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“Film records the profound suffering that war brings to mankind.” That is how the Beijing International Film Festival explained a focus it has unveiled on war and peace in a special “Film and Peace” program that it is featuring during its 15th edition starting on Friday.

It will showcase “12 masterpieces” depicting “the tragedy of war” on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II this year to “immerse ourselves in history,” organizers said. “Filmmakers at home and abroad use light and shadow to remember the cruelty and endless pain of war and use memory, emotion and shocking reality to preserve recollection and sound the alarm for today.”

Among the movies screening at the Chinese fest will be the winner of the first-ever Cannes Film Festival in 1946, The Last Chance, a 1945 movie directed by Austrian-Swiss filmmaker Leopold Lindtberg. Also featured are such classics as Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah,...

The drive from Thessaloniki’s airport into the city begins like any other: car dealerships and furniture stores that give way to bustling street life. Home to over a million people, with a teeming port and the country’s largest university, Thessaloniki is the second-biggest city in Greece with a populace that only grows denser as you wind your way past its Byzantine walls and Roman Rotunda towards the glistening Aegean Sea. Attending the city’s biannual film festivals, I’ve taken this journey several times in the last few years, most recently on a shuttle with Dionysia Kopana, a filmmaker from Athens whose latest, NovaMax Skyland, was premiering the following night. Along the way Kopana spoke about the precarious independent cinema scene in Greece, the earthquake that recently threatened to sink Santorini, and the demonstrations that had been breaking out across the country that week to mark the anniversary...

Amsterdam-based sales outfit Film Harbour has snapped up international rights to documentary The Dialogue Police by Swedish filmmaker Susanna Edwards following its premiere last week in Gothenburg’s Nordic Documentary Competition.

The documentary sees Edwards follow a specialised unit of police officers - the Dialogue Police - on their mission to safeguard the right to freedom of speech amid demonstrations, Quran burnings and climate actions in Sweden in 2022. The team, established after the Gothenburg riots of 2021, favours dialogue over force.

Edwards previous credits include Sunshadow and Capturing The Divine. The Dialogue Police will have its international premiere in March in Cph:dox’s Human Rights Competition.

Luuk Bouwman’s doc, “The Propagandist” is all about projection and hiding. It’s a convenient schematic arrangement of facts and fiction, by dint of which dangerous narratives are mounted. The documentary goes digging through the cracks of the propaganda films Dutch filmmaker Jan Teunissen, who also became the President of the Dutch Chamber of Film, created and backed. The bulk of the documentary stems from a collection of interviews, spilling over into seven hours, between 1964 and 1965 by historian Rolf Schuursma. Then there’s another academic, Egbert Barten, surveying Dutch film production during the war years, interrogating the role filmmakers played. Have those directors been held to account?

“The Propagandist” opens with a direct admission – every film has a political message. The film czar, Teunissen got the power to decide what was shown at the cinemas and hence shape perceptions and mold narratives. He confesses even the opposing side can...

This year’s IDFA (November 14-24) starred Polish filmmaker Maciej J. Drygas’s Trains, a cinematic ride through 20th century industrial revolution-propelled European history via a trove of archival found footage; it unanimously nabbed Best Film in the International Competition. And while the doc is undoubtedly a tour de force of editing and sound design, not to mention hypnotically reminiscent of the work of Bill Morrison, it was actually the other B&w archival-heavy film in that section that I just couldn’t shake. Dutch director Luuk Bouwman’s The Propagandist (which did receive the IDFA Award for […]

The post IDFA 2024: Winners and Winners first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

This year’s IDFA (November 14-24) starred Polish filmmaker Maciej J. Drygas’s Trains, a cinematic ride through 20th century industrial revolution-propelled European history via a trove of archival found footage; it unanimously nabbed Best Film in the International Competition. And while the doc is undoubtedly a tour de force of editing and sound design, not to mention hypnotically reminiscent of the work of Bill Morrison, it was actually the other B&w archival-heavy film in that section that I just couldn’t shake. Dutch director Luuk Bouwman’s The Propagandist (which did receive the IDFA Award for […]

The post IDFA 2024: Winners and Winners first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Found-footage documentary Trains, directed by veteran Polish auteur Maciej J. Drygas, has won the best film award of the international competition at the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). It comes with the €15,000 cash prize.

Trains is an archive-based film made without voiceover or commentary other than an opening quote from Franz Kafka. It comprises footage of trains sourced from a reported 45 archives across the world. Much of the imagery is disturbing - wounded and deformed soldiers, dead bodies from concentration camps, Nazi officers on their way to war zones. There is also material of Hitler and Charlie Chaplin.

Drygas’s...

Maciej J. Drygas’ “Trains” won Best Film in the International Competition at this year’s International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, with Miguel Coyula’s “Chronicles of the Absurd” taking the Best Film in the Envision Competition.

“Trains” is a journey through the 20th century told entirely through archival footage. The jury of the International Competition, comprising Juliana Fanjul, Sophie Fiennes, Grace Lee, Asmae El Moudir and Kazuhiro Soda, said they were unanimous in their decision, highlighting Drygas’ “bold and inventive use of archive.”

“The film shows us routes to the positive and negative consequences of modern industrial innovation. It harnesses the magic of cinema and as an audience, we are haunted by our present historical time, even while we bear witness to the past,” the jury added of the winning film, which will take home a €15,000 cash prize.

“Chronicles of the Absurd”

The International Competition jury awarded the Best Directing...

Sudan-Egypt project Dry Sky, produced and directed by Ibrahim Omar, has won the IDFA Forum award for best pitch, including a €1,500 cash prize, at the co-production and co-financing market of International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) today, November 21.

The documentary is about a man journeying back to his hometown to build what he has dreamed of his entire life but who realises that his fate is intertwined with his village’s past.

Jury members Dorota Lech and Malin Huber praised Dry Sky’s “subtle cinematic language” and described it as “a courageous proposal of healing…told through a unique and critical inside perspective.

Amsterdam-based sales agency Film Harbour has secured the world rights – excluding the Netherlands and Belgium – to documentary “The Propagandist,” which world premieres in IDFA’s International Competition next month.

Film Harbour was launched earlier this year by seasoned documentary sales executive Liselot Verbrugge, former CEO of Deckert Distribution, as revealed exclusively by Variety.

“The Propagandist” is directed by Dutch filmmaker Luuk Bouwman, and is produced by Ilja Roomans for Netherland’s Docmakers.

Using previously unpublished interviews, family films and propaganda films, “The Propagandist” tells the story of the rise and fall of Dutch filmmaker Jan Teunissen (1898-1975). As head of the Department of Film of the Dutch Nazi Party and SS, he became the most powerful man in the Dutch film industry during World War II.

Teunissen, nicknamed the “Film King” and the “Dutch Leni Riefenstahl” was a well-known filmmaker before the war. The film asks: What drove him to...

The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam — known globally as IDFA — has revealed its 2024 opening night and competition films coming this November. The 37th edition kicks off with Piotr Winiewicz’s “About a Hero” featuring Vicky Krieps and the filmography of Werner Herzog.

Per the festival, “The film presents a bold exploration into largely uncharted territories of artificial intelligence — reflecting on questions of authenticity and our understanding of what is real. With Werner Herzog’s permission, Winiewicz sets out to challenge Herzog’s assertion that ‘a computer won’t be able to create a film as good as mine for at least another 4,500 years.’ In a tantalizing experiment, Winiewicz trained an AI system on Herzog’s oeuvre and asked it to generate a screenplay. The result is a disturbing search for the soul — of human beings and of creative work.”

That assertion came from Herzog’s 2016 documentary “Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World,...

The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam will open with the world premiere of Piotr Winiewicz’s “About a Hero,” the festival revealed Tuesday. IDFA also announced the main competition lineups for the 37th edition, which takes place in Amsterdam from Nov. 14 to 24.

Newly unveiled selections include the Envision and International Competitions, the entire IDFA DocLab program, and the Luminous and Frontlight sections, as well as the nominations for all cross-section awards.

The IDFA official selection of more than 250 titles is now complete.

IDFA’s artistic director, Orwa Nyrabia, said: “The IDFA 2024 program is exceptional in quality and in range. Regrettably with fewer African films than we hoped for, but overall with a wide representation of our planet and the many different humans on it. The diversity of artistic tendencies is staggering. The program introduces some of the most beautiful works of recent years, including a few instant classics. Filmmakers of various artistic sensibilities,...

The world premiere of Polish artist and filmmaker Piotr Winiewicz’s AI-driven hybrid film About A Hero will open International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) on November 14 and will screen in the main competition.

Winiewicz made the film in response to a remark by German director Werner Herzog that “a computer will not create a film as good as mine in 4,500 years”. Rising to the challenge, Winiewicz and his team created a computer programme called ‘Kaspar’ based on the mind of Herzog to write a film script.

The film’s fictional narrative features Vicky Krieps and is combined with interviews with artists,...

Leading documentary festival IDFA has selected 55 projects from 820 entries for the 32nd edition of its co-production and co-financing market IDFA Forum.

IDFA Forum takes place in Amsterdam venues Felix Meritis and Pathé City from Nov. 17 to 20.

The Forum selection features “projects with resonant stories, daring artistic visions, and a willingness to push narrative and stylistic boundaries,” according to a statement.

Adriek van Nieuwenhuijzen, head of IDFA Industry, said: “IDFA proudly presents a very strong selection of projects that capture the spirit of the times and reflect on our society in a critical and idiosyncratic way. It is a varied selection in terms of both theme and style, made by talented newcomers and established makers who together represent a colorful palette of voices.”

The Forum Pitch and Producers Connection

The Forum Pitch and Producers Connection present a total of 33 projects this year. The selection includes notable filmmakers who make their return to IDFA.

IDFA Forum (November 17-20), the co-production and co-financing market of International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), has unveiled the line-up for its 2024 edition, with projects from Aliona van der Horst and Eva Mulad among the selection.

IDFA Forum consists of the Forum Pitch, Producer Connection, Rough Cut Presentations, and IDFA DocLab Forum strands. This year’s 55-strong selection is dominated by women filmmakers across all formats, according to the organisers.

Among attendees in the Forum Pitch and Producer Connection is Russian-Dutch director Aliona van der Horst, whose Gerlach (co-directed with Luuk Bouwman) won the IDFA award for best Dutch film in...

Mstyslav Chernov’s unflinching account of the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine wins the public vote at the documentary festival

Mstyslav Chernov’s unflinching account of the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 20 Days In Mariupol, has won the Npo IDFA Audience Award at International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).

The €5,000 prize was awarded at the Royal Theater Tuschinski in Amsterdam on Saturday night, (November 18) followed by a special screening of the film. The award is based on votes by festival visitors who rate the films directly following their screenings via a Qr code.

Documentary chronicles the Armenian director’s search for her missing soldier brother.

Shoghakat Vardanyan’s documentary 1489, which chronicles the Armenian director’s search for her missing soldier brother, has won the best film award in international competition at The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).

The title 1489 refers to the anonymous number of a “body of an individual missing in action,” and was the number assigned to Soghomon Vardanyan, a 21-year-old student and musician who was close to completing his military service when the conflict between Azerbaijan and his home country Armenia over Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) flared up again in September...

Shoghakat Vardanyan’s “1489,” which follows the director’s family after her brother goes missing while serving in the Armenian army, won documentary festival IDFA’s best film prize Thursday.

The jury of the International Competition section said the film “acts as a piercing light that makes visible the vast hidden interior landscape of grief and creates a tangible presence from unbearable absence.”

The jury added that it was “cinema as a tool of survival — to allow us all to look at the things we would rather not see, and ultimately, an unforgettable example of cinema as an act of love.”

The best directing award went to Mohamed Jabaly for “Life Is Beautiful,” in which the Palestinian filmmaker documents his life in 2014 when he was visiting Norway and was prevented from returning home to Gaza because the border was closed.

“Life Is Beautiful”

The jury members said the film was “a...

Exclusive: Banijay Benelux joint venture producer Scenery has signed an exclusive partnership deal with the director of the company’s Netflix doc series Human Playground, Tomas Kaan.

He joins the firm, which Banijay Benelux runs as a Jv with producers Lea Fels and Isidoor Roebers, as Creative Producer. He will develop international stories and support other talent to fulfil their own doc plans.

Kaan directed the Idris Elba-narrated Human Playground, a six-part doc series Scenery co-produced with Banijay UK’s Workerbee about the origins and evolutions of the world’s most unique sports for Netflix internationally and Youku in China. He also directed Netflix’s sex line drama Dirty Lines, which was nominated for a Golden Calf.

The Tanzania-born director’s upcoming projects include a collaboration of Luuk Bouwman on The Eighth Continent, a doc series about moon missions.

Tomas Kaan

Fels, Partner at Scenery said: “Tomas is a...