IDFA 24

Mati Diop’s stunning Dahomey, winner of the Berlinale Golden Bear and nominated for the European Film Award for Documentary, is a magical work about the restitution of colonial treasures. Diop follows these precious cultural artefacts from the ‘prison’ of a Parisian museum depot back to their home country of Benin, where they once more assume living and mythical significance.

Directors Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui discuss their highly emotional new feature doc Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (a market screening in IDFA), which tells the story of the brilliant, Juilliard-trained actor, plucked from anonymity to star as the Man of Steel in the Superman movies. After a catastrophic horse-riding accident in 1995 left him paralysed, Reeve became a campaigner for disabled rights.

Anaïs Clanet of French sales company Reservoir Docs fills in BDE on her IDFA 2024 slate. While many films on her slate are selling well, other rapturously received films are proving a lot harder to shift. “It’s an extremely difficult period because public television does not buy a lot,” says Clanet. “I am being nice and kind saying that, because they pretty much buy nothing.”

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.

After a long and successful tenure as Artistic Director, Orwa Nyrabia will be stepping down from his role at IDFA at the end of his current term in the summer of 2025, the festival announced November 7. He announced his decision jointly with the organization in the run-up to the 2024 festival edition from November 14-24, making this upcoming edition the seventh and last under his leadership. Nyrabia will remain in place until July 1, 2025 to ensure a smooth transition, the festival writes.

This year's Docs for Sale catalogue showcases a fresh slate of 331 films from more than 81 countries. Several distinct themes and approaches emerge in the line-up, “including the complicated relationship between man and nature, the fragility of ecosystems, and the effects of climate change,” write organisers. During the festival, Docs for Sale will once again take place at Felix Meritis from November 16 to 20.

IDFA Artistic Director Orwa Nyrabia announced October 15 the 13 films in International Competition this year at the Amsterdam-based docfest, one of which, About a Hero by Piotr Winiewicz, will open the festival on November 14. Nyrabia also announced the selections in its Envision, Luminous, Frontlight, and IDFA DocLab sections. “The diversity of artistic tendencies is staggering. The program introduces some of the most beautiful works of recent years, including a few instant classics,” he said. “It is a program that defends documentary cinema better than ever before.”

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. “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,” says Adriek van Nieuwenhuijzen, Head of IDFA Industry.

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 festival will highlight Grimonprez’s “uncompromising approach to challenging narratives and reinterpreting historical events through a critical, contemporary lens.” The director’s Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat won the Special Jury Award for Cinematic Innovation at Sundance 2024. The festival also announced its new Dead Angle programme, a dedicated Spotlight on Cuba, and first titles within IDFA on Stage and IDFA DocLab sections.