Years running: 34 (since 1988)
International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam.
About
The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is the world's largest documentary film festival held annually since 1988 in Amsterdam.
The festival was initially held at the Leidseplein area in the centre of Amsterdam. The festival has since spread to a number of other locations. Cinemas and other institutes that have hosted the festival are: de Balie, Pathé City Theater, Filmmuseum Cinerama, Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam, Paradiso, the Ketelhuis, the Hotel American, Tuschinski Cinema, Pathé De Munt multiplex, Theatercompagnie and Arti et Amicitiae.
The objective of the IDFA is to promote creative documentaries and to present them to as wide an audience as possible. It started as a small festival and has grown to an eleven-day festival, screening more than 200 documentaries and attracting nearly 120,000 visitors.
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.
Competitive sections:
Non-competitive sections:
Awards
Rules
IDFA Competition for Feature-Length Documentary
IDFA Competition for First Appearance
IDFA Competition for Mid-Length Documentary
IDFA Competition for Dutch Documentary
New media Competition (projects that represent reality, ranging from digital non-fiction storytelling and art to physical installations, virtual reality experiences, live performances and multimedia projects):
IDFA DocLab is open to all sorts of works that use new media to represent reality, ranging from digital non-fiction storytelling and art to physical installations, virtual reality experiences, live performance and multimedia projects. For reference, see the IDFA DocLab page.
IDFA Competition for Short Documentary
IDFA Competition for Student Documentary
IDFA Competition for Kids & Docs
Documents and Other Requisite Items
Subtitles language: English
Premiere Requirements
Continental premiere required.
Jury and Organizers
Documents
Place
Netherlands
Amsterdam
Official Website
Contacts
Address:
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam
Frederiksplein 52
1017 XN Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Phone: +31 20 6273329
Email: info@idfa.nl
Social Networks:
Open to films made for children up to 13 years of age. Open to films of any length. Screening or broadcast in the Netherlands prior to the festival does not exclude the film, although priority will be given to world, international and European premieres.
For films between 45 and 60 minutes.
Films from the IDFA Competition for Dutch Documentary section plus Dutch productions from the IDFA Competition for Feature-Length Documentary, IDFA Competition for Mid-Length Documentary and IDFA Competition for First Appearance compete for the IDFA Award for Dutch Documentary. Open to Dutch productions. If 50% or more of the film’s financing originated from sources within The Netherlands, the film will be regarded as being a Dutch production.
Open to first-time or second-time directors. When deciding whether this is your first or second film, IDFA not only counts your previously directed documentaries, but also fiction, animation and experimental films. Graduation projects from film schools or universities should be submitted for the IDFA Competition for Student Documentary. Open to films of any length.
For films longer than 60 minutes.
Open to (graduation) films for a film school/university. IDFA will not accept documentary exercises. Open to films of any length (films under 30 minutes could also be included in this section). Screening or broadcast in the Netherlands prior to the festival does not exclude the film, although priority will be given to world, international and European premieres.
International non-competitive section containing films that have made an impact on the international festival circuit. Open to international productions. Open to films of any length. Screening or broadcast in the Netherlands prior to the festival rules out the film. Priority is given to European premieres. Short films (under 45 minutes) may have had any number of public theatrical exhibitions, been released on DVD, and may have been broadcast on television or the internet and still retain eligibility. Priority is still given to European premieres.
International non-competitive section containing films made by renowned (documentary) filmmakers. Open to international productions. Open to films of any length. Screening or broadcast in the Netherlands prior to the festival rules the film out. Priority is given to world, international and European premieres. Short films (under 45 minutes) may have had any number of public theatrical exhibitions, been released on DVD, and may have been broadcast on television or the internet and still retain eligibility. Priority is still given to world, international and European premieres.
International non-competitive section containing films that are thought-provoking in form and/or theme. Open to international productions. Open to films of any length. Screening or broadcast in the Netherlands prior to the festival rules the film out. Priority is given to world, international and European premieres. Short films (under 45 minutes) may have had any number of public theatrical exhibitions, been released on DVD, and may have been broadcast on television or the internet and still retain eligibility. Priority is still given to world, international and European premieres.
International non-competitive section containing films about music – in the broadest sense of the word. Open to (inter)national productions. Open to films of any length. For Dutch productions only world premieres can be accepted. Screening or broadcast in the Netherlands prior to the festival rules out the film. Priority is given to world, international and European premieres. Short films (under 45 minutes) may have had any number of public theatrical exhibitions, been released on DVD, and may have been broadcast on television or the internet and still retain eligibility. Priority is still given to world, international and European premieres.
Paradocs is a program made up of experimental documentaries and documentary experiments. The form and content of these projects vary considerably from the conventional, dominant documentary formats suited to TV and the cinema. Paradocs is open to films of any length but also to video installations and other media which are not necessarily presented in a cinema. We also encourage visual artists to submit their documentary projects. Documentaries may have been presented or broadcast in the Netherlands prior to the festival, but IDFA gives priority to premieres.
Films that originated from one of the training and education programs of IDFA (IDFA-Mediafonds Workshop, IDFA Kids & Docs Workshop or the IDFAcademy Summer School) receive the label IDFAcademy Results and can be selected for one of the regular sections as listed above (see 2.1 through 2.12). Open to films of any length. Only Dutch documentaries may have been screened or broadcast in the Netherlands prior to the festival, but IDFA gives priority to premieres. Documentaries will be presented to visitors and professionals. The documentaries will be presented with English dialogue or in their original versions with English subtitles.
For films shorter than 40 minutes.
All sorts of works that use new media to represent reality, ranging from digital non-fiction storytelling and art to physical installations, virtual reality experiences, live performance and multimedia projects. The IDFA DocLab program and competition are open to unreleased projects, as well as projects that have been made publicly available on the internet after August 2015. Priority is given to projects that have not yet been presented at other events or festivals.
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