Program 2011

IDFAcademy 2011 presented a broad variety of inspirational tutors and masters of the genre, from filmmakers to distributors. The curriculum contains master classes, case studies, lectures, panels, smale-scale workshops and roundtable sessions with international professionals. The IDFAcademy program took place in the Compagnietheater from November 18 through November 20, 2011.

The IDFAcademy program included both plenary sessions as well as several smaller sessions. The smaller sessions run parallel to one another, so the participants have to choose which session they attend, according to their interests.

During both the plenary and smaller sessions, participants found out about the latest developments and sharpen their industry awareness. The meetings and workshops covered themes from production processes to financing and distribution. There was also time for discussion and questions.

Plenary sessions

The Ambassador

Mads Brügger, the director of The Ambassador (IDFA’s opening film this year) gives a master class on his modus operandi, focusing especially on The Ambassador, a genre-breaking and tragic comedy about the bizarre world of African diplomacy.

Moderated by: Jakob Høgel

International Industry
An introduction to the world of international co-financing and co-producing, during which Steven Seidenberg shares their knowledge of how to find partners in producing and financing. This session is followed by an introduction of the most important players in the field. Commissioning editors Greg Sanderson (BBC) and Barbara Truyen (VPRO) talk about who do you need for your specific genre and what can they offer?

Selling Your Film
There are many ways of getting your documentary out there. Orly Ravid, founder and co-executive director of The Film Collaborative, and Peter Jäger from Autlook Filmsales discuss both traditional ways of getting documentaries into the world, like selling them to television stations, and new, do-it-yourself distribution techniques, using excerpts and examples from several films as a means of illustration.
Moderated by: Sean Farnel

Doc Next Industry Panel: Is the Documentary Industry over the Hill?
Against the backdrop of an aging television audience, a new generation of media consumers is emerging who in many cases are also media producers. Should the documentary industry try to adapt to these “prosumers,” and how should it go about doing so?
Panel: Jeremy Boxer, Alexandre Brachet, Stan van Engelen, Channel 4 tbc
Moderator: Gideon Levy

This plenary session is one of the three IDFA Industry Panels, hosted in collaboration with the European Cultural Foundation (ECF).

Small sessions
The Best Way to Start a Doc!
Ove Rishøj Jensen, Jan Rofekamp and Stefan Kloos discuss the secrets behind an enticing opening to a film.

The Holy Story
Filmmaker PeÅ Holmquist gives a lecture on “The Holy Story,” in which he talks about mainstream storytelling in TV documentaries and the fascinating alternatives.

Pitch and Trailer Training
Hosted by Mikael Opstrup from the European Documentary Network (EDN), this training session focuses on the secrets of a good pitch and trailer.
Feedbackpanel: Christilla Huillard-Kann, Simon Kilmurry, Jesper Osmund, Daniel Cross

From Cinema to Digital Documentary Storytelling
A short introduction of the latest trends and developments in digital media, followed by case studies of three immersive, interactive, and cross-platform documentary projects that successfully break the boundaries of cinema and documentary storytelling: Barcode.tv, Insitu, and Condition One.

Crowd-funding
Adam Chapnick from IndieGoGo elaborates on the dos en don’ts when using the crowdfunding platform, and filmmakers Julia Meltzer and Laura Nix talk about how they used Kickstarter to find the missing financing for their film.

Meet the Professionals
Every IDFAcademy day is concluded with round table sessions with professionals attending IDFA. All participants get the opportunity to ask questions, get advice, and listen to experts from different documentary disciplines. Participants who would like to get advice on their project have the opportunity to arrange a one-on-one meeting with a professional.