Congratulation to the winners of the Student Documentary Competition!
• Denize Galiao [HFF Munich] won the IDFA Award for Best Student Documentary for SAUDADE
• and the jury awarded a special mention to Moritz Schulz [Filmakademie Baden-Wurttemberg] for SUMMERWAR.

Congratulation to Heidi Hassan and Patricia Pérez Fernández, directors of
IN A WHISPER a Spanish, French, Swiss, and Cuban Co-Production and Winner of the IDFA Competition of Feature-Lenght Documentary. More information about all the other winners here.

 

 

MEET&GREET authors, producers, editors, world sales agents from Germany at GOETHE INSTITUT, November 24, 2019, 19:30 Herengracht 470, 1017 CA Amsterdam.

New IDFA selections reflect the shape of the world, the shape of documentary film with female filmmaker majority across all competitions.
DOCS FOR SALE facilitates sales of high-end documentaries by gathering all interested parties under one roof, as well as bringing them together through the Docs for Sale online services. Over the years, it has grown into one of the world’s premier markets for documentary cinema. Docs for Sale welcomes artistic documentaries from all over the world, and is open to films that target cinema, television, and online audiences. The Docs for Sale Lounge, Meet the Professionals sessions and various other activities offer great networking opportunities. Throughout the year, the market's catalogue is available to registered buyers through Docs for Sale online.

IDFA announces about 30 selected German documentary productions and co-productions from the program of all sections such as Frontlight, Masters, Paradocs, and Best of Fests, IDFA on Stage, Paradocs, Luminous, Retrospective, Competition for First Appearance, Focus: It Still Hurts, Focus: Re-releasing History, School Program, Competition for Kids & Docs, Digital Storytelling, DocLab Spotlight, Competition for Student Documentary, DocLab Domesticating Reality as well as DocLab Competition for Digital Storytelling,

 

 

FRONTLIGHT, the non-competitive premiere program section returns with 9 out of 18 hard-hitting films that urge us to stand in solidarity with the world's vulnerable populations. From street protests in Ougadoudou to body politics in Scandanavia, Frontlight showcases incredible filmmakers and protagonists standing up for their rights. Eagerly anticipated selections includes the international premiere of the German documentary production Marcus Vetter's THE FORUM, with unprecedented access to world leaders at the Davos convention.

 

 

MASTERS includes the latest films by auteurs whose work IDFA closely follows, and who have an unmistakable cinematographic signature. The section celebrates the great documentary filmmakers of our time with titles that span international, European, and Dutch premieres. IDFA here announces the first 17 titles of this program. The rest of the films will be announced at a later stage. One of the german documentaries in this venue is HEIMAT IS A SPACE IN TIME - a chronicle of Germany through the prism of the director’s own family history. In voice-over, Thomas Heise reads documents from his family’s archive, accompanied by powerful black-and-white images of the 'guilty' landscape…

 

 

PARADOCS moves between film and art. Through innovative forms, the filmmakers seek freedom of the documentary genre. IDFA's experimental section returns with 12 works that push the limits of the documentary form. A selection of short, mid-length, and feature films showcase both established names and newcomers. One of the films is the german documentary UMBRA by Florian Fischer and Johannes Kreil. Without prior knowledge, UMBRA—winner of the Golden Bear for short film at Berlin International Film Festival—could be experienced as a mysterious sequence of narrative-free images. Fascinating sequences of optical phenomena—some familiar, some very mysterious—at the interface of documentary and experimental film. Are you seeing what you think you’re seeing?

 

 

BEST OF FESTS  IDFA's take on the year's most outstanding documentary films, and offers 25 titles from the international festival circuit. Consisting of award winners from around the world, the program includes German documentary productions and coproductions such as TIFF hit THE CAVE by Feras Fayyad, Berlinale hits TALKING ABOUT TREES by Suhaib Gasmelbari, SEARCHING EVA by Pia Hellenthal as well as Compass-Perspektive-Award for the best film in the programme of Perspektive German Cinema Maryam Zaree learning the truth about been BORN IN EVIN, a personal look at a traumatic national history that generally remains unspoken. Alongside the award winners, the program offers IDFA's tips for must-see films from the past year, such as Michel K. Zongo's NO GOLD FOR KALSAKA, following its premiere at FESPACO.

 

 

LUMINOUS includes premieres only, with timeless, cinematic films that redeem the beauty of human relationships, expression, and empathy. As a child, filmmaker Ines Johnson-Spain’s white parents told her that her dark skin color was a mere coincidence and of no importance. As a teenager, she accidentally discovered the truth and shares it with us in the german documentary BECOMING BLACK. The second german documentary WATERPROOF by Daniela König shows us the daily life of the independent-minded Khawla, who leads a group of women plumbers in Jordan. The cheerful and refreshingly frank atmosphere between the women comes under threat when she faces trial on corruption charges.

 

 

RE-RELEASING HISTORY This focus program includes 11 films - including German co-production OUT OF THE PRESENT ©1995 - comprised entirely of pre-existing footage such as archival material, home movies, and found footage. Marking the next installment in IDFA’s long-running series about the craft of documentary filmmaking, Re-releasing History looks to the filmmakers’ emotional, political act of re-interpreting history with a new gaze. OUT OF THE PRESENT answers the question "What does history look like from space?" Mai 1991, cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev left for the Mir space station from the Soviet Union. When he returned 10 month later, he landed in Russia.

 

 

 FOCUS: IT STILL HURTS  Pre-empting the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, IDFA presents a focus program that explores our world as a post-war world. IT STILL HURTS is the largest focus program of IDFA 2019, with 13 titles — six of them German productions or co-productions — that raise questions on the many ways contemporary life is still defined by WWII — from case studies about the cold war and postcolonialism to cinematic meditations on victims and perpetrators.
With the monumental study LIBERATORS TAKE LIBERTIES Helke Sander at the end of the 80s takes on the widespread rape of women at the end of World War II, mostly at the hands of Russian liberators. After a long silence, the affected women and their children tell their stories. With BLACK BOX GERMANY Andres Veiel draws a picture of West Germany in the 80s: a society riven by the legacy of World War II, which it had never fully processed by following up the life stories of Banker Alfred Herrhausen and the son of Eastern German refugees Wolfgang Grams. HEIMAT IS A SPACE IN TIME is a chronicle of Germany through the prism of the director’s own family history. In voice-over, Thomas Heise reads documents from his family’s archive, accompanied by powerful black-and-white images of the 'guilty' landscape of his homeland.

 

 

COMPETITION FOR STUDENT DOCUMENTARY Youth participation in politics takes center stage in the german documentary SUMMERWAR by Moritz Schulz [Filmakademie Baden-Wurttemberg], with a Ukrainian summer camp that trains the nationalist soldiers of tomorrow. And Afro-Brazilian filmmaker Denize Galiao [HFF Munich] is suffering from SAUDADE, a feeling sometimes described as 'the sorrow of loss.' In this richly layered film about emigration and identity, she explores and defines the feeling in a variety of ways.

 

 

DOCS FOR SALE The world’s premier market for creative documentary cinema. Docs for Sale facilitates sales of high-end documentaries by gathering all interested parties under one roof, as well as bringing them together through the Docs for Sale online services. Over the years, it has grown into one of the world’s premier markets for documentary cinema. DOCS FOR SALE welcomes artistic documentaries from all over the world, and is open to films that target cinema, television, and online audiences. Here you'll find german documentaries premiering some days before at international Filmfestivals such as BUTENLAND at 53 Hof IFF.
Get a sneak peek at the upcoming catalogue for IDFA's premier sales market, DOCS FOR SALE by watching online GODS OF MOLENBEEK by Reetta Huhtanen.

 

 

LineUp German documentary productions and co-productions  

• AGAIN by Mario Pfeifer, 39min, [Best of Fests]
• BECOMING BLACK by Ines Johnson-Spain, 91min [Luminous]
• BLACK BOX GERMANY | BLACK BOX BRD by Andres Veiel, 107min, P: Zero One Film GmbH ©2001 [Focus: It Still Hurts]
• BORN IN EVIN by Marayam Zaree, 100min, P: Tondowski Films, GOLDEN GIRLS Filmproduction [Focus: It Still Hurts, Best of Fests]
• THE CAVE by Feras Fayyad, 90min, co-P: MA.JA.DE
• CROWLEY - COWBOY UP by Andre Hörmann, 15min [School Program]
• DEAR DARKNESS by Samuel N. Schwarz, 16min, P: Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF [IDFA Competition for Kids & Docs]
• ELEKTRA by Metahaven, 13min, Netherlands, Germany, [DocLab Domesticating Reality, IDFA DocLab Competition for Digital Storytelling]
• THE FORUM by Marcus Vetter, 118min, P: Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduktion, Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion, Filmperspektive GmbH
• THE HAPPIEST THOUGHT by Agnieszka Polska, 21min, Germany, Poland, P:Berliner Festspiele / Immersion , Planetarium Hamburg [DocLab Domesticating Reality, IDFA DocLab Competition for Digital Storytelling]
• HEIMAT IS A SPACE IN TIME by Thomas Heise, 218min, P: MA.JA.DE, NAVIGATOR
• Hi, AI by Isa Willinger, 88min, P: Kloos&Co [Best of Fests]
• LIBERATORS TAKE LIBERTIES by Helke Sander, 203min, ©1992 [Focus: It Still Hurts]
• MENGELE'S SKULL by Eyal Weizman, Thomas Keenan, 15min, UK, USA, Germany ©2012 [Focus: It Still Hurts]
• NO GOLD FOR KALSAKA by Michel K. Zongo, 80min, Burkina Faso, Germany P: Film Five GmbH [Best of Fests]
• NON-FACE 15min, P: Berliner Festspiele / Immersion, Planetarium Hamburg [DocLab Domesticating Reality, DocLab Spotlight]
• OUT OF THE PRESENT by Andreï Ujica, 96min, ©1995 P: Bremer Institut Film Fernsehen, Harun Farocki Filmproduction, St.Petersburg Documentary Film Studio
• SAUDADE by Denize Galiao, 31min, coP: HFF Munich [IDFA Competition for Student Documentary]
• SEARCHING EVA by Pia Hellenthal, 84min, P: CORSO Film, [Best of Fests]
• SING ME A SONG by Thomas Balmès, 95min, France, Germany, Switzerland, P: TBC Productions, Zero One Film GmbH, Close Up Films [Masters]
• SUMMERWAR by Moritz Schulz, 79min [IDFA Competition for Student Documentary]
• A SYMPHONY OF NOISE VR by Michaela Pnaceková, 15min, Germany, United Kingdom [DocLab Domesticating Reality, IDFA DocLab Competition for Immersive Non-Fiction]
• TALKING ABOUT TREES by Suhaib Gasmelbari Mustafa, 94min, P: Made in Germany Filmproduktion GmbH, Agat Films 
• THIS IS NOT A MOVIE by Yung Chang, 106min, Canada, Germany [Frontlight, SUTOR KOLOKO]
• A TUNNEL by Nino Orjonikidze, Vano Arsenishvili, 90min, Georgia, Germany P: Ventana Film, Artefact Production [IDFA Competition for First Appearance]
• UMBRA by Johannes Krell, Florian Fischer, 20min, P: ROSENPICTURES Filmproduktion GbR
• WARHEADS by Romuald Karmakar, 182min, Germany, France, ©1992 [Focus: It Still Hurts]
• WATERPROOF by Daniela König, 88min, [Luminous]
• THE WINTER JOURNEY by Anders Østergaard, 90min, Denmark, Germany [Masters]
• WRONG ELEMENTS by Jonathan Littell, 133min, ©2016, France, Germany, Belgium [Focus: It Still Hurts]
• 199 LITTLE HEROES: Miral from Palestine by Sigrid Klausmann, 14min [School Program]

 

 ...and DOCS FOR SALE are among others

• AHEAD OF ME THE SOUTH | VOR MIR DER SÜDEN by Pepe Danquart, 116min, P: bittersuess pictures & Albolina Film
• THE ART OF MUSEUMS - Kunsthistorische Museum Vienna by Kurt Mayer, 52min P: Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduktion, World Sales: auTLOOK FILMSALES
• BUTENLAND by Marc Pierschel, 82min P: Blackrabbit Images
• GODS OF MOLENBEEK by Reetta Huhtanen, 72min, P: Clin d'Oeil films & Tondowski Films
• GOLDA by Shani Rozanes, Sagi Bornstein, Udi Nir, 87min or 52min, P: Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduktion, udiVsagi production
• • •

 

More than 100 authors, producers, editors, world sales agents from Germany are attending IDFA 2019 among others are

SALES AGENTS — WORLD SALES COMPANIES
• Heino Deckert, Hanne Biermann, Liselot Verbrugge — Deckert Distribution GmbH 
• Georg Gruber — Magnetfilm GmbH
• Stefan Kloos, Diana Karklin — Rise and Shine World Sales
• Elina Kewitz — NEW DOCS

PRODUCERS — PRODUCTION COMPANIES 
• Christian Beetz and Reinhardt Beetz, Alice Popplewell — Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion GmbH
• Alex Tondowsk, Ira Tondowskii — Tondowski Films
• Antje Boehmert — Docdays Productions GmbH
• Hans Robert Eisenhauer — Ventana Film
• Jascha Hannover — Florianfilm GmbH
• Christopher Hawkins — Conkertreefilm
• Johanna Jaurich — Fechner MEDIA GmbH
• Jürgen Kleinig — Neue Celluloid Fabrik
• Thomas Kufus, Kornelia Theune-Poncet — Zero One Film GmbH
• Ulla Lehmann, Andrea Roggon — AMA FILM GmbH
• Alix F. Meier — Apollofilm
• Jens Meurer — Instant Film UG
• Sarah Gross — Bugle Films
• Anahita Nazemi — Kobalt Documentary
• Sonia Otto — Indi Film GmbH
• Mario Pfeifer — blackboardfilms GmbH & Co.KG
• Tobias N. Siebert — BASIS Berlin Filmproduktion
• Florian Schewe — Film Five GmbH

 

 as single page
• IDFA 2020
• IDFA 2019
• IDFA 2018
• IDFA 2017

 ...last year: