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IDFA 2021 IDFA for Professionals

IDFA Forum announces 62 projects selected for in-person 2021 edition

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- The co-production and co-financing market will celebrate its 29th edition this year

IDFA Forum announces 62 projects selected for in-person 2021 edition
Still from Bride in Search of Happiness by Tea Vidovic Dalipi

As IDFA Forum is now confirmed to take place in Amsterdam from 20 to 26 November, the event has revealed the list of the projects selected for this year’s edition. “I’m incredibly excited about the film and new media projects we’ve selected for IDFA Forum” said Adriek van Nieuwenhuijzen, head of IDFA Industry.

“The ingenuity of filmmaker teams developing unique and cinematic projects, despite an ongoing pandemic, is truly a hopeful sign for the future of creative documentary. Within the selection, we found promising and inspiring collaborations between directors and producers that cut across cultures and borders,” she added, mentioning the launch of the Producers Connection at the Forum, described as an “intimate breeding ground for projects in the right stage to forge strong international partnerships and enter into fair co-productions.”

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Amongst the 23 projects selected for the Forum Pitch, highlights include Mads Brügger’s Who Killed Thomas Sankara? – an investigation into the 1987 murder of the former president of Burkina Faso. In France’s Orlando: My Political Biography [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paul B Preciado
film profile
]
, Paul B. Preciado turns to essay filmmaking, inspired by Virginia Woolf’s work, and in Bride in Search of Happiness, Tea Vidović Dalipi is set to bring an observational portrait of a Croatian-Roma couple as they navigate parenthood amidst culturally disparate societies in conflict. Meanwhile, the debut feature by Pasquale Remia, For All My Sins, explores ancient folk rituals that live on in Southern Italy.

Fifteen projects in early stages have been selected for the inaugural edition of the Producers Connection, the Forum’s new section for fostering international co-productions. It includes New Life, which sees Russian director Alexander Kuznetsov coming together with French producer Rebecca Houzel to tell the next chapter in the life of Kuznetsov’s long-documented protagonists. Seven projects have been selected for this year’s Rough Cut Presentations at the Forum, with Brotherhood by Hanka Nobis diving into the growing alt-right movement in Poland and The Flag by Joseph Paris reflecting on the aftermath of the 2015 Paris attacks.

The market’s new media strand IDFA DocLab Forum will present thirteen projects in all stages of development and production, including Ondřej Moravec’s interactive VR documentary Darkening, on the potential of vocalisations to cope with depression. The market will also welcome four projects from the IDFA DocLab Research & Development Program, such as Kaspar, the latest documentary work from Piotr Winiewicz.

Full list of selected projects:

Abo Zabaal Prison 1989 - Bassam Mortada (Egypt)
Producers: Kesmat Elsayed (SEE MEDIA PRODUCTION)

After the Bridge
- Davide Rizzo, Marzia Toscano (Italy)
Producers: Adam Selo, Olga Torrico (Sayonara Film Srl)

Alis [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Nicolas van Hemelryck, Clare Weiskopf (Colombia)
Producers: Nicolas van Hemelryck, Clare Weiskopf (Casatarantula)

Bala Perdida - Juan Vicente Manrique (Mexico/Venezuela)
Producer: Juan Vicente Manrique (Función Cine)

Bitter Sugar - Ana Barjadze (Georgia)
Producer: Irina Gelashvili (IUYA)

Bride in Search of Happiness - Tea Vidovic Dalipi (Croatia)
Producer: Oliver Sertić (Restart)

Brigidy Bram: The Kendal Hanna Story - Laura Gamse, Kareem Mortimer (USA)
Producer: Laura Gamse (Daydream Reels)

Brotherhood - Hanka Nobis (Switzerland)
Producer: Esther van Messel (First Hand Films GmbH)

La Casa - Bettina Perut, Iván Osnovikoff (Chile)
Producers: Iván Osnovikoff, Bettina Perut (Perut + Osnovikoff Ltda)

Chomsky vs Chomsky - Sandra Rodriguez (Canada/Germany)
Producers: Laurence Dolbec (National Film Board of Canada), Louis-Richard Tremblay, Robert Pohle (Schnellebuntebilder), Sebastian Huber

Continuum VR - Daniela Maldonado, Tomas Espinosa, Paula Gempeler (Colombia)
Producers: Andres Burbano (CANVAR), Juan Manuel Escobar (Aroa Studio)

The Cycle Club - Eefje Suijkerbuijk, Annelies Termeer (Netherlands)
Producer: Eritia de Jonghe (VPRO)

Dark Is Not Black
Undisclosed project

Darkening - Ondřej Moravec (Czech Republic)
Producer: Hana Blaha Šilarová (Frame Films)

Death of Death - Dāvis Simanis (Latvia)
Producer: Guntis Trekteris (Ego Media)

Do You Love Me (working title) - Lana Daher (Lebanon/Germany)
Producer: Lana Daher

Does the Sun Shine in Argentina?
- Ariela Bergman (Argentina/Netherlands)
Producer: Ivo Aichenbaum (Fiørd Estudio)

Dream of Grape Gardens - Sahra Mani (Philippines/Afghanistan)
Producers: Alemberg Ang (Daluyong Studios), Sahra Mani (Afghanistan Doc House)

Eat Bitter - Pascale Appora-Gnekindy, Ningyi Sun (USA)
Producer: Mathieu Faure

The Echo - Tatiana Huezo (Mexico)
Producers: Tatiana Huezo (Radiola Films), Dalia Rocío Reyes Campos (Chulada Films), Viviana Zuñiga Rojas

Emperor - Marion Burger, Ilan Cohen (France)
Producers: Marion Burger, Ilan Cohen

Farming the Revolution - Nishtha Jain (India)
Producer: Nishtha Jain (Raintree Films)

Father - Radu Ciorniciuc, Lina Vdovîi (Romania)
Producer: Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan (Manifest Film)

Finding Frida - Hilde Kristin Kjøs (Norway)
Producer: Bjørn-Morten Nerland (Stargate Media AS)

The Flag - Joseph Paris (France)
Producer: Audrey Ferrarese (Drôle de Trame)

Gatilyo (Trigger) - Banuk Amanta, Sophie Wiesner (Philippines/Australia)
Producers: Banuk Amante, Sophie Wiesner

Genie Film - Florence Pezon (France)
Producer: Damien Monnier (L'image d'après)

HER - Greta Gandbhir (UK/USA)
Producers: Sonita Gale (Galeforce Films), Austyn Biggers (Get Lifted Film Company), Theo London

In Here, Out There - Michaela French (UK)
Producer: Lisa Brook (Live Cinema UK)

In Your Shadow - Thabi Mooi, Tom Fassaert (Netherlands)
Producers: Renko Douze, Hasse van Nunen (Een van de jongens)

Kaspar - Piotr Winiewicz (Denmark)
Producer: Mads Damsbo (MAKROPOL ApS)

La Vida Es Un Musical - Patty Pajak (Denmark)
Producer: Emil Lynge Johnsen (GotFat Production)

Land of Women - Nada Riyadh, Ayman El Amir (Egypt)
Producer: Ayman El Amir (Felucca Films)

Last Call - Erige Sehiri (Tunisia/France)
Producers: Erige Sehiri (HENIA PRODUCTION), Estelle Robin (Les Films du Balibari)

Liberty City VR - Katja Esson, Shannon Sea (USA)
Producers: Ronald Baez (Yellow Wood Immersive), Corinna Sager, Katja Esson (RLS Film, LLC)

The Mother of All Lies - Asmae El Moudir (Morocco)
Producer: Asmae El Moudir (InsightFILMS)

Motherboard [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
- Victoria Mapplebeck (UK)
Producer: Victoria Mapplebeck (First Person Films)

MYRIAD. Where we connect. | Full Dome - Lena Thiele, Sebastian Baumann (Germany)
Producers: Saskia Kress (Interactive Media Foundation), Michael Grotenhoff

The New Greatness Case [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
- Anna Shishova-Bogolubova (Russia)
Producer: Vlad Ketkovich (Ethnofund)

New Life - Alexander Kuznetsov (France)
Producer: Rebecca Houzel (Petit à petit production)

Night Gardener - Daniel Gough (UK)
Producer: Anne Milne (Hand-Drawn Pictures Ltd)

Niñxs - Kani Lapuerta (Mexico)
Producer: Suleica Adriana Pineda Rodríguez (La Sandía Digital)

No Place Like Home - Myrid Carten (Ireland)
Producers: Roisin Geraghty, Tadhg O'Sullivan (Inland Films)

Orlando: My Political Biography [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paul B Preciado
film profile
]
- Paul B Preciado (France)
Producer: Yael Fogiel (Les Films du Poisson)

A Owl, A Garden, and the Writer - Sara Dolatabadi (Iran)
Producers: Sara Dolatabadi, Farhad Mohammadi

Per Tua Colpa (For All My Sins) - Pasquale Remia (Italy)
Producer: Raha Shirazi (Doppio Nodo Double Bind)

Race for the Arctic - James B Roadnight (UK)
Producer: Sindi Breshani (Episod Studio)

Regarding Memory and Neglect - Ricardo Martensen (Brazil)
Producer: Eliane Ferreira (Muiraquitã Filmes)

Sector Quicksand - Abhay Kumar (South Korea/India)
Producer: Heejung Oh (Seesaw Pictures)

The Slavery of Science - Joey Ekunwe (Nigeria)
Producer: Judith Okonkwo (Imisi 3D)

Son of the Mullah - Nahid Persson (Sweden)
Producer: Nahid Persson (RealReel Doc AB)

The Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest - Viv Li (Germany)
Producer: Anne von Peterdorff (Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion)

Untitled Kenyan Politics Project - Christopher King, Maia Lekow (Kenya)
Producers: Christopher King, Maia Lekow (Circle and Square Productions)

Untitled: Miss Africa South - Aliki Saragas-Georgiou, Jacqui-Lee Katz (South Africa)
Producers: Bridget Pickering (BuMP Films), Darren Kerr (10th Street Media), Elafos Productions

The Vagrant Master - Weichao Xu, Weixi Chen (Netherlands)
Producer: Jia Zhao (Muyi Film)

We Are Volcanoes - Sharon Yeung, Natalie Chao (Hong Kong)
Producer: Sharon Yeung (Singing Cicadas)

When Clouds Gather - Clarissa Zhang (China)
Producer: Clarissa Zhang (Golden Lining Films)

Who Killed Thomas Sankara? - Mads Brügger (France)
Producers: Jeremy Zelnik, Tancrede Ramonet (Temps Noir)

WinterOver - Ido Mizrahy, Nir Sa’ar (Canada)
Producers: Nimrod Shanit (HCXR - Holy City VR), Nir Sa’ar

yugo - Carlos Gomez Salamanca (Colombia)
Producer: Juan Pablo Gómez (Nocroma)

Yuraq Janka - Cordillera Blanca - Alexander Luna (Peru/Belgium)
Producers: Hervé Verloes (Poolpio, Immersive Content Agency), Alexandre Barbier

1991 - Akmyrat Tuyliyev, Christina Elizabeth Borins (USA/Canada/Turkmenistan)
Producers: Akmyrat Tuyliyev, Matthew Niederhauser, John Fitzgerald (Sensorium)

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