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...
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...
- 11/22/2024
- ScreenDaily
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...
“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...
- 11/21/2024
- by Rafa Sales Ross
- Variety Film + TV
Writing Hawa by Afghan filmmaker Najiba Noori and co-directed by Rasul Noori is set to world premiere in the international competition at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) on Nov. 17. Now, a first trailer reveals a first look at the documentary about a 52-year-old woman in Afghanistan who, after her arranged marriage, is looking to emancipate herself.
“Filmed over five years, Writing Hawa is the story of three generations of Hazara women from the same family in Afghanistan,” says a description of the doc. The Hazaras are an ethnic group in the country.
“With unique access and empathy, director Najiba Noori films her mother Hawa and her niece Zahra in their aspirations to emancipate themselves from patriarchal traditions,” the synopsis explains. “Forced into marriage as a child, Hawa is 52 years old when she can truly start learning to read and write. With the support of her daughter, she opens...
“Filmed over five years, Writing Hawa is the story of three generations of Hazara women from the same family in Afghanistan,” says a description of the doc. The Hazaras are an ethnic group in the country.
“With unique access and empathy, director Najiba Noori films her mother Hawa and her niece Zahra in their aspirations to emancipate themselves from patriarchal traditions,” the synopsis explains. “Forced into marriage as a child, Hawa is 52 years old when she can truly start learning to read and write. With the support of her daughter, she opens...
- 11/5/2024
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Switzerland-based First Hand Films has boarded international sales on Najiba Noori’s documentary Writing Hawa.
The film will have its world premiere in the International Competition at International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) next month.
Filmed over five years, Writing Hawa tells the story of three generations of Hazara women from the same family in Afghanistan, including those forced into child marriage, suffering abuse from men and learning to read, write and start businesses.
It is produced by Christian Popp of France’s Tag Film, co-produced by Hasse van Nunen and Renko Douze for the Netherlands’ Een van de jongens. The...
The film will have its world premiere in the International Competition at International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) next month.
Filmed over five years, Writing Hawa tells the story of three generations of Hazara women from the same family in Afghanistan, including those forced into child marriage, suffering abuse from men and learning to read, write and start businesses.
It is produced by Christian Popp of France’s Tag Film, co-produced by Hasse van Nunen and Renko Douze for the Netherlands’ Een van de jongens. The...
- 10/21/2024
- ScreenDaily
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,...
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,...
- 10/15/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
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,...
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,...
- 10/15/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
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,...
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,...
- 10/15/2024
- ScreenDaily
Sundance Institute has announced the 28 projects selected to receive an unrestricted grant from Sundance Institute Documentary Fund including Rita Baghdadi’s follow-up to her Thessaloniki 2022 selection, Sirens.
This granting cycle’s recipients represent all stages of the process, with five projects in development, 15 in production, seven in post-production, and one completed project in its impact campaign.
Baghdadi’s Stallions (Mor) profiles horse riders in search of their dreams on the Moroccan coast and is in development, as is Knocking On Heaven’s Door (Can-usa-nz-uk-Arg) from Jonathan Qu and Kevin Feiyang Li, about a Christian astrophysicist who endures a battle with...
This granting cycle’s recipients represent all stages of the process, with five projects in development, 15 in production, seven in post-production, and one completed project in its impact campaign.
Baghdadi’s Stallions (Mor) profiles horse riders in search of their dreams on the Moroccan coast and is in development, as is Knocking On Heaven’s Door (Can-usa-nz-uk-Arg) from Jonathan Qu and Kevin Feiyang Li, about a Christian astrophysicist who endures a battle with...
- 8/1/2024
- ScreenDaily
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