The first film selections and funding recipients for the 36th edition of the IDFA (International Documentary Film Festival) — the world’s largest documentary film festival held annually since 1988 in Amsterdam — have been announced, and African stories (past and present) are well-represented.
Here are a few highlights.
Lineup
The festival will screen some very rarely screened African cinema classics that are must-sees if presented with the opportunity.
– AFRIQUE, JE TE PLUMERAI (AFRICA, I WILL FLEECE YOU) | Cameroonian filmmaker Jean-Marie Teno’s 1992 documentary that’s essentially a history of Cameroon, told in reverse (from present to past). The film delves into the effects of colonialism and neocolonialism in the country.
– JAGDPARTIE (HUNTING PARTY) | Sudanese filmmaker Ibrahim Shaddad’s 1964 graduation film, which he shot at the Deutsche Hochschule für Filmkunst Potsdam-Babelsberg (now: Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf, the oldest and largest film school in Germany). A treatise on racism, the 42-minute film tracks a white mob’s hunt for a Black male farmworker.
– KADDU BEYKAT (LETTER FROM MY VILLAGE) | From Senegalese filmmaker Safi Faye who passed away earlier this year, the 1975 film mixes documentary and fiction to depict the daily lives and struggles of the people in Fad’jal, a rural village in southern Senegal. It’s documented as the first feature film made by a Black African woman to be commercially distributed and it brought international recognition for Faye.
Bertha Fund
Additionally, the IDFA Bertha Fund has selected 15 feature projects in support of documentary filmmakers in underrepresented countries.
The projects are divided into two sub-categories: Development and Production and Post-production.
In the Development section:
– GHOST SHIP by Senegalese filmmaker Moise Tog, his first feature: “The narrative links the extremes of illicit migration: one end portrays the anguish and guilt of migrant families left behind, while the other end honors the nameless drowned by the sea, seeking to memorialize them through acts of kindness. Amidst the void left by the victims, the paths of their families converge, revealing poignant stories.” In the Post-production section:
– KHARTOUM by an anonymous director from Sudan. Details are being kept under wraps at the moment. The press release only states: “Six stories. One city. A nation at war.”
The 2023 IDFA runs from Wed, Nov 8, 2023, to Sun, Nov 19, 2023. Akoroko will not be physically present for the festival, but it will be covered.
If you appreciate our coverage here and on social media and would like to support us, please consider donating today. Your contribution will help us continue to do our work in coverage of African cinema and, more importantly, grow the platform so that it reaches its potential, and our comprehensive vision for it. Thank you for being so supportive: https://gofund.me/013bc9f2.