IBF Films at IDFA 2019
Yearly Harvest
Each year, IBF-supported documentary films are selected for the IDFA program and included in IDFA’s Docs for Sale: an important moment in the international career of a documentary film. These films also contribute to the cultural diversity of IDFA and play a significant part in attracting interested audiences to the festival. In 2019, 15 films realized with the support of the IDFA Bertha Fund made it into the official festival selection, including the IDFA 2019 opening film Sunless Shadows, which received the IDFA Award for Best Directing in the Competition for Feature-Length Documentary. The IBF-supported documentary film Aswang picked up the FIPRESCI Award in the IDFA Competition for First Appearance. Of the entire IBF harvest at IDFA 2019, 14 films were new and one previously released; Beats of the Antonov came out in 2014, and was selected for the IDFA 2019 program Spotlight: Sudan.
In total, eight IBF films celebrated their world premieres at IDFA 2019, and six others had their world premieres at other prestigious film festivals around the world, such as the Berlinale, Fespaco, Hot Docs and Locarno Film Festival. Five IBF-supported documentary films were selected to participate in one of IDFA’s competition programs and five IBF-supported films were programmed with a special Doc Talk – an extended discussion after the screening. In addition to the regular screenings, IBF documentary films also screened in the VPRO and Volkskrant special sponsor selections and special IDFA programs such as Best of IDFA. As well as the main festival in November, 5 films were selected for IDFA-related screenings outside of Amsterdam taking place throughout the year. 130 IBF-supported films were also available year-round for online viewing on IDFA's online channel.
For a complete overview of the IBF supported films at IDFA 2019 see below.
Opening Film IDFA 2019
Sunless Shadows by Mehrdad Oskouei (Iran, Norway)
Trailer Sunless Shadows, by Mehrdad Oskouei
World Premieres at IDFA
IDFA Competition for Feature-Length Documentary
Sunless Shadows by Mehrdad Oskouei (Iran, Norway)
IDFA Competition for First Appearance
Aswang by Alyx Ayn Arumpac (Philippines, France, Norway, Qatar, Germany)
My Darling Supermarket by Tali Yankelevich (Brazil, Denmark)
Smog Town by Meng Han
A Tunnel by Nino Orjonikidze, Vano Arsenishvili (Georgia, Germany)
Trailer My Darling Supermarket, by Tali Yankelevich
Frontlight
The Letter by Maia Lekow, Christopher King (Kenya)
Luminous
A Comedian in a Syrian Tragedy by Rami Farah (France, Denmark, Syria, Jordan, Norway, Qatar)
The Forbidden Strings by Hasan Noori (Iran, Afghanistan, Qatar)
Trailer The Letter, by Maia Lekow
Dutch Premieres at IDFA
Best of Fests
143 Sahara Street by Hassan Ferhani (Algeria, France, Qatar)
Buddha in Africa by Nicole Schafer (South Africa, Sweden)
Khartoum Offside by Marwa Zein (Sudan, Denmark)
No Gold for Kalsaka by Michel K. Zongo (Burkina Faso, Germany)
Talking about Trees by Suhaib Gasmelbari (France, Sudan, Germany, Chad, Qatar)
Tiny Souls by Dina Naser (Jordan, Qatar, France)
Trailer Buddha in Africa, by Nicole Schafer
Spotlight: Sudan
Beats of the Antonov by Hajooj Kuka (Sudan, South Africa)
Khartoum Offside by Marwa Zein (Sudan, Denmark)
Talking about Trees by Suhaib Gasmelbari (France, Sudan, Germany, Chad, Qatar)
Trailer Khartoum Offside, by Marwa Zein
Awards at IDFA
Award for Best Directing in the IDFA Competition for Feature-Length Documentary
Sunless Shadows by Mehrdad Oskouei (Iran, Norway)
FIPRESCI Award in the IDFA Competition for First Appearance Documentary
Aswang by Alyx Ayn Arumpac (Philippines, France, Norway, Qatar, Germany)
Trailer Aswang, by Alyx Ayn Arumpac
Doc Talks at IDFA 2019
Beats of the Antonov - Margje de Koning (artistic director Movies that Matter) spoke with Hajooj Kuka, the director. Accompanied by a music performance.
Khartoum Offside – Margje de Koning (artistic director Movies that Matter) spoke with director Marwa Zein and Meg Smith (program director Women Win).
No Gold For Kalsaka - The film screening was followed by an interview with director Michel K. Zongo and Sjirk Prins, Sustainability Analyst at ASN Bank.
Talking About Trees – Interview with director Suhaib Gasmelbari and the four main characters, led by Seada Nourhussen (chief editor of OneWorld).
Spotlight: Sudan - Conversation with directors Marwa Zein, Hajooj Kuka and Suhaib Gasmelbari, led by Jelena Sporin.
Doc Talk No Gold For Kalsaka
IBF Films at Docs for Sale 2019
All the IBF supported films selected for IDFA 2019 were in IDFA’s documentary market Docs for Sale. On top of that there were two more IBF films available in Docs for Sale 2019:
A Great Trip to a Small Country by Mariana Viñoles (Uruguay)
Sumercé by Victoria Solano Ortega (Colombia, United Kingdom)
Still from Sumercé, by Victoria Solano Ortega
IDFA throughout the year 2019
Best of IDFA on Tour
Los Reyes by Bettina Perut & Iván Osnovikoff (Chile, Germany)
IDFA at Vlieland
A Tunnel by Nino Orjonikidze & Vano Arsenishvili (Georgia, Germany)
Aswang by Alyx Ayn Arumpac (Philippines, France, Norway, Qatar, Germany)
Smog Town by Meng Han
IDFA Film Specials
Freedom Fields by Naziha Karima Arebi (Libya, UK, Netherlands, USA, Lebanon, Qatar, Canada)
Trailer A Tunnel, by Nino Orjonikidze & Vano Arsenishvili