The 37th edition of IDFA (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam) kicks off November 14, bringing hundreds of non-fiction films from around the world to Amsterdam for through November 24. Across 16 of the festival’s 20 program sections, we have rounded up the science and technology-themed projects to look out for, with descriptions excerpted from the festival’s programmers.
Highlights include the world premiere of Piotr Winiewicz’s ABOUT A HERO, which combines interviews with scientists, artists, and philosophers with a fictional narrative drawn from a script generated by AI – specifically, AI trained in the style of Sloan grantee Werner Herzog’s films. Bonni Cohen, Pedro Kos, and Jon Shenk’s Sloan-supported documentary THE WHITE HOUSE EFFECT will also screen at the festival, making its European premiere on November 17.
BEST OF FESTS
2073. Dir. Asif Kapadia. Dutch Premiere. “It’s the year 2073, and a woman is struggling to survive in a devastated world. Asif Kapadia (Senna, Amy) compiles the calamities of recent decades to form the prologue of a sinister science fiction film with a crystal-clear message.”
THE BATTLE FOR LAIKPIA. Dirs. Daphne Matziaraki, Peter Murimi. Dutch Premiere. “Persistent drought is causing escalating conflict between herders and landowners in the Laikipia region of Kenya. This story about climate change and colonial legacy focuses on two families living in separate worlds.”
BLINK. Dirs. Edmund Stenson, Daniel Roher. Dutch Premiere. “Chronicle of a trip around the world through the eyes of an adventurous Canadian family who aim to collect visual memories. Three of the four children have a genetic condition that means that they will gradually lose their eyesight.”
THE FABULOUS GOLD HARVESTING MACHINE. Dir. Alfredo Pourailly De La Plaza. Dutch Premiere. “The dreamlike, melancholic story of Toto, a Chilean gold prospector, and his son Jorge, who designs a gold prospecting machine to make his 60-year-old father’s life easier.”
LIE TO ME. Dir. Bår Tyrmi. Dutch Premiere. “Fascinating, tense and playfully edited reconstruction of the rise and fall of OneCoin. This crypto currency scheme claimed millions of victims, and entered the history books as the world’s biggest crypto fraud case.”
LIFE AND OTHER PROBLEMS. Dir. Max Kestner. Dutch Premiere. “What is life? This film is a nuanced and playful philosophical reflection on that question. The narrative thread concerns Marius, a young giraffe in a Danish zoo whose planned euthanasia sparked global outrage a decade ago.”
MY SEXTORTION DIARY. Dir. Patricia Franquesa. Dutch Premiere. “When her laptop is stolen, filmmaker Patricia Franquesa becomes the victim of digital extortion. She tells the detailed story of the cat-and-mouse game that ensues, and how she ultimately makes a courageous decision to take back control.”
PERFECTLY A STRANGENESS. Dir. Alison McAlpine. Dutch Premiere. “Somewhere in a desert, three donkeys discover an astronomical observatory, and with it an entire universe. What is more wondrous: the immense brilliance of the Milky Way, or the little fluffy hairs in a donkey’s ear?”
Still from PERFECTLY A STRANGENESS. Courtesy of IDFA.
REAL. Dir. Adele Tulli. Dutch Premiere. “The digital revolution has opened up boundless possibilities. Are we the freest generation ever, or are we prisoners in a virtual universe deprived of true connection?”
VALENTINA AND THE MUOSTERS. Dir. Francesca Scalisi. Dutch Premiere. “Valentina lives in rural Sicily. She is 27, and wants to escape the sometimes suffocating love of her parents. On the nearby American military base, meanwhile, communications satellites are causing dangerous radiation.”
THE WOLVES ALWAYS COME AT NIGHT. Dir. Gabrielle Brady. Dutch Premiere. “Climate change and desertification force a Mongolian herder and his family to move from the Gobi desert to the big city. The loss of their animals severs their connection with nature.”
DEAD ANGLE: BORDERS
BLOODLINE. Dir. Wojciech Węglarz. World Premiere. “The arbitrariness of national borders, the effects humans have on nature, and the unseen victims: in this short film we see all this through the eyes of a lost bison. A new perspective on the cold reality of Fort Europe.”
ENVISION COMPETITION
BESTIARIES, HERBARIA, LAPIDARIES. Dir. Massimo D'Anolfi, Martina Parenti. International Premiere. “In three acts, each with its own character, this ambitious film examines the world of animals, plants and stones, and questions the place of humans on our planet. It's at times didactic, at times observational, at times theoretical and at times poetic.”
THE FEN-FIRE. Dir. Erik van Lieshout. World Premiere. “With great enthusiasm, Erik van Lieshout roams the Brabant countryside of his youth. Farmers, local people and nature are caught between nitrate pollution and agricultural stench. For the artist, this is fertile ground.”
FRONTLIGHT
TOROBORO: THE NAME OF THE PLANTS. Dir. Manolo Sarmiento. International Premiere. “Twenty-five years after a renowned ethno-botanical study in the Ecuadorian Amazon region inhabited by the Waorani, the central figures involved reunite. Members of the community talk about the genocidal colonization that still threatens their people.”
THE WHITE HOUSE EFFECT. Dirs. Bonni Cohen, Pedro Kos, Jon Shenk. European Premiere. “A film made up of archive footage about how the US has handled climate issues since the 1970s. The fossil fuel lobby has turned the broad consensus on the need for intervention into a political battleground.”
Still from THE WHITE HOUSE EFFECT. Courtesy of IDFA.
IDFA COMPETITION FOR SHORT DOCUMENTARY
ARCHIPELAGO OF EARTHEN BONES – TO BUNYA. Dir. Malena Szlam. European Premiere. “Luminescent trees, volcanoes and desert landscapes are transformed into a dazzling palette of orange shades. This wordless film evokes the history of Australian mountain ranges, illuminated by the afterglow of a volcanic eruption.”
Still from ARCHIPELAGO OF EARTHEN BONES – TO BUNYA. Courtesy of IDFA.
THE FLOWERS STAND SILENTLY, WITNESSING. Dir. Theo Panagopoulos. International Premiere. “A Scottish missionary captured the floral splendor of Palestine on 16mm film in the 1930s and 1940s. In this montage, the footage becomes a melancholic exploration of the complex relationship between the land and its inhabitants.”
Still from THE FLOWERS STAND SILENTLY, WITNESSING. Courtesy of IDFA.
NOISE: UNWANTED SOUND. Dir. Hyejin Jung. World Premiere. “Hyejin Jung explores the thin dividing line between sound and noise, alternating between her own hearing loss and trade union protests in South Korea, which the authorities condemn as illegal noise.”
IDFA COMPETITION FOR YOUTH DOCUMENTARY
WITH GRACE. Dirs. Julia Dahr, Dina Mwende. World Premiere. “An upbeat tale in which 13-year-old Grace shows how her close-knit family, who live in rural Kenya and are completely dependent on the seasonal weather, are dealing with the consequences of climate change.”
IDFA DOCLAB COMPETITON FOR DIGITAL STORYTELLING
DRIFT. Dirs. Nienke Huitenga, Hay Kranen, Lieven Heeremans. World Premiere. “In a generative audio experience, Drift connects rising sea levels and the climate crisis to the rise of AI. The story world combines the imaginary with factual sources at the pace and rhythm of the lunar phases and the tides.”
FUTURE BOTANICA. Dirs. Marcel van Brakel, HazalErtürkan. World Premiere. “Nature and technology are increasingly merging. In an installation during IDFA, this augmented reality app allows you to design botanical lifeforms and thus explore desires and fears regarding the future of nature.”
Still from FUTURE BOTANICA. Courtesy of IDFA.
IDFA DOCLAB COMPETITON FOR IMMERSIVE NON-FICTION
DRINKING BRECHT: AN AUTOMATED LABORATORY PERFORMANCE. Dir. Sister Sylvester. World Premiere. “Using DNA extracted from a hat worn by actors in Brecht’s Berliner Ensemble, this interactive installation explores the past and present of genetics and synthetic biology. A documentary in a drink, DRINKING BRECHT is a celebration of science for the people.”
IDFA DOCLAB SPOTLIGHT
AI & ME. Dir. Mots. Dutch Premiere. “Can AI know me just by looking at me? This provocative installation investigates the human willingness to be judged by machines purely on the basis of their appearance.”
IDFA ON STAGE
PLANKTONIUM LIVE. Dir. Jan van IJken. “A hallucinatory, total experience that immerses you in fascinating images and sounds from an underwater world that goes beyond the natural boundaries of our senses. In this live performance the smallest organisms play the leading role.”
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
ABOUT A HERO. Dir. Piotr Winiewicz. World Premiere. “After a local factory worker named Dorem Clery dies under mysterious circumstances, Werner Herzog travels to Getunkirchenburg to investigate his perplexing death. But Herzog, our narrator, is not who he seems, and the film is not what we expect…”
LUMINOUS
THE SHEPHERD AND THE BEAR. Dir. Max Keegan. International Premiere. “An old shepherd and a young nature lover live in the Ariège region, in the French Pyrenees, where the brown bear has been reintroduced. The nuisance caused by the protected animal leads to fierce confrontations between its supporters and opponents.”
THINGS THAT HAPPEN ON EARTH. Dir. Michele Cinque. International Premiere. “A family of Italian cowboys are doing everything they can to make their cattle ranch climate-proof, animal-friendly and ecologically responsible. But regulations, shareholders and especially the encroaching wolves don’t make it easy for them.”
PARADOCS
7 WALKS WITH MARK BROWN. Dir. Vincent Barré, Pierre Creton. Dutch Premiere. “Mark Brown’s great dream is to recreate a primary forest in his own garden. The film crew follows him along the French coast as he identifies the plants growing there. The resulting close-ups accompanied by his commentary are pure poetic science.”
REVOLVING ROUNDS. Dir. Johann Lurf, Christina Jauernik. “Time and space dissolve in this cinematographic exploration of a winter field and a young pea plant, to the sound of a rattling projector. From tranquility to an explosion of colors in a three-dimensional experience without 3D glasses.”
RETROSPECTIVE: KOJAN GRIMONPREZ
RAYMOND TALLIS | ON TICKLING. Dir. Johan Grimonprez. “Neuroscientist turned philosopher Raymond Tallis marvels at the fact that it is impossible to tickle yourself. You really need another person—just as with love and fights.”
SIGNED
ARCHITECTON. Dir. Victor Kossakovsky. Dutch Premiere. “A visual symphony in concrete and stone, with many epic drone shots in which ancient architectural masterpieces contrast with the ephemerality of modern concrete construction.”
AVERROÈS & ROSA PARKS. Dir. Nicolas Philibert. Dutch Premiere. “A contemplative portrait of the patients and staff in a French psychiatric hospital. In long, unhurried scenes, we see the philosophical, intelligent, sometimes hopeful human being beneath the layers of complex delusions, fears or depression.”
ENO. Dir. Gary Hustwit. Dutch Premiere. “Brian Eno, former keyboard player with Roxy Music and producer of Bowie and U2, has been at the forefront of using generative computer systems to create his music. In keeping with this spirit, Eno is a film that changes with every screening.”
ONCE UPON A TIME IN A FOREST. Dir. Virpi Suutari. Dutch Premiere. “Evocative documentary about Ida and Minka, two young Finnish environmental activists. They channel their love for nature into a struggle for biodiversity, which is threatened by the greed of large corporations.”
TOP 10
ALTERNATIVE 3. Dir. Christopher Miles. “This extraordinary mockumentary, which caused a stir among British TV viewers in the late 1970s, reveals a plan to establish colonies on the moon and Mars because Earth was doomed to become uninhabitable due to global heating.”
THEREMIN: AN ELECTRONIC ODYSSEY. Dir. Steven M. Martin. “A portrait of the remarkable life of Léon Theremin (1896-1993) and his most successful invention, the theremin. Hollywood fully embraced the uncanny sound of this electronic musical instrument in the 1940s and 50s.”
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