efruz, as the duo embarks on a journey amid growing authoritarianism in Turkey.
Among notable standouts is Cécile Allegra and Antarès Bassis’ The Road, produced by Estelle Robin You of Grande Ourse Films. The incisive film maps the stories of a group of men and women from the Horn of Arica and West Africa as they re-enact their displacement from Sudanese camps, deportations across the Mediterranean, and passages through Aswan’s prisons and Libya’s camps on stage. Another poignant story in the slate comes from Enrico Parenti. His project Nanyang, a production by Susanna Trojano of Elliot Films, in co-production with Signe Byrge Sørensen of Final Cut for Real, recounts the compelling story of the daughter of a prominent figure in the Chinese Communist Party, Nanyang Li, intertwining personal, political, and historical threads of Mao’s China.
The crop of projects features a range of styles, including observational and investigative films, along with small, intimate stories (such as the tender and humorous The Beauty of Errors by Jukka Kärkkäinen) and larger geopolitical narratives (such as The Eighth Continent by Luuk Bouwman and Tomas Kaan). Pressing issues of our time—one being the war in the Middle East—are front and center in several projects (such as Francesca Tosarelli and Kamal Al Azraq’s The West Bank Project). An array of projects also play with form, notably Kristof Bilsen’s The Apologist, Anu Czerwiński’s Home Movie, Yara Costa’s Looking for the Mermaid, and Ibrahim Omar’s Dry Sky, which received IDFA Bertha Fund support.
Rough-Cut Presentations (overview provided by IDFA Forum)
Seven projects have been selected for Rough Cut Presentations at this year’s IDFA Forum. Highlights include the IDFA Bertha Fund-supported project Do You Love Me by Lana Daher, a much-anticipated archive-based film, which offers a glimpse into the inner lives of different generations in Lebanon—from the 1970s to the present—by following fictional and real characters, sourced from a range of mixed media, including Lebanese documentaries, fiction films, TV, and home videos. Drawing from various times and places, another project, The Eternal Soldier by Aleksandar Nikolic, weaves together archival footage of soldiers to conjure up a story of a timeless character who keeps rising from his grave to battle in yet another war. Another urgent project, set in the West Bank, Issa’s House by Tomer Heymann, will join the line-up, following its pitch presentation at Forum in 2023. Among other standout projects is Between Brothers, a Dutch-Belgian co- production, by Tom Fassaert, whose A Family Affair opened IDFA in 2015. First-time director Carine Wallauer will also unveil her project Copan, a Brazilian-French-Dutch co-production, which zeroes in on the residents of an eponymous building during a condominium election.
IDFA DocLab Forum (overview provided by IDFA Forum)
The market’s new media strand IDFA DocLab Forum presents 15 projects in various stages of development and production. The selection boasts diverse formats, including VR, theatrical live experiences, web-based games, video installations, immersive multiplayer experiences, and 3D motion capture. The line-up showcases a range of experimental and inventive projects that engage with such themes as displacement, mourning and memory, body dysmorphia, AI and deep fakes, and nature, among others.
Ambitious highlights include May Abdalla’s Amorphous, which marks the third installment of Anagram’s mental health series, following Impulse (which addresses ADHD) and Goliath (which focuses on schizophrenia). John Nathan and Damian Hale’s From Memory expands our understanding of Alzheimer’s, capturing the experiences of it from the perspective of those living with it and their loved ones. Delving into a related theme, Kate Voet and Victor Maes’ The Time of a Moment crafts a sensitive portrait of a 72-year-old pianist, Ida, living with dementia following the loss of her husband. A tonally different but no less compelling project comes Juul van der Laan. Her project, I M U, an AI film installation, employs live deepfake technology to manipulate and alter the viewer’s image, offering a meditative exploration of the self.
IDFA Forum 2024 – General info
Running from Sunday, November 17, to Wednesday, November 20, this year’s IDFA Forum will welcome film teams, industry representatives, and observers to attend the presentations for Producers Connection, the Forum Pitch, and DocLab Forum, along with the Rough Cut Presentations. The Rough Cut Presentations and Producers Connections are set for November 17, while the Forum Pitches and DocLab Forum presentations will take place over two days on November 18 and 19. Alongside the Forum events, IDFA’s premier market and distribution incubator for creative documentary films, Docs for Sale, runs concurrently from Saturday, November 16, to Wednesday, November 20, at the Felix Meritis venue, in the heart of Amsterdam’s Jordaan.
FORUM OVERVIEW
- Burning Daddy, dir. Tana Gilbert, prod. Paola Castillo/Errante (Chile), co-prod. Dirk Manthey/Dirk Manthey Film (Germany)
- Untitled Chilean Documentary, dir. Carola Fuentes, prod. Rafael Valdeavellano/La Ventana Cine (Chile), pro. Ina Fichman/Intuitive Pictures Inc. (Canada)Concrete Land, dir. Asmahan Bkerat, prod. Asmahan Bkerat, Ban Maraqa (Jordan), co-prod. Sam Soko (Kenya)
- Dry Sky, dir. Ibrahim Omar, prod. Ibrahim Omar, Sudan Film Institute (Sudan), Aya Yusuf/Shogl Cairo Pictures (Egypt), co-prod. Nadim Cheikhrouha/Tanit Films (France)
- Home Movie, dir. Anu Czerwiński, prod. Anna Stylińska, Katarzyna Slesicka/My Way Studio (Poland), co-prod. Alex Tondowski/Tondowski Films (Germany)
- House of the Holy Father, dir. Eva Mulvad, Andreas Koefoed, prod. Pernille Rose Grønkjær/Danish Documentary Production, Emil Wergeland/Danish Documentary Production (Denmark)
- Nanyang, dir. Enrico Parenti, prod. Susanna Trojano/Elliot Films (Italy), co-prod. Signe Byrge Sørensen/Final Cut for Real (Denmark)
- Queen of the Stone Age, dir. David Bernet, prod. Sarah Born/Catpics (Switzerland), Katharina Bergfeld/Ma.ja.de. Filmproduktions (Germany), co-prod. Rajko Jazbec/Catpics, Dario Schoch/Catpics
- Replica, dir. Chouwa Liang, prod. Andy Huang/Axel Rise Films (Australia)
- The Apologist, dir. Kristof Bilsen, prod. Kristof Bilsen/Limerick Films, co-prod. Rémi Grellety/Warboys Films, Sara Skrodzka/Warboys Films (France), Nienke Korthof/Tangerine Tree (The Netherlands), Benoît Roland/Wrong Men North (Belgium)
- The Beauty of Errors, dir. Jukka Kärkkäinen, prod. Juha Löppönen/Mouka Filmi, Sami Jahnukainen/Mouka Filmi (Finland), co-prod. Ove Rishøj Jensen/Auto Images, Magnus Gertten/Auto Images, Carsten Aanonsen/Indie Film (Sweden, Norway)
- The Eighth Continent, dir. Luuk Bouwman, Tomas Kaan, prod. Lea Fels/Scenery, Nanneke Landman/Scenery (The Netherlands)
- Confidential project, dir. a collective of filmmakers from Afghanistan
- In Front of Us, dir. Inna Sahakyan, prod. Vardan Hovhannisyan/Bars Media Documentary Film Studio (Armenia), co-prod. Inna Sahakyan/Bars Media Films (United States)
- The Return, dir. Aliona van der Horst, prod. Ilja Roomans/Docmakers (The Netherlands)
- The Road, dir. Cécile Allegra, Antarès Bassis, prod. Estelle Robin You/Grande Ourse Films (France)
- The Way We Move, dir. Nicolas Davenel, Vanessa Dumont, prod. Matthieu Belghiti/What’s Up Films (France), co-prod. Arnaud Le Guilcher/Wagram Productions, Hubert Cornet/Wagram Productions
- Transparency Booth: Echoes of the Future, dir. Anna Kapustina, Alexander Mihalkovich, prod. Anna Kapustina/Albatros Communicos Film Production, Alexander Mihalkovich/Albatros Communicos Film Production (Ukraine)
- The West Bank Project, dir. Francesca Tosarelli and Kamal Al Azraq, prod. Kamal Al Azraq/Voirex Production Company, Francesca Tosarelli (State of Palestine, Italy)
- Your Honour, dir. Bircan Birol, prod. Reece Cargan/Bombito Productions (United Kingdom)
PRODUCERS CONNECTION OVERVIEW
- As Red as Water, dir. Fabrizio Albertini, prod. Giorgio Viscardini/Studio x01, co-prod. Gabriele Rossi/ Studio x01 (Italy)
- Chunyu: A Death Foretold, dir. Fan Yang, prod. Yiqian Zhang/Electric Shadow (Canada), co-prod. Fan Yang (China)
- Clones In Heat, dir. Andrew Moir, prod. Jessica Adams/Hands Up Films (Canada)
- Emptiness, dir. Viesturs Kairšs, prod. Gints Grūbe/Mistrus Media, Elīna Gedina-Ducena/Mistrus Media (Latvia), co-prod. Livia Radulescu/Dash Film (Romania)
- Expelled, dir. Tudor Platon, prod. Carla Fotea/microFILM, Ada Solomon/microfilm (Romania)
- For Those Who Will Inherit The Earth, dir. Sara Hatira, prod. Sophie Haikali/Joe Vision Production (Namibia), co-prod. Tiny Mungwe/STEPS, Don Edkins/STEPS (South Africa)
- Green Gold, dir. Selim Benzeghia, Ivonne Serna, prod. Geoffrey Livolsi/Tati Films (France)
- How Love Moves, dir. Pallavi Paul, prod. Aman Mann/KiteRabbit Films (India)
- Looking for the Mermaid, dir. Yara Costa, prod. Yara Costa/YC Films (Mozambique). Co-prod. Tiny Mungwe (South Africa)
- Matriarchy, dir. Zara Arrehed, prod. Malcolm Dixelius/Dixit International, Ilja Stenberg/Dixit International (Sweden), co-prod. Esther van Messel/First Hand Films, Daniel Schneider/First Hand Films (Switzerland)
- People’s Republic of Letters, dir. Ruoyun Chen, prod. Ruoyun Chen/9BULAS (United States), co-prod. Kayo Zhang
- The Long Rescue, dir. Jennifer Huang, prod. Jennifer Huang/Treeclimber Media, Jethro Patalinghug (United States), co-prod. Hanz Florentino/ Studio Inspiro (Philippines)
- Untitled KQT Project, dir. Patrick Lee, prod. Patrick Lee/Patrick G. Lee LLC, Pulkit Datta (United States)
ROUGH-CUT PRESENTATIONS OVERVIEW
- Between Brothers, dir. Tom Fassaert, prod. Renko Douze/Een van de jongens (The Netherlands), co-prod. Hasse van Nunen for Een van de jongens (The Netherlands), Hanne Phlypo/Clin d’oeil films (Belgium)
- Copan, dir. Carine Wallauer, prod. Camilo Cavalcanti/Clariô Filmes, Viviane Mendonça/MVM Movimentos Culturais (Brazil), co-prod. Justin Pechberty/Les Valseurs, Nabil Bellahsene/Les Valseurs (France), Lea Fels/Scenery (The Netherlands)
- Crocodile, dir. Pietra Brettkelly, The Critics/Clan Yujo, prod. Pietra Brettkelly (New Zealand), The Critics/Clan Yujo (Nigeria)
- Do You Love Me, dir. Lana Daher, prod. prod. Jean-Laurent Csinidis/Films de Force Majeure (France), Lana Daher/My Little Films (Lebanon), co-prod. Jasper Mielke/Wood Water Films (Germany)
- The Eternal Soldier, dir. Aleksandar Nikolic, prod. Miloš Ivanović/Set Sail Films (Serbia), Friedemann Hottenbacher/Inselfilm Produktion (Germany), co-prod. Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan/Manifest Film (Romania), Jure Pavlovic/Sekvenca (Croatia), Mandy Chang/Undeniable Productions (United Kingdom)
- Issa’s House, dir. Tomer Heymann, prod. Tomer Heymann/Heymann Brothers Films, Ahmad Amro (State of Palestine), Leigh Heiman/Heymann Brothers Films (Israel), co-prod. Estelle Fialon/Les Films du Poisson (France)
- Whispers in May, dir. Dongnan Chen, prod. Jia Zhao/Muyi Film (China, The Netherlands), co-prod. Heejung Oh/Seesaw Films (South Korea)
IDFA DOCLAB FORUM OVERVIEW
- Amorphous, dir. May Abdalla, prod. Kirsty Jennings/Anagram (United Kingdom), co-prod. Katayoun Dibamehr/Floreal Films (France)
- Atomic Paradise: The Unseen Horizon, dir. John Harvey, prod. Sally Aitken/SAM Content (Australia)
- Battlefield of Dreams, dir. Floor Houwink ten Cate, prod. Anne Breure/Theater Utrecht (The Netherlands), co-prod. (United Kingdom)
- Beyond? dir. Yango González, prod. Yango González (Germany)
- From Memory, dir. John Nathan, Damian Hale, prod. Toby Coffey (United Kingdom), co-prod. Alex Eckford
- Homeing: Lost&Found Bureau, dir. Maria Kremer, prod. Maria Kremer/zvon studio/Homeing platform (Armenia), co-prod. Alina Mikhaleva Savelyeva/Less Media Group (Georgia)
- I M U, dir. Juul van der Laan, prod. Juul van der Laan/studio thnkthnk (the Netherlands), co-prod. V2_ (The Netherlands)
- Lady Lazarus, dir. Willemiek Kluijfhout, prod. Nienke Huitenga/Studio ZZZAP (The Netherlands)
- Normandie: A Documentary Video Game, dir. Sam Butin, prod. Nicolás
- Escarpentier/On The March (United States)
- Slipstreaming, dir. Giuseppe Chico, prod. Barbara Matijević (France, Croatia)
- The Four Floors of Faneuil Hall, dir. Simon Wood, Meghna Singh, prod. Simon Wood, Meghna Singh (South Africa, United States)
- The Library of All Possible Things, dir. Maria Laura Ruggiero, Ana Fraile, prod. Ana Fraile/Pulpo Films, Maria Laura Ruggiero/SeirenFilms (Argentina), co-prod. (United Kingdom)
- The Time of a Moment, dir. Kate Voet, Victor Maes, prod. Emmy Oost/Cassette for timescapes, An Oost/Cassette for timescapes (Belgium), co-prod. (Luxembourg, The Netherlands)
- to the other side… dir. Oliver Czeslik, prod. Kathrin Brunner/mYndstorm productions (Germany)
- Trolls vs Elves, dir. Aleks Rydzkowska, prod. Aleks Rydzkowska (Poland, United Kingdom)
