The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam will open its upcoming edition with the premiere of Four Journeys, a film by Louis Hothothot (Louis Yi Liu).
This year’s IDFA lineup includes 266 tiles, and will run from Nov. 17 to 28.
Four Journeys is a first-person narrative about the filmmaker, who was born in China in 1986 as an “illegal” second child. For this film, he returns home to reunite with his parents and sister, after a five-year hiatus, to disentangle his family history.
In addition, the festival has announced 14 selections for its international competition (see the titles below). Meanwhile, the Envision competition includes 15 films this year that are selected for being more exploratory and risk-taking. Also, the IDFA DocLab competition for immersive non-fiction selected 10 experiential films that use boundary-pushing immersive storytelling mediums like in-headset experiences, soft robotics installations. Another 10 projects were selected for the IDFA DocLab competition for digital storytelling, selected for how they illustrate different storytelling methods online.
IDFA has also announced the films in the running for its cross-section awards. Drawing from the international competition, Envision competition, Luminous and Frontlight, three international juries will choose the winners of the IDFA Award for best first feature, the IDFA Award for best Dutch film and the FIPRESCI Award. An international jury will select a winner, from across the program, of the Beeld en Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award for best creative use of archive.
The films selected for the IDFA international competition include:
After a Revolution, directed by Giovanni Buccomino, world premiere (Libya, Italy).
The Beach of Enchaquirados, directed by Ivan Mora Manzano, world premiere (Ecuador).
Children of the Mist, directed by Diem Ha Le, world premiere (Vietnam).
Day after…, directed by Kamar Ahmad Simon, world premiere (Bangladesh, France).
The Delights, directed by Eduardo Crespo, world premiere (Argentina).
How the Room Felt, directed by Ketevan Kapanadze, world premiere (Georgia).
Journey to the Sun, directed by Susana de Sousa Dias and Ansgar Schaefer, world premiere (Portugal).
Mr. Landsbergis, directed by Sergei Loznitsa, world premiere (Lithuania, Netherlands).
The One Who Runs Away Is the Ghost, directed by Qinyuan Lei, world premiere (Germany, China).
Taamaden, directed by Seydou Cissé, world premiere (Mali, Cameroon, South Africa).
A Thousand Fires, directed by Saeed Taji Farouky, international premiere (France, Switzerland, Netherlands, Palestine).
Turn Your Body to the Sun, directed by Aliona van der Horst, world premiere (Netherlands).
Vedette, directed by Claudine Bories and Patrice Chagnard, European premiere (France).
Where Are We Headed, directed by Ruslan Fedotow, world premiere (Belarus, Russia).
A full list of the IDFA’s program selections can be found on its website.
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