Earlier this week, the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) announced the full programme of its 32nd edition, set to run from 20 November-1 December. The event will be opened by Mehrdad Oskouei’s Sunless Shadows [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film], an Iranian-Norwegian co-production that explores the secluded world of five young women living in a small juvenile detention centre.

This year, the feature-length competition will host 12 world or international premieres, with a strong focus on humanist filmmaking taking centre stage. The European productions and co-productions selected include Jørgen Leth’s I Walk [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Jørgen Leth
scheda film] (Denmark), Heidi Hassan and Patricia Pérez Fernández’s In a Whisper [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Patricia Pérez e Heidi Has…
scheda film] (Spain/France/Switzerland/Cuba), Kivu Ruhorahoza’s Europa, “Based on a True Story” [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film] (Rwanda/UK/Switzerland), Valentina Pedicini’s Faith [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Valentina Pedicini
scheda film] (Italy), Laura Herrero Garvín’s La Mami [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Laura Herrero Garvín
scheda film] (Mexico/Spain) and Maasja Ooms’s Punks [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film] (Netherlands). For the full line-up of this strand, please click here.

The competition for debut feature films, entitled “First Appearance”, comprises 12 titles, all set to have their world or international premieres, and directed by socially engaged filmmakers with a remarkable creative vision. In detail, the European productions and co-productions are Alyx Ayn Arumpac’s Aswang [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film] (Philippines/France/Norway/Qatar), Alejandro Salgado’s Barzakh [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film] (Spain), Ilia Povolotskiy’s Froth (Russia/Qatar), Eva Marie Rødbro’s I Love You I Miss You I Hope I See You Before I Die (Denmark), Małgorzata Goliszewska’s Lessons of Love [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Małgorzata Goliszewska e K…
scheda film] (Poland), Tali Yankelevich’s My Darling Supermarket (Brazil/Denmark), Lucy Parker’s Solidarity (UK), Marija Stojnić’s Speak So I Can See You [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Marija Stojnić
scheda film] (Serbia/Croatia/Qatar), and Nino Orjonikidze and Vano Arsenishvili’s A Tunnel (Georgia/Germany). For the full line-up of this strand, please click here.

The IDFA was also delighted to announce that 64% of the competition titles are directed by female filmmakers, with this figure standing at 47% across the overall programme. Moreover, 67% of the selected IDFA Forum projects are by women, 57% of the IDFA Bertha Fund-financed films are by female filmmakers, and 70% of IDFAcademy’s talents are women. All in all, these outstanding numbers represent the highest percentage of female filmmakers in the festival’s history. Speaking about this important achievement, IDFA artistic director Orwa Nyrabia said: “We are on track. Reaching a fairer representation was much easier than it seemed to be. We only had to keep our goal in mind. The outstanding films that found their way to us this year were a humble reminder that we are in the presence of some exceptional female filmmakers.”

During the press conference, the festival also announced the movies selected for the Digital Storytelling, Immersive Non-Fiction, DocLab Spotlights, Mid-Length Documentaries, Frontlight, Luminous, IDFA on Stage, Focus: It Still Hurts, Masters, and Best of Fests strands. Notable titles include works by Alan Berliner (Letter to the Editor, USA), Anders Østergaard (Winter Journey [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film], Denmark/Germany), Thomas Balmès (Sing Me a Song [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film], France/Germany/Switzerland), Yolande Zauberman (M [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film], France), Barbara Kopple (Desert One, USA) and Ignacio Agüero (I Never Climbed the Provincia, Chile).

Finally, this year’s main competition jurors will be Claire Simon, Mila Turajlic, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Gaston Kaboré and Rima Mismar.