Important information

IDFA is the largest documentary film festival in the world. The 36th edition will be taking place from November 8th until the 19th. IDFA is an audience festival with film screenings of documentaries and conversations about them, but it also has an international industry side that includes Docs for Sale, the Forum and IDFAcademy.

Film venues
All film venues and their addresses can be found in the Program Magazine. Film screenings that are open to the public take place at Pathé Tuschinski, Pathé de Munt, Pathé City, the Eye film museum, Rialto, Rialto VU, Kriterion, Carré, Het Ketelhuis, De Balie, International Theatre Amsterdam, Cinema de Vlugt, Bijlmerbios, Theater Meervaart, Podium Mozaiek, DeLaMar theater and our new headoffice Vondelpaviljoen.

Arti en Amicitae and De Brakke Grond hold all events related to the DocLab program, which is an exhibition of non-linear documentary projects and various live screenings. The industry events shall take place at ITA and Felix Meritis.

Crew pass
You can pick up your pass at the volunteer desk before the start of your first shift. The volunteer desk is located at Weesperstraat 103, Amsterdam. The volunteer desk is open on November 7th between 12:00 – 18:00. During the festival, the volunteer desk is open from 09:00 – 20:00. The last day of the festival, the desk is open from 09:00 – 18:00. Please note: you will only receive your crew pass if you can identify yourself with your passport or ID card.

You will receive a personal crew pass with which you can order tickets for almost all documentaries via www.idfa.nl. Remember to always bring your crew pass to the film screening as your entrance ticket will be uploaded to your pass. All tickets that you collect with your pass are only valid for you. With your crew pass you can reserve tickets a day in advance. In the event of a sold-out performance, several tickets are always kept for volunteers. These tickets are released at 09.00 am on the day of the screening.

There are also performances that you cannot attend, such as private performances and sponsor days. For all special programs (tickets more than €12), your crew pass applies as a discount pass; you will receive a 12 euro discount on these tickets.

Lining up for last-minute seating
When non-premiere screenings are sold out, crew can queue by the post near the door of the screening for last-minute seating. If there are still seats left at the start of the screening, the location- or floormanager lets people in who are standing in line. Please note that people with a guest pass have priority over people with a crew pass. Check the queue protocol for the correct order.

Parties/activities
During the festival, there are some activities planned for crew. This is a great opportunity to meet other people and have fun together. Every Saturday there is an IDFA dance-night at Café Kuyl and you are also welcome to join the volunteer evening on the Monday the 13th.

Expenses
The locationmanager and floormanager are positions for which compensation of € 14,- euro an hour is available. Next to that you will get a passepartout for the festival and lunch/dinner during shifts. Home-work travel expenses (within the Netherlands) are also reimbursed. If necessary, we will help you arrange a place to stay during the festival.

Training
On the 4th of November there is a location- and floormanagers training day. Here we will discuss all important information and share knowledge as well as do some practical exercises. We ask you to do an online training beforehand, which can be found here.

Crew catering
Check your location specific agreements in the location manual.
Morning shift (09:00 – 14:00): lunch
Afternoon shift (14:00 – 19:00): dinner
Evening shift (19:00 – 00:30): only drinks and snacks

Lunch: The lunch is all vegetarian and comes in crates. Make sure everyone gets enough lunch. If you have too much or too little, or if lunch is late, you can pass this on to the location producers. 
Dinner: You can indicate in advance which restaurant you and your volunteers would like to receive a dinner voucher for (see restaurant menus to make it easier to choose). You can call this through to the volunteer coordinators. The vouchers can be picked up at the volunteers desk.

Snacks and drinks
You keep an eye on whether there is still enough snacks and drinks at your location. If it starts to run out, you can order it with the distribution coordinator.

IDFA is committed to providing a safe and friendly environment for all, where everyone is treated equally, without distinctions or discrimination, exclusion or preferred treatment based on race, colour, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, age, religion, political opinion, language, nationality, social position or disability. We embrace diversity and innovation, and work together towards shared goals. We practice continuous improvement of our work, informed by evaluation and learning. IDFA takes a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of behaviour, by any person participating in IDFA, that intend to violate the dignity of others. Zero tolerance means that we will never tolerate, condone or ignore bullying, harassment or hate crimes of any kind

You can read the code of conduct on our website.

Do you have a bad feeling about something and are you unsure about how to deal with this, or you cannot find a solution? A conversation with one of the confidential counsellors could be the next step in resolving the problem. They will listen to your story and explore with you in what way you want to deal with the situation. The conversations are of course confidential. You can find more information and their contact addresses in the code of conduct.

We strive to be as accessible as possible for everyone who wants to visit IDFA. Every location has different accessibility. Please check the location information.
In almost every cinema, there are wheelchair spaces available. You can find the attending visitors who need a wheelchair spot in your callsheet.

Next to presenting films that provide insight into how we can live in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way, IDFA is committed to reducing our CO2 footprint and shaping a more sustainable industry. This includes taking steps to mitigate our environmental impact by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, combating other forms of pollutions, and improving our resource efficiency.
We are asking all our staff and crewmembers to help us in this process.

This year we are focussing on three themes:
- Food/foodwaste
All staff & crew lunchcatering is vegan or vegetarian. All snacks served at events are vegetarian. In the past few years, we’ve noticed that there are a lot of lunch leftovers. This year we’ve set the goal to reduce this. Please be mindful and let us know when you don’t want to make use of our lunchcatering.
We will also ask you to keep track on the amount of leftovers. So that we can adjust the number of lunchorders next year accordingly.

We encourage our staff & crew to be mindful about their food consumption.
- Transport
We are asking all guests, audience, staff and crew to travel to our festival in a sustainable way. So please come by bike and/or public transport.
- Materials
Our festivaldecoration, crewshirts and prints for the festival are made of sustainable or recycled materials. Our goal is to try to become more circular by reusing materials as much as possible. This year we’re testing our callsheet app to reduce the amount of printing.
Please try to print as less as possible and make sure to put paper waste in the right bins.

Bring your own cup if possible, to help us reduce the amount of paper cups needed.

We are conducting a zero-measurement this year to create a baseline that will help us in our goals, plans and policy for the upcoming years.
This means that we might ask you to keep track on certain things. You will be informed on this.

You are responsible for the smooth running of the festival at a specific location. The locationmanager is in contact with the staff of the location and manages the floormanagers (if applicable). The location manager must keep an overview of the entire location.

• You make arrangements with the location about when the venue will open and close for volunteers and public
• You welcome volunteers and assign these theatre crew volunteers

• Check if there are digital screens on your location, if so, you switch them on in the morning and off at the end of the evening. Some of them switch of during the day if they are on eco mode. Please keep an eye on this.
• You are the link between floor managers and volunteer coordinators when volunteers are missing
• You receive suppliers
• You ensure an orderly flow of visitors in the foyers
• Keep the foyers tidy (and if necessary, you communicate about this with a theatre crew volunteer or location owner)

• You make sure there is lunch, other refreshments (such as soft drinks and snacks) and dinner vouchers for all theatre crew through the distribution coordinator.
• Making sure the chocolate is there for the Q&A’s, that flowers/champagne is ready for premieres and other facilities are in order (enough chairs for talks etc.)
• You are the main contact for the location itself
  

Floormanager (if applicable, otherwise these are part of your role as locationmanager)

You are responsible for the smooth running of the show or film screening and will mainly be found in or around the cinema room. On the floor, they are the point of contact for the theatre crew, operator/technician and IDFA staff/event producer. The floormanager makes all the decisions around the show in the room.

• You make sure the volunteers are in position at the right time and know what they need to do.
• You facilitate test screenings by linking the projectionist and filmmaker
• You do a run through with the projectionist before opening the doors to make sure there are no technical issues
• You make sure that the doors of the screening room open on time and the show starts on time

• You make sure that the scan-rate is as high as possible and help when there are issues with scanning/tickets
• First contact for filmmaker and moderator + helping with Q&A by keeping track of time
• Making sure screening room is tidy after a show

Volunteer teams:

• Theatre crew: These are the volunteers that you work with directly. They are responsible for scanning tickets, solving problems with tickets at the door, being a host in the location, reserve seats before screening, cleaning the room after screening
• A-Team: set-up and dismantling work both outside and inside the room when indicated (coordinated by the A-team coordinator)
• Flex crew: Helping where needed (if someone is sick or if you need an extra hand).
• Poster crew: Replace the posters (managed by poster crew coordinator)

• Premiere volunteers: see premiere protocol (managed by the premiere producers)
• Champagne volunteers: see premiere protocol – they are instructed by the location managers
• Distribution volunteers: responsible for distributing programme magazines, Volkskrant and snacks (managed by distribution crew coordinator)

Other

• Moderators (coordinated by Q&A producers)
• Scan (sub)coordinators
• Projectionist/technician: at each show or screening there is a projectionist or technician who is responsible for the image and sound. The projectionists can be hired by IDFA (from Indyvideo) or projectionists who work at the location
• IDFA staff/ (event) producer: at extensive shows (talks, Q&A's, special events, etc.) there is sometimes someone from IDFA present who has prepared the show in terms of content and has made the callsheet. This person only comes to check whether everything is going well. The location- or floormanager remains responsible for the performance of the show at all times.
  

Decoration: IDFA producer Kai is responsible for the decoration, together with A-team coordinator Alexander. In the timetable you can see when decoration and furniture will be delivered at your location. These materials will be collected again at the end of the festival. It's good to take a tour of the location beforehand to determine which materials/furniture they allow you to use.

Posters: The poster crew visits regularly to hang up new posters at the agreed locations. It is not allowed to put posters everywhere. You coordinate this, filmmakers sometimes want to try to hang their poster.

Distribution: The distribution team is responsible for distributing magazines around all locations. You make sure that the racks are stacked and filled. Also make sure you have a stock to refill the racks. You can also call distribution team if you're in need of snacks. 

The location producers provide you with a location box, which has all the necessary equipments for you. In the box you will find:

• Location phone: this phone is your way of communicating during the festival. It’s very important to turn it on when your shift starts. Everyone at IDFA has this number and will call or text you when needed. The phonenumbers of all IDFA people are in the phone.

• Scanners - don't forget to charge them at the end of the day
• iPad: you can use the iPad to help the scan volunteers
• Office supplies
• Reserved seat headbanners
  

Daily necessities
iPad with callsheet app: The call sheet that contains all the information for that day that day's timetable
Walkie-talkie (not in all locations)
Phone card (a card for around your neck with all relevant phone numbers)
Signs "Reserved" to put on chairs.
Signs “Screening, no entry”

There is one central point where tickets will be sold. This is at Café Kuyl (Rembrandtplein 26). Openinghours of the box office 09:00 till 20:00. There also is a box office at Vondelparkpaviljoen where you can send visitors to. This box office won't be communicated openly.
There is an information desk at Pathé Tuschinski and Pathé de Munt. This opens half an hour before the first screening and closes half an hour after the last screening.

Industry & Press screening and Market screeningss
P&I screenings and Market screenings will take place in different locations. Here, the passes of the visitors are scanned by a theatre employee, with an ordinary scanner. Latecomers are still allowed to enter here if the film has already started.

Rough Cut Screenings

Rought Cut screenings are screened at different locations. These are films shown in an early stage for interested industry visitors. Here visitors will walk in and out. These shows need to be scanned with the Bram app. See more about this in the scan manual.

School performances
In the morning there are school performances at some locations. Then it says in the title "IDFA School screening". There is no ticket check. See also the school performances protocol.