IDFA 2023 festival report
IDFA welcomed a total of approximately 245,000 visits in 2023. The 36th edition of the festival attracted 152,000 film visits from audiences and schoolchildren, amounting to three percent more than in 2022. The festival's program for professionals received about 45,000 visits. Beyond the festival, IDFA received 48,000 visits in 2023, including at the new Vondelpark Pavilion, which opened its doors in the fall under the moniker 'Under Construction.'
Awards and juries
Guest of Honor
Renowned documentary filmmaker and artist Wang Bing was honored at with Retrospective and Top 10 programs.
IDFA on video
Get a glimpse of the festival experience.
Audience recap
DocLab report
Program publications
Read an online version of our festival schedule for guests.
Uncover the many layers of the IDFA 2023 program with our print publication, Notes on a festival.
Festival campaign
For the second year in a row, IDFA invited a filmmaker to design our festival campaign. This edition, that was none other than Eliane Esther Bots, whose emotive work invited audiences to experience joy, love, rage, conflict and more. Read all about the campaign.
Festival trailer
Long reads
Articles, essays, and interviews on everything from independent documentary film in China to our implicit assumptions about young audiences.
- 'Toward a system that values filmmakers' by Petra Lataster-Czisch and Peter Lataster
- 'Contagious & Queer' by Simon(e) van Saarloos
- 'Wang Bing’s Top 10: Unveiling the beauty and the sorrow of China' by Wood Lin
- 'In conversation with Rosine Mbakam' by Melissa Thackway
- 'The 15-minute miracle' by Niki Padidar
Press conference
Our annual press conference was livestreamed from our new home, the Vondelpark Pavilion in Amsterdam. Look back on Artistic Director Orwa Nyrabia revealing the final competition selections and opening film, as well as Head of IDFA New Media Caspar Sonnen announcing the DocLab program.
IDFA 2023 press conference