Each November, one of the most trendsetting documentary events in the world takes place in the historic centre of Amsterdam: IDFA. Over the course of 10 days, the festival screens a massive programme of more than 300 international documentaries to a wide audience from both home and abroad. Thanks to our Docs for Sale market and our FORUM for the co-financing of documentaries, film professionals should not miss IDFA, either.

During the festival, creative documentaries take centre stage – films that have been made with the utmost care and express the personal vision of their makers. Film lovers can enjoy unforgettable masterpieces, surprising debuts, and an international programme that is as diverse as the genre itself.

IDFA at the Dutch Culture Centre (DCC)
IDFA has compiled a special documentary film programme for the city of Shanghai. From May 13-16, 2010, IDFA will screen a diverse selection of 10 to 15 high-quality documentaries with international appeal at the Dutch Culture Centre in Shanghai. All films will be subtitled in Mandarin to accommodate local audiences.

Trailers of the programmes films are coming soon at www.idfa.nl/industry/idfa-tv

The 23rd edition of IDFA will take place November 18-28, 2010 in Amsterdam. For more information, please visit our website: www.idfa.nl 

IDFA Programme

Thursday 13 May:

• 16.00 – 18.00 hrs.:  Masterclass by John Appel, director of a large number of documentaries, including Johnny Meijer (1993) and André Hazes – Zij gelooft in mij (1999). André Hazes – Zij gelooft in mij (she has faith in me) was not only the opening film of IDFA 1999, but also won the VPRO IDFA Award for Feature-Length Documentary that year. Appel’s last film, The Player, his most personal film to date, won the inaugural IDFA Award for Dutch Documentary in 2009. Alongside directing and producing documentaries, John Appel has presented the Documentary Workshop at IDFA for several year s now.
• 18.00 – 19.00 hrs.:  IDFA Kick Off.
• 19.00 – 20.20 hrs.: The Player by John Appel (NL, 2009, 80 minutes). Taking his own late father’s gambling addiction as his starting point, director John Appel goes in search of the essence of people who just can’t stay away from the 'game'. Winner IDFA Award for Dutch Documentary 2009.
• 21.00 – 22.40 hrs.: Constantin and Elena by Andrei Dascalescu (Romania, 2008, 100 minutes). An affectionate documentary about an elderly Romanian couple who enjoy life and one another’s company every day, but mourn its transience. Winner IDFA Competition for First Appearance 2008.

Friday 14 May:

• 16.00 – 18.30 hrs.: Masterclass by Carmen Cobos, the founder and owner of Cobos Films, one of the biggest documentary producers in the Netherlands. Carmen Cobos has produced documentaries for documentary makers like John Appel, Peter and Petra Lataster-Czisch, Heddy Honigmann and Niek Koppen. A significant number of the films she produced have been screened at IDFA.
• 19.00 – 20.30 hrs.: Farewell by Ditteke Mensink (NL, 2009, 90 minutes). Set against the background of the interbellum peri od, in 1929 journalist Lady Grace Drummond-Hay was the first woman to take part in a voyage around the world by zeppelin. Nominated for the IDFA Award for Dutch Documentary 2009.
• 21.00 – 22.34 hrs.: Food, Inc. by Robert Kenner (US, 2009, 94 minutes). Unpalatable truths from the American food industry: dictatorial meat and soya companies, E. coli bacteria in hamburgers and a government that subsidises unhealthy calories.

Saturday 15 May:

• 21.00 - 22.30 hrs.: Time within Time  by Menno Otten (NL, 2009, 20 minutes). The most outstanding Netherlands Film Academy production of 2009 consists principally of the faces of people lost in thought at a tram stop, staring blankly into the middle distance. Nominated for the IDFA Award for Student Documentary 2009.
• Boris Ryzhy by Aliona van der Horst (NL, 2008, 59 minutes). Character sketch of Russian poet Boris Ryzhy, who died young, and of Ekaterinburg, the grey, industrial city that had a great influence on his life and work. Winner of the NPS IDFA Award for Mid-Length Documentary 2008

Sunday 16 May:

• 19.00 - 20.30 hrs.: Utopia, Part 3: The World's Largest Shopping Mall by Sam Green & Carrie Lozano (US, 2009, 13 minutes). The biggest consumer paradise on earth, in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, is not attracting any customers. But it is too big to go bankrupt.
• 21.00 - 22.50 hrs.: Het ondergronds orkest / The Underground Orchestra by Heddy Honigmann (NL, 1997, 108 minutes). A melancholy portrait of displaced musicians who scrape together a living by performing in the underground tunnels of the Paris metro.