IDFA 2023

From early justifications for slavery to the discrimination faced by Black Americans today, Stamped From The Beginning argues that economic power has always been at the heart of systemic racism. Oscar-winning director Roger Ross Williams uses interviews and animated sequences to especially highlight the anti-racist activism of Black women.

In visually breathtaking fashion, and full of wonderful, human, slightly absurdist observations, As the Tide Comes In tells the story of the Danish Wadden Island of Mandø through Gregers, the last farmer resident. At the same time, it is - inevitably - a story about climate change and humankind’s fight for and against nature.

Four Polish docs-in-progress, all made by female directors, were presented November 13 to the great and the good of the international documentary sector. Two are by debutants (Julia Kuzka and Natalia Pietsch) while two are by established filmmakers (Agnieszka Zwiefka and Malgorzata Szumowska). KFF Sales & Promotion is also selling Girl’s Stories by Aga Borzym, which premiered at IDFA Youth Competition.

It may not be a hugely original premise - to invite (very) old people to talk about their lives and former partners - but Echo of Life is a wondrous experience that touches your soul. It is a poetic reflection on life and love which indicates that, by the end, we remember what really matters, and shows how important (shared) memories are in a person's life.

Business Doc Europe spoke to Zenit producer Massimo Arvat, the delegate in charge of internationalization for Doc/It, the Italian association of doc filmmakers and producers made up of 170 members, and active since 1999. During our chat, Arvat touched on this year’s slate of projects, the main industry activities and the current state of the country’s non-fiction landscape.

Paris-based The Party Film Sales is specialised in repping both fiction and documentary films worldwide. “We’re proud to present almost all our main documentaries of the year, among which some are still in the race for Academy Awards,” the firm’s co-head of International Sales Estelle De Araujo told Business Doc Europe at IDFA 2023.

A Palestinian filmmaker is stranded in Tromsø, above the Arctic Circle, unable to return to Gaza. This was Mohamed Jabaly’s situation in 2014 when he began filming this documentary. But while his emotional and political vicissitudes inevitably mirror the current war in the region, Jabaly never lets us forget his motto: life is beautiful.

IDFA staff posted an onsite message November 12 which looked to reach out to the aggrieved parties affected by the events of the opening night when protesters took to the stage to present to display a ‘from the river to the sea’ banner.

The film, which world-premiered in IDFA Envision section November 10, concerns recent archaeological findings in southern Portugal which reveal Portugal's forgotten role in the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved African people. “We're proud to be part of a project that sparks important conversations and helps us understand our shared history better,” says CEO Irena Taskowski, whose company celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2023.

Few radical feminist filmmakers are as provocative or as witty as Helke Sander, the subject of Claudia Richarz’s new feature doc, Helke Sander: Cleaning House, an international premiere in IDFA’s Luminous. What’s more, Sander is not the type to take a backward step. “Keep on fighting, don’t give up” is how German director Richarz sums up her approach to life.