Industry
In 2023, over 3000 accredited guests visited the festival, of whom a large part found their way to the program for international professionals. This program took place at ITA (Internationaal Theater Amsterdam). The markets Forum and Docs for Sale, which are also part of IDFA Industry, took place in Felix Meritis, as well as IDFA’s talent development program, IDFAcademy.
Industry Program
Professionals listening to an Industry Talk (Picture: Melle Meivogel)
IDFA's Industry program offered discussions, sessions, and advice for professionals to stay informed of the latest developments in the documentary industry. During the 2023 festival, professionals could attend ten different Industry Talks, such as those about producing films during a climate crisis. The offer for professionals also included four Meetups, in which IDFA collaborates with international organizations such as the French copyright organization LaScam and the British Doc Society, a film fund and distribution driver. During four Industry Sessions, experts talked about various topics, for example selling short films and working with a sales agent. There were also 47 hour-long Industry Consultancies for ten participants each, in which they met consultants from the field and could ask questions.
Next to debate and knowledge transfer, IDFA provides professionals with important networking opportunities. Social events took place daily, where guests came together to meet each other and spark new collaborations.
Forum
Pitches at IDFA Forum 2023 (Picture: Roos Trommelen)
IDFA Forum pitches during IDFA 2023 (Picture: Coen Dijkstra)
IDFA Forum, IDFA’s international co-production and co-financing market, selected 66 projects from 790 submitted projects. From a European platform with a focus on financing documentary films produced for TV broadcasting, the Forum has evolved into an event with a worldwide selection of ground-breaking creative documentary projects. Both documentary films and new media projects are offered the opportunity to connect to leading industry professionals, such as co-producers, various financiers, public and commercial broadcasters and (S)VOD platforms. Mohammed Almughanni's project Son of the Streets won the IDFA Forum Award for Best Pitch, Amber Fares' Coexistence, My Ass! was presented with the Forum Award for Best Rough Cut and the DocLab Forum Award went to Turbulence by Ben Joseph Andrews and Emma Roberts. Militantropos, created by a collective consisting of Maksym Nakonechnyi, Yelizaveta Smith, Alina Gorlova and Simon Mozgovyi, received an honorable mention for the IDFA Forum Rough Cut Award.
Docs for Sale
Docs for Sale during IDFA 2023 (Picture: Roos Trommelen)
Consultation between an advisor and a filmmaker. (Picture: Roos Trommelen)
Docs for Sale has grown into one of the world’s premier markets for artistic documentary makers from all over the world. The market facilitated one-on-one meetings, bespoke services, and knowledge exchange, once again taking place in Felix Meritis this edition. In addition, Docs for Sale offers an online viewing service of IDFA’s online catalogue. This year, the Docs for Sale catalogue offered 325 documentary films (compared to 396 in 2022). During the festival, independent producers and sales agents could present their films and networked with film teams, TV buyers, festival programmers, and distributors.
IDFA Forum is supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of the Netherlands and Creative Europe Media.
