IDFA supports ‘Brave Cinematic, Creative Documentaries’

The Industry Program at the documentary festival IDFA will launch Friday. It is an in-person event but also offers remote access for those who can’t travel to Amsterdam. Head of industry Adriek van Nieuwenhuijzen and market manager Selin Murat speak to VarietyLearn more about what participants can look forward to.

Van Nieuwenhuijzen explains that what was learned last year from digital experimentation has not been lost. And, this year, it is a hybrid. “We know that, for the whole industry, these personal encounters, in-person meetings, are crucial,”She said. “But we also learned that we are far more accessible for many people [through remote access]. So that’s why I’m happy that we still have the opportunity to offer some visibility for [the producing] teams who cannot come to Amsterdam.”The online passesThe IDFA offers are “a great opportunity for people around the world to see what’s happening and to stay up to date,”She said.

The Industry Program team had made some changes in 2019 to its in-person activities, which were now being revived. “We made the whole pitching experience for the pitch team – so for the producers and filmmakers – as well as for the audience, and the decision makers and industry professionals, far more intimate. So less the feeling of a UN type of meeting or board meeting. It became more an intimate space where it’s far more about an exchange of ideas and your cinematic approach.”

The Producers Connection is part of IDFA Forum. It has 15 projects. However, it was born out of the Producers Program in 2019. The goal was to encourage producers and encourage them to work together on more projects than one-off ones, and encourage them to co-produce projects without relying on broadcasters, platforms or distributors.

“It’s really about collaboration between producers and encouraging their creative input. It’s not that these projects are being presented to a potential financier, such as platforms or broadcasters or distributors,” Van Nieuwenhuijzen says.

One objective is to promote the development “brave, cinematic, creative documentaries, which are challenging, a little bit out of the box,”She said.

This serves as a counterbalance to many broadcasters’ preference for documentary filmmaking in a more traditional way. “Most of these streamers are very commercial, and they are making films for the vast majority [of viewers]. So it’s hard for them to experiment with other styles of filmmaking, different types of narrative,” Van Nieuwenhuijzen says.

Murat adds: “We made a selection of all kinds of feature-length projects [in the Forum program]This could be of interest to streamers, broadcasters, and independent cinemas. We chose to work with projects that we felt strongly about, in terms of their creative narratives.

“You’ll see many kinds of projects, and some could be exciting for streamers. What we want to show them is the breadth of what can be made, so maybe they’ll feel inspired to take some chances.”

Streamers “always evolving,”Murat claims that IDFA is “hoping to attract different kinds of platforms.”

In the meantime, theatrical distributors are recovering from very difficult times over the last year and half. “To put it mildly, it’s not the best time for them,” Van Nieuwenhuijzen says. “It is really difficult to come back from that.”

Among the popular topics that are explored in projects in IDFA’s industry section is gender identity, such as Kani Lapuerta’s “Niñxs,” Nada Riyadh and Ayman El Amir’s “Land of Women,” Paul B. Preciado’s “Orlando: My Political Biography,” and Viv Li’s “The Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest.”

Another topic of interest is migration. But instead of following the travels of migrants, the films often focus on the experience of migrants once they settle in their new home and the reactions of the host communities. In some films, the filmmakers are the subjects. “reflect on the fact that they feel displaced, or they are looking for their own cultural identity,” Van Nieuwenhuijzen says.

In Joseph Paris’ “The Flag,”The director examines how France’s media has influenced attitudes towards citizens with different backgrounds than the majority. This is what the director calls “a hardening” of attitudes. “the Other.” Hanka Nobis’ “Brotherhood”A young Polish man with anti-immigration sentiments is seen. He then undergoes a process to de-radicalize.

Some filmmakers have a wealth to choose from because of the widespread use of smartphones with video cameras. One example is Victoria Mapplebeck’s “Motherboard,”The film, which was directed by the BAFTA-awarded director, documents her life as single mother over 17 years. It is shot on various devices.

Filmmaking in some parts of the world is a dangerous activity and some projects are being kept under wraps for that reason, and Van Nieuwenhuijzen says one of IDFA’s roles, with the support of the IDFA Bertha Fund, is to champion such projects, especially when it is difficult for them to attract backing in their home countries or they are subject to political repression.