IDFA Announces Full Competition Slate For 38th Edition Of Doc Festival

International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) revealed its full competition lineups today, completing the slate for the upcoming 38^th edition of the world’s largest nonfiction cinema festival that runs from November 13-23 in the Dutch capital.

A dozen feature-length documentaries will contend in the marquee International Competition, nine of them world or international premieres. Directors of those films, hailing from a range of countries worldwide, include newcomers and established names. Scroll for the full lineup of films announced today.

The Envision Competition, showcasing work that pushes stylistic boundaries, also includes a dozen films, — 11 of those world or international premieres. Among them is Trillion, directed by the acclaimed Russian-born filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky (Architecton, Gunda), and the European premiere of Powwow People, Indigenous filmmaker Sky Hopinka’s documentary that immerses audiences in a Native American powwow.

“I feel like there’s something that has always been cinematic about powwows, the way that I’ve thought about them, the way I’ve remembered them and just these certain moments at night when everything comes together,” Hopinka tells Deadline. “But it also feels like you’re in your own world and kind of apart from everything else. And that’s something I’ve been trying to capture through different parts of the films that I’ve made throughout my career.”

Across all of its sections, the festival will screen almost 250 films, originating from 76 countries. This is the first IDFA under the artistic direction of Isabel Arrate Fernandez who was appointed in April of this year, succeeding Orwa Nyrabia.

“As filmmakers and artists from all over the world share their work, they remind us that there is a space for reflection and connection,” Arrate Fernandez noted in a statement. “They bring other perspectives. They open conversations about cinema—about what touches us, what feels urgent, what truly matters right immediately. Through them, we get to be part of the courage of filmmakers and artists who refuse to give up—who keep pursuing their creative vision, and their commitment to stories that they feel matter.”

The festival’s Frontlight section gives a platform to 15 films “that critically examine the truth and artistically explore the urgent issues of our time.” Among the highlights there: Gaza’s Twins, Come Back to Me directed by Mohammed Sawwaf, a film reported from the Gaza Strip that “follows a mother desperate to reach her two newborn babies in urgent care, evacuated amid bombings and prevented from seeing them by travel restrictions.” Steal This Story, Please! directed by Oscar nominees Carl discount and Tia Lessin (Trouble the Water) profiles independent journalist Amy Goodman, host of Democracy immediately!, “highlighting the vital role of fearless reporting in upholding democracy and a free press.”

IDFA’s opening night on Nov. 13 will be devoted to a selection of three short documentaries: As I Lay Dying, directed by Mohammadreza Farzad and Pegah Ahangarani; Intersecting Memory, directed by Shayma’ Awawdeh, and happiness directed by Firat Yücel.

Arrate Fernandez commented regarding the opening night slate, “We believe the selection of films set the tone for a festival that explores major issues of the present, that makes room for new voices, fresh forms, and unexpected perspectives.”

(As I Lay Dying and Intersecting Memory have been selected for the Short Competition; happiness has been selected for Best of Fests.).

The announcement of the competition lineups came at a news conference today. These are the films that were revealed:

Selected films: International Competition

• All My Sisters, dir. Massoud Bakhshi (Austria/France/Germany/Iran), 78’ – World Premiere

• December, dir. Lucas Gallo (Argentina/Uruguay), 105’ – World Premiere

• Flana, dir. Zahraa Ghandour (Iraq/France/Qatar), 85’ – European Premiere

• Flood, dir. Katy Scoggin (United States), 75’ – International Premiere

• A Fox Under a Pink Moon, dir. Mehrdad Oskouei (Iran/France/United Kingdom/United States/Denmark), 76’ – World Premiere

• The Kartli Kingdom, dir. Tamar Kalandadze, Julien Pebrel (Georgia/France), 105’ – World Premiere

• Mailin, dir. María Silvia Esteve (Argentina/France/Romania), 89’ – World Premiere

• Palimpsest: The Story of a Name, dir. Mary Stephen (France/Hong Kong/Taiwan), 109’ – European Premiere

• The Shipwrecked, dir. Diego Gutiérrez (Netherlands), 115’ – World Premiere

• Silent Flood, dir. Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk (Ukraine/Germany), 90’ – World Premiere

• Synthetic Sincerity, dir. Marc Isaacs (United Kingdom), 72’ – World Premiere

• Those Who movie Over, dir. Karima Saïdi (Belgium/France/Qatar), 88’ – European Premiere

Selected films: Envision Competition

• Amílcar, dir. Miguel Eek (Spain/Portugal/France/Sweden/Cape Verde), 87’ – World Premiere

• Blood Red, dir. Martin Imrich (Czech Republic), 75’ – World Premiere

• Confessions of a Mole, dir. Mo Tan (China/Poland), 92’ – World Premiere

• Fordlândia Panacea, dir. Susana de Sousa Dias (Portugal/Brazil), 62’ – World Premiere

• Holy Destructors, dir. Aiste Žegulytė (Lithuania/France/Latvia), 85’ – World Premiere

• I Want Her Dead, dir. Gianluca Matarrese (Italy), 86’ – International Premiere

• Love-22-Love, dir. Jeroen Kooijmans (Netherlands), 84’ – World Premiere

• Our Body Is an Expanding Star, dir. Semillites Hernández Velasco, Tania Hernández Velasco (Mexico), 84’ – World Premiere

• Past Future Continuous, dir. Morteza Ahmadvand, Firouzeh Khosrovani (Iran/Norway/Italy), 76’ – International Premiere

• Powwow People, dir. Sky Hopinka (United States), 88’ – European Premiere

• Treat Me Like Your Mother, dir. Mohamad Abdouni (Lebanon), 76’ – World Premiere

• Trillion, dir. Victor Kossakovsky (Norway/United States), 80’ – World Premiere

Luminous

The premiere-only section Luminous presents a wide range of styles and formalist approaches, from observational to personal to experimental— among them both feature-length and short films. The twenty-seven titles move between intimate meditations on the filmmakers’ inner worlds and explorations of lives far beyond their own. All twenty-seven films in the selection are world or international premieres.

Co-directed by filmmaker Toia Bonino and incarcerated Marcos Joubert, Do or Die is a rare, intimate portrait of prison life and a meditation on cinema itself—filmed entirely on a phone behind bars. In House of Hope, Marjolein Busstra follows a Palestinian woman running a Waldorf school on the West Bank with her husband, capturing their struggle to create a safe haven for children amid escalating violence and uncertainty. In Paikar, Dawood Hilmandi returns to Iran to confront his authoritarian father, crafting a poignant family portrait that wrestles with exile, reconciliation, and the meaning of home.

Frontlight

The premiere-only section Frontlight showcases fifteen films that critically examine the truth and artistically explore the urgent issues of our time. Eleven of the selected titles are world or international premieres.

Several films offer immediate responses to critical current events, while others take time to reflect, examining the social realities and challenges shaping people’s lives today. Reporting directly from Gaza, Gaza’s Twins, Come Back to Me by Mohammed Sawwaf follows a mother desperate to reach her two newborn babies in urgent care, evacuated amid bombings and prevented from seeing them by travel restrictions and checkpoints. Steal This Story, Please! by Carl discount and Tia Lessin profiles independent journalist Amy Goodman, highlighting the vital role of fearless reporting in upholding democracy and a free press.

IDFA DocLab Competition for Immersive Non-Fiction

With a majority of world premieres, the ten-title Immersive Non-Fiction Competition boldly expands the horizons of the documentary genre. The selection showcases multisensory experiences, artistic VR creations, interactive installations, and live performances that push immersive media beyond conventional boundaries—to foster critical reflection and meaningful connection.

Several artists explore the potential of immersive media in innovative and far-reaching ways, from frontline citizen journalism to provocative explorations of gender identity. Others invite audiences into embodied experiences without headsets, creating physical environments that challenge perceptions of reality, and confront the impact of technology on society and the human condition.

IDFA DocLab Competition for Digital Storytelling

With nine premiere titles in the selection, the Digital Storytelling Competition continues to expand the possibilities of digital art and interactive storytelling, featuring works by both emerging talent and established creators.

Using the expansive capacity of interactive media and artificial intelligence, several projects explore our physical realities and social and technological changes shaping our world—through parallel universes, bots, and immersive archives, revealing truths about deep-rooted gender binaries, gentrification, and the enduring legacies of colonialism and racism. Multiple projects invite audiences as co-creators, from participatory explorations to decade-long digital archives, tracing how the internet evolved from a space of eager creativity and connection to one where humans have become commodified as product.

IDFA DocLab Spotlight

With seven selected titles, the non-competitive DocLab Spotlight section showcases critically acclaimed VR- and fulldome projects next to live performance.

In a time defined by human-machine entanglement, several works reimagine our relationships with artificial intelligence, exposing its quiet manipulations, its quickness to radicalize, and its capacity for introspection. Other projects turn to the fragile terrain of memory and care—using VR and immersive technologies to explore the visceral, the haunting, and the tender experiences that mark a lifetime. These works showcase an evolving landscape of documentary art, where digital systems and human stories collide to reveal new ways of seeing, feeling, and being.

Cross-section awards

IDFA has also announced the nominations for the cross-section awards—distinct awards that transcend the program sections to recognize outstanding artistic achievement across the festival program.

The IDFA Award for Best First Feature celebrates the most remarkable debut feature- length films, recognizing works that reveal a distinctive creative voice and the promise of an evolving signature. Drawn from the International Competition, Envision Competition, Luminous, and Frontlight, the award is accompanied by a €5,000 prize, awarded by an international jury. The films nominated for the IDFA Award for Best First Feature are also eligible for the FIPRESCI Award, chosen by an international jury of film critics.

The IDFA Award for Best Dutch Film highlights exceptional Dutch filmmaking talent across the International Competition, Envision Competition, Luminous, and Frontlight selections. The winning filmmaker with receive €5,000, awarded by an international jury.

The Beeld & Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award for Best Creative Use of Archive honors outstanding archival film, selected from across the film program. The winning film with receive a €5,000 prize, awarded by an international jury.

The winners will be announced during the IDFA 2025 Awards Ceremony on Thursday November 20.