IBF Films at IDFA 2020
Film still 5 Houses, dir. Bruno Gularte Barreto (Brazil).
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. In 2020 the IDFA festival took place in a hybrid form, with all industry activities taking place online, including IDFA's Docs for Sale. All selected films received several online screenings and films celebrating their world or international premiere had one physical screening take place in a cinema in Amsterdam. Unfortunately, the filmmakers were not able to attend these in person, but various online Q&As and Filmmaker Talks were organised in which they participated through a livestream and connected with the audience in the Netherlands. For the IDFA 2020 program, seven films realized with the support of the IDFA Bertha Fund made it into the official festival selection, including Radiograph of a Family from Iran, which received the IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary and the De Beeld en Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award for best creative use of archive, and This Rain Will Never Stop from Ukraine, which received the IDFA Award for Best First Appearance. In total, three IBF films celebrated their world premieres at IDFA 2020 and were selected to participate in one of IDFA's competition programs. Four others had their world premieres at the prestigious film festivals of Cannes and Sundance, where The Earth Is Blue as an Orange from Ukraine won the Directing Award in the World Cinema Documentary category.
Two IBF-supported directors gave a Filmmaker Talk during the festival, amongst whom Dieudo Hamadi from the DRC, director of Downstream to Kinshasa which was programmed in the Masters section of IDFA.
In addition to the regular online and on-site screenings, The Mole Agent was included in the IDFA Extended program: a program of seven IDFA selected films that were screened in over 40 theatres through-out Amsterdam and the rest of the Netherlands during the festival. The Mole Agent was also selected for the Volkskrant Selection and VPRO Extra. Next to the festival in November, many previously IBF-supported films were selected for IDFA-related screenings throughout the year. For example, Sunless Shadows from Iran, opening film and award winner at IDFA 2019, was selected for the special IDFA program Best of IDFA. Talking about Trees from Sudan was selected for IDFA in Kriterion and Tiny Souls from Jordan was screened during a special closed online screening for IDFA’s Special Friends. 134 IBF-supported films have also been made available for year-round online viewing in the IDFA Online Collection.
World Premieres at IDFA
IDFA Competition for Feature-Length Documentary
Radiograph of a Family, dir. Firouzeh Khosrovani (Norway, Iran, Switzerland)
IDFA Competition for First Appearance
5 Houses, dir. Bruno Gularte Barreto (Brazil, Germany)
This Rain Will Never Stop, dir. Alina Gorlova (Ukraine, Latvia, Germany)
Trailer: Radiograph of a Family, dir. Firouzeh Khosrovani.
Dutch Premieres at IDFA
Best of Fests
Downstream to Kinshasa, dir. Dieudo Hamadi (Democratic Republic of the Congo, France, Belgium)
The Earth is Blue as an Orange, dir. Iryna Tsilyk (Ukraine, Lithuania)
The Mole Agent, dir. Maite Alberdi (Chile, United States, Germany, Netherlands, Spain)
Once Upon a Time in Venezuela, dir. Anabel Rodríguez Ríos (Venezuela, United Kingdom, Austria, Brazil)
Trailer: The Mole Agent, dir. Maite Alberdi.
Awards at IDFA
IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary
Radiograph of a Family, dir. Firouzeh Khosrovani (Norway, Iran, Switzerland)
IDFA Award for Best First Appearance
This Rain Will Never Stop, dir. Alina Gorlova (Ukraine, Latvia, Germany)
De Beeld en Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award for best creative use of archive
Radiograph of a Family, dir. Firouzeh Khosrovani (Norway, Iran, Switzerland)
Trailer: This Rain Will Never Stop, dir. Alina Gorlova.
Talks at IDFA 2020
Filmmaker Talk
With Firouzeh Khosrovani - Writer Pamela Cohn talks with her about her body of work, creative methods, and views on documentary filmmaking, highlighted by excerpts from her films. Watch the talk here.
With Dieudo Hamadi - Talk with filmmakers of French co-produced films from Africa, focusing on their experience as filmmakers and how their films are rethinking African-European relations.
Doc Talk
With Dieudo Hamadi - about the making of his film, the importance of commemorating the devastating impact of war, of justice, but above all the resilience of war victims. Watch the talk here.
Filmmaker Talk: New Perspectives on African-European Relations, with Dieudo Hamadi at IDFA 2020.
IBF Films at Docs for Sale 2020
All the IBF supported films selected for IDFA 2020 were in IDFA’s documentary market Docs for Sale. On top of that there were two more IBF films available in Docs for Sale 2020:
Fly So Far by Celina Escher (Sweden, El Salvador)
Watch Over Me by Farida Pacha (Switzerland, Germany, India)
Film still: Fly So Far, dir. Celina Escher.
IDFA throughout the year 2020
Best of IDFA on Tour
Sunless Shadows, dir. Mehrdad Oskouei (Iran, Norway)
IDFA in Kriterion
Talking About Trees, dir. Suhaib Gasmelbari (Sudan, France, Germany, Chad, Qatar)
Film still: Talking About Trees, dir. Suhaib Gasmelbari.