Talent development
Photo: IBF-supported filmmakers participating at IDFA Project Space 2025 in summer in Amsterdam
In addition to providing financing, the IDFA Bertha Fund—as part of IDFA’s Filmmaker Support department—offers filmmakers access to training opportunities that support them throughout the creative and production process. With training and funding as the two pillars of the Filmmaker Support department, the Fund is committed to helping emerging talents develop their projects and deepen their understanding of the documentary industry. To this end, IBF invites selected filmmakers to participate in IDFA’s professional training programs. In 2025, 23 IBF-supported filmmakers took part in IDFA’s two international training initiatives: IDFA Project Space and IDFAcademy.
IDFA Project Space
Carefully tailored to filmmakers’ individual needs, IDFA Project Space supports first- or second-time directors through a combination of project workshopping and longer-term mentorship and support, all under the guidance of experienced mentors.
Over the course of four months, IDFA Project Space offers diverse activities such as Filmmaker Talks, one-on-one meetings with assigned tutors, and dedicated sessions with a psychotherapist working with filmmakers. Participants and tutors are encouraged to exchange experiences and share feedback—and most importantly, to walk away with new creative inspiration and drive to complete their compelling and urgent projects.
In 2025, the sixth edition of IDFA Project Space welcomed sixteen international filmmaking teams with projects in development, production, or editing. Six of these projects were previously supported by the IDFA Bertha Fund.
Read more about the 2025 edition of IDFA Project Space here.
IDFAcademy
Taking place every November during IDFA, IDFAcademy offers emerging international documentary filmmakers and producers the opportunity to connect and exchange with highly esteemed documentary professionals.
From November 13 to 16, 2025, the filmmakers of twelve IBF-supported documentary projects participated in IDFAcademy.
The four-day program includes sessions such as Filmmaker Talks, where well-known directors and leading industry professionals from IDFA’s film selection share their experiences to inspire participants in their own creative processes. The program also features a combination of round table discussions, group sessions, and case studies designed to provide insight into the international documentary market and current trends, helping participants develop a broad understanding of the sector. Social events take place daily to encourage new collaborations and increase the network of the participants.
During IDFAcademy, several IBF-supported filmmakers took center stage at different Talks:
- Iranian director Firouzeh Khosrovani on the making of Past, Future, Continuous (IDFA 2025) – IDFAcademy Opening Talk
- Argentinian filmmaker María Silvia Esteve on filmmaker-character relationships in Mailin (IDFA 2025) – Filmmaker Talk: Characters close up
- Ukrainian producer Eugene Rachkovsky (Militantropos, IDFA 2025) and Zimbabwean director Nyasha Kandera (Matabeleland, IDFA 2025) on co-producing – Filmmaker Talk: How to collaborate in a (co-)production
- Lebanese director Lana Daher (Do You Love Me, IDFA 2025) explored the creative process in the editing – Filmmaker Talk: Cutting Memories - intimacy, history, and the archive
Read more about IDFAcademy 2025 here.
Talent development in numbers
SINCE 2008
112 IDFA Bertha Fund projects participated in IDFA's talent development programs; 77 of these projects have since been realized; 65 of which were selected for the IDFA program, of which, 23 in one of the festival's competitions,
12 of them won awards at IDFA and 1 being IDFA's opening film.
SINCE 2015
97 IDFA Bertha Fund projects fully participated in IDFAcademy during IDFA since 2015.
Photo: IDFA Project Space participants during the on-site week in the Documentary Pavillion in Amsterdam
Film still: The Pulse of the Volcanoes, dir. Anais Taracena