International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam
The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam is the world's largest documentary film festival held annually since 1988 in Amsterdam. Over a period of twelve days, it has screened more than 300 films and sold more than 250,000 tickets. Visitors to the festival have increased from 65,000 in 2000 to 285,000 in 2018.
The festival is an independent, international meeting place for audiences and professionals to see a diverse program of high-quality documentaries. IDFA selects creative and accessible documentaries, which offer new insights into society. In its mission statement, IDFA says it ‘strives to screen films with urgent social themes that reflect the spirit of the time in which they are made’.
The festival was initially held at the Leidseplein area in the centre of Amsterdam. It has since spread to a number of other locations, including Tuschinski Cinema and EYE Filmmuseum. Apart from its international film program, the variety of genres and the many European and world premieres featured each year, the festival also hosts debates, forums and workshops. Since 2007, the festival's New Media program IDFA DocLab showcases the best interactive non-fiction storytelling and explores how the digital revolution is reshaping documentary art.
In addition to the festival, IDFA has developed several professional activities, contributing to the development of filmmakers and their films at all stages. At co-financing and co-production market IDFA Forum filmmakers and producers pitch their plans to financiers; at Docs for Sale new documentaries are on offer to programmers and distributors; the IDFA Bertha Fund supports filmmakers and documentary projects in developing countries; and the IDFAcademy offers an international training programs for up-and-coming doc talents.
IDFA was founded by Ally Derks, who remained at the helm from 1988 until 2017, when she stepped down. Barbara Visser oversaw the 2017 edition as interim director. In January 2018, Syrian film producer Orwa Nyrabia was appointed as the new artistic director of IDFA.
Prizes
The best new documentaries of the year compete in IDFA's main competition programs:- The IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary for best documentary longer than 70 minutes.
- The IDFA Award for Best Mid-Length Documentary for best documentary between 40 and 70 minutes.
- The IDFA Award for Best Short Documentary for best documentary under 40 minutes.
- The IDFA Award for Best First Appearance for best debut film.
- The IDFA Award for Best Student Documentary for best student documentary from film academies around the world.
- The Beeld en Geluid IDFA Award for Dutch Documentary for best Dutch documentary.
Alongside the competition programs, five awards are awarded during IDFA:
- VPRO IDFA Audience Award for best film as voted by audience.
- Amsterdam Human Rights Award for the documentary that best depicts the theme of human rights.
- Prins Bernard Cultuurfonds Documentary Scholarship, a €50,000 grant for a documentary talent, allowing the recipient to make a documentary about a subject of their choice.
- Filmfonds DocLab Interactive Grant, a cash prize for the development of interactive projects within the Netherlands.
- Karen de Bok Talent Award for the winner of the IDFAcademy & NPO-fonds workshop. It is the successor of the Media Fund Award Documentary. The NPO Fund awards the winner €25,000 to further develop the project in collaboration with a producer and a broadcast.
Program sections
Regular programs
- Masters
- Best of Fests
- Panorama
- Paradocs
- Music Documentary
Specials
In addition to the regular programs, each year the festival presents programs like the Queer Day, featuring new documentaries about LGBTQ related topics; Focus programs which zoom in on aspects like sound design, editing and cinematography or a topical theme; a themed program by DocLab, featuring live events and an interactive exhibition; and a retrospective of a filmmaker who also chooses a personal documentary Top 10.Award winners
IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary (formerly: Joris Ivens Award)
| Year | Film | Director | Nationality of Director |
| 1988 | Birthplace Unknown | Karin Junger | |
| 1988 | Ksjsiner | Ruben Gevorksjanz | |
| 1989 | Šķērsiela | Ivars Seleckis | |
| 1990 | Christo in Paris | D. Maysles | |
| 1991 | Dreams and Silence | Omar Al-Quattan | |
| 1992 | La Memoria del agua | Hector Faver | |
| 1993 | Belovy | Victor Kossakovsky | |
| 1994 | Solo, de wet van de Favela | Jos de Putter | |
| 1995 | Délits Flagrants | Raymond Depardon | |
| 1996 | Atman | Pirjo Honkasalo | / |
| 1997 | Auf der Kippe | Andrei Schwartz | |
| 1998 | Fotoamator / Photographer | Dariusz Jablonski | |
| 1999 | André Hazes - Zij gelooft in mij | John Appel | |
| 2000 | The Sea That Thinks | Gert de Graaff | |
| 2001 | Family | Phie Ambo & Sami Saif | |
| 2002 | Stevie | Steve James | |
| 2003 | Checkpoint | Yoav Shamir | |
| 2004 | Stand van de maan | Leonard Retel Helmrich | |
| 2005 | My Grandmother's House | Adán Aliaga | |
| 2006 | ' | Pernille Rose Grønkjær | |
| 2007 | Stranded | Gonzalo Arijon | |
| 2008 | ' | Anders Østergaard | |
| 2009 | Last Train Home | Lixin Fan | |
| 2010 | Position Among the Stars | Leonard Retel Helmrich | |
| 2011 | Planet of Snail | Seung-jun Yi | |
| 2012 | First Cousin Once Removed | Alan Berliner | |
| 2013 | Song from the Forest | Michael Obert | |
| 2014 | Of Men and War | :fr:Laurent Bécue-Renard|Laurent Bécue-Renard | / |
| 2015 | Don Juan | :se:Jerzy Sladkowski|Jerzy Sladkowski | / |
| 2016 | Nowhere to Hide | Zaradasht Ahmed | / |
| 2017 | The Other Side of Everything | Mila Turajlić | |
| 2018 | Reason | Anand Patwardhan |
VPRO IDFA Audience Award
Special Jury Prize
IDFA Award for Best Mid-Length Documentary (formerly: Silver Wolf Award)
IDFA Award for Best Short Documentary (formerly: Silver Cub Award)
IDFA Award for Best First Appearance
Movies that Matter Human Rights Award
IDFA DOC U! Award for the youth jury’s favorite film (formerly: Moviesquad DOC U! Award)
IDFA Award for Best Student Documentary
| Year | Film | Director | Nationality of Director |
| 2007 | Paradise – Three Journeys in This World | Elina Hirvonen | |
| 2008 | Shakespeare and Victor Hugo's Intimacies | Yulene Olaizola | |
| 2009 | Redemption | Sabrina Wulff | |
| 2015 | My Aleppo | Melissa Langer |
IDFA DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling
| Year | Film | Director | Nationality of Director |
| 2010 | Out My Window | Katerina Cizek | |
| 2011 | In Situ | Antoine Viviani |