IDFA 24

Palestinian exile Jamal Hindawi wants to put on a political stage play which features a metaphorical patchwork jacket which represents the feuding interests that have staked a claim over Palestine. When the jacket is lost Jamal determines to find it, in the process demonstrating how the politics and economics of the region have severely affected the lives and livelihoods of its people. Director Mathijs Poppe discusses the film with BDE.

The prolific Dutch duo are back at IDFA with their heart-rending documentary about the Ukrainian babushkas (grandmas) currently sheltering in Amsterdam as war continues to rage back home. “The city made a big effort to find places for them. We wanted to do something in regards of what it means to be a displaced person,” Peter Lataster explains of his and partner Petra’s intentions with their film.

Lidija Zelovic left Bosnia for Amsterdam when the war in the Balkans began, but has recently noticed an equally disturbing rise in intolerance and xenophobia in The Netherlands. It chronicles the way that the Dutch political scene has increasingly come to resemble the powder keg in the Balkans she remembers from 30 years ago. There is an intolerance and xenophobia in the Netherlands that she simply doesn’t remember from when she first arrived in the country, she explains.

Orwa Nyrabia talks to BDE about his seventh, and final, IDFA as Artistic Director. He speaks about this year’s programme and robustly counters accusations that he has overlooked European filmmakers and their industries during his tenure. He also addresses the opening night events of 2023 when pro-Palestinian protesters stormed the stage. “No matter our good intentions and misunderstandings, we made mistakes last year,” he acknowledges.

What’s in a name? A lot, if you’re called John Smith, and you’ve developed, over the past 70-plus years, a psychological complex about bearing Britain’s most common name. In the very amusing Being John Smith, a recent winner at DOK Leipzig, the viewer is invited inside the mind of the eponymous director to understand what it is like to live with that curse. “Being called John Smith still undermines my sense of individuality and self-worth on an almost daily basis,” the director laments to BDE.

Short and Youth Competition titles have been announced alongside Signed, Best of Fests and Paradocs selections. Over 100 films have now been added to the IDFA 2024 program, “showcasing a wide selection of works by both critically acclaimed filmmakers and exceptional newcomers,” organisers write. The 37th edition of IDFA runs from November 14 to 24 in Amsterdam.

The Niger city of Agadez lies deep in the Sahara desert. It’s a very long way from Brussels but it was still part of a strange EU experiment. There was an attempt to create a new security border there, to combat terrorism and stem migration - a sort of Schengen equivalent in the African sands. Gerald Igor Hauzenberger and Gabriela Schild’s On The Border, a world premiere in IDFA, makes it clear why this border plan was doomed to failure. The filmmakers explain more to BDE.

Love may be at the heart of Myrid Carten’s feature documentary debut A Want In Her, but it comes at a price. When the director answered a call to return from London to help find her mother who had gone missing somewhere in Ireland, her response to the crisis was immediate, but so was her reflex to pick up her camera to record the process. Carten talks to BDE about her film, world-premiering in Amsterdam.

In Pictures in Mind, Eleonora Camizzi uses the medium of cinema to confront her father, Vincenzo, who has schizophrenia, asking him the difficult questions she has avoided for years. Set in a minimalist, symbolic space, the documentary explores their strained relationship and the challenges of living with a father in a different reality. The director recalls: “When we first watched it together, he said, ‘luckily I said yes to this project; it’d be a shame if this film didn’t exist.’”

Do You Love Me is Lana Daher’s personal journey through the fractured historical, social, cultural, and political landscapes of Beirut. Using mainly archive footage, the film weaves together the past and the present in a quest to better understand Lebanon’s history and current status. Business Doc Europe sat down with the helmer, who presented her doc project at this year’s IDFA.