Selecting films and new media work for the 2026 festival

Film entries are considered for IDFA’s competitions, Luminous, Frontlight, Best of Fests, Signed, and Paradocs. Films can also be actively scouted for these sections, which is handled by the program team in collaboration with regionally based associate programmers. In all cases, the films undergo an extensive selection process that starts with all filmmakers sending in an entry form.

The entire selection process is overseen by IDFA’s Artistic Director, Isabel Arrate Fernandez.

Programmers María Campaña Ramia, Joost Daamen, Laura van Halsema, and Ileana Stanculescu collaboratively work on the selections for the International Competition, Envision Competition, Luminous, and Frontlight. For these sections, the four programmers each work with their own team of program advisors to put forward a shortlist of films. Once the films are shortlisted, the programmers collectively curate the selection for the two main competitions, Luminous, and Frontlight.

For short films, programmer Jasper Hokken and associate programmer Makiko Wakai work together with their team of program advisors to make a selection for the IDFA Competition for Short Documentary, as well as the short films for Best of Fests, Signed, Luminous, and Frontlight.

Programmer Joost Daamen is responsible for selecting films for the Paradocs section, taking input from the programmers and program advisors of the other sections.

All programmers are involved in selecting the films for the program sections Best of Fests and Signed, which together make up the bulk of the festival selection.

Finally, entered films are sometimes also considered for IDFA’s thematic Focus Programs. These sections are curated by IDFA’s programmers and include both new and historical films.

María Campaña Ramia holds an MFA in Documentary Filmmaking from the University of Strasbourg. She is a programmer at IDFA and collaborates with Geneva’s FIFDH as a documentary consultant. As a curator, she has worked for MajorDocs (Spain), Ambulante (Mexico), and Encuentros del Otro Cine - EDOC (Ecuador), where she served as Artistic Director for ten years. María has organized festivals and showcases in Ecuador, Brazil, Colombia, and the United States. She writes for international journals and film publications and evaluates projects for funds and institutions. She lives in Rio de Janeiro.

Joost Daamen is a senior programmer at IDFA. He holds an MA degree in Film Studies from the University of Amsterdam. Since 2005, he has been working for IDFA’s program department. Over the years, he has contributed to and programmed the main (non-)competition programs and Paradocs program, and he has (co-)curated focus programs.

Laura van Halsema has an MA degree in American Studies from the University of Amsterdam. She has been working for IDFA since 2002, where for many years she developed and curated focus programs on several elements of documentary film art. The focuses ranged from the purely artistic aspects of filmmaking to investigations of complex questions relating to individualism, global politics, the role of media, and democracy. As senior programmer, she is part of the selection committee of the main competitions and responsible for the focus programs and talks program.

Ileana Stanculescu is a documentary filmmaker and programmer born in Bucharest, Romania. After studying film dramaturgy at the Konrad Wolf Film University in Germany, she directed the documentary The Bridge, which won the First Appearance Award at IDFA and was shown at major festivals around the world. She went on to produce other creative documentaries, including Village of Socks, Akhmeteli 4, and Noosfera, with nominations and awards from IDFA, Visions du Réel, and other film festivals. Since 2013, Ileana has been the Festival Coordinator and main programmer at CinéDOC-Tbilisi International Documentary Film Festival. She also led film training programs for documentary filmmakers from Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia, supporting emerging filmmakers through workshops, mentoring and awards. Ileana has served on juries for festivals like IDFA and One World.

Jasper Hokken is a programmer at IDFA, where he is responsible for IDFA’s Short Documentary Competition and the short film selections for Best of Fests, Signed, Frontlight, and Luminous. Between 2019-2024 he curated the IDFA on Stage program, which presented unique live events that explored the space between documentary cinema, new media, and performing arts. Before that he worked on IDFA’s Music Documentary program and concert series in collaboration with the Melkweg music venue. He holds an MA degree in Preservation and Presentation of the Moving Image from the University of Amsterdam.

Makiko Wakai is New Asian Currents program coordinator of the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival (YIDFF), that aims to showcase and bring together emerging filmmakers from across the region. She is programmer, feminist, activist, filmmaker and beer-enthusiast based in Tokyo.

Suhel Banerjee is an Indian filmmaker working at the boundaries of cinematic language. His work moves between documentary and fiction, exploring the contradictions and convergences of myth and history, dreams and reality. He draws on Indian storytelling forms and the drama inherent in its landscapes in an attempt to portray and understand the world around him. Awarded Best First Feature at IDFA, his films have screened at New Directors/New Films at MoMA and Film at Lincoln, New York, and in competition in the International Festivals of Yamagata, Jeonju, Taiwan, Tehran, Vancouver, Montreal, Dharamshala, Kerala among others.

Ela Bittencourt is a writer currently based in Berlin. She writes for Artforum, Frieze, Hyperallergic, and other art and cultural publications, in addition to contributing essays to artist monographs, exhibition and festival catalogues, and working on her own projects. She's also served on numerous juries, presented film programs, led filmmaker and artist talks, and taught in international writing academies. She holds an MFA in writing and an MA in arts management, both from Columbia University, New York.

Kees Brienen is a film programmer, curator, and teacher. Digital moving images and their consequences for our visual language have been the subject of his experimental film programming, exploring various disciplines of art and their relationship with cinema. Over the years he has curated many (special) programs for cinemas, television, museums, and festivals such as IDFA, IFFR, Movies that Matter, Pluk de Nacht, Los Cabos IFF and Cinema Planeta in Mexico. Since 2000, he has been a member of IDFA’s selection committee.

Inadelso Cossa is a film director, producer and DOP, member of the (AMPAS) Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science. His first feature-length documentary A Memory in Three Acts made a world premiere at the festival IDFA - International Documentary Festival in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Inadelso was invited as a jury at IDFA 2018 and Doc Sheffield 2018. His second feature film The Nights Still Smell of Gunpowder made a world premiere at Berlinale Forum 2024 and international premiere at CPH: DOX 2024. The film won the Special Jury Prize at Olhar de Cinema – Curitiba International Film Festival 2024, Special Mention at Lima Alterna International Film Festival and Porto Post Doc, Jury Prize at Doc Lisboa International Film Festival 2024.

Hawa Essuman is a film director based in Nairobi, Kenya. Her 2017 feature-length documentary Silas, co-directed with Anjali Neyar, tells the story of Liberian environmental activist Silas Siakor's fight to preserve the country's rainforests from commercial logging. The film won multiple awards, including the Amnesty International Durban Human Rights Award (2018) and the Audience Award for best documentary at the RiverRun International Film Festival (2018). Hawa's first feature film, Soul Boy (2010), also received a series of awards. In addition, Hawa has produced a range of TV programs, commercial films, music videos, and adverts.

Film curator and critic Katarina Hedrén has worked as a curator, co-programmer, and moderator for film festivals and events worldwide, including the European Film Festival in South Africa, Berlinale, Addis Ababa African Film Week, Film Africa UK, Göteborg Film Festival, and FESPACO. She regularly serves as a consultant, advisor, mentor, speaker, and moderator for film festivals, markets, funds, and other industry events across the globe.

Luna Hupperetz is a film curator and PhD researcher at the University of Amsterdam, specialising in critical audiovisual heritage. Her research explores activist documentary cinema, audiovisual re-use practices, and collaborative film archival methodologies. As a curator, she researches and distributes the recently restored anti-colonial film Oema foe Sranan (Women of Suriname, 1978). Following this restoration, she co-produced and co-directed the short film A Battle Restored (2022). Currently, her work focuses on the digitized 16mm materials from the unfinished Unknown Suriname trilogy (Cineclub Vrijheidsfilms, 1973-1978) and the cinematic works of post-independence Surinamese filmmakers. In 2024, she curated a retrospective on militant Cuban filmmaker Sara Gómez for IDFA’s Spotlight on Cuba.

Tajana Kosor holds a double major in Comparative Literature and Philosophy from the University of Zagreb. She began her career as a programmer for the Thessaloniki International Film Festival’s International Program. She has joined Heretic, a boutique sales agency and production company in early 2022. At Heretic, she leads the company’s festival distribution strategy and works on acquisitions, whilst also contributing to the development of projects in early production stages. Her work bridges curatorial insight with market positioning across departments. In addition, she has served as a program consultant for Thessaloniki International Documentary Film Festival, and regularly contributes film criticism to a range of online and print publications.

Since 2013, Wood Lin has served as the program director of the Taiwan International Documentary Festival (TIDF), and since 2020, as the program advisor of the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). Additionally, he supervises the research and program division at the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute, overseeing responsibilities such as research, publication, film programs, and TIDF. He is also the editor-in-chief of "FILM APPRECIATION," the magazine and he has been honored with the prestigious Golden Tripod Award. The program he curated, "Imaging the Avant-Garde: Taiwan's Film Experiments of the 1960s," has been featured at various international film festivals and institutions. Wood Lin has also served as a juror for esteemed film festivals, including the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Ji.hlava IDFF, Sheffield IDFF, ONE WORLD, RIDM, and more.

Nour Ouayda is a filmmaker and film programmer. She explores the multiple relationships between image, text, voice, and sound, through filmmaking, film programming, research and writing. Between 2018 and 2023, she worked at Metropolis Cinema Association where she developed the Cinematheque Beirut project. She is part of the editorial team of the Montreal-based film journal Hors Champ and a member of the artist collective The Camelia Committee. She also teaches film programming in Beirut.

Belgrade-born and Zagreb-based Vladan Petkovic is a film journalist, critic and festival programmer. His programming experience includes ZagrebDox, Rab Film Festival, Eastern Neighbours Film Festival, Cinema City Novi Sad, FeKK Ljubljana, Kratkofil Banjaluka, and Belgrade Short & Documentary Film Festival. He is also the industry talks editor at IDFA, a correspondent for Screen International, senior writer for Cineuropa, film critic for Documentary Magazine, and head of studies of the GoCritic! training program for emerging film critics.

Luis F. Raguá is a program advisor at Cinemateca de Bogotá and programmer at Lichter Filmfest Frankfurt International and Alternativa Film Festival. He holds a MA in Preservation and Presentation of the Moving Image from the University of Amsterdam, a MA in Anthropology from Universidad de los Andes (Colombia), and has led and participated in curating and preservation projects at Museo Reina Sofía (Spain), Eye Filmmuseum and LI-MA Institute for Media Art (Netherlands), the Spanish Film Showcase (Colombia), among others. Formerly program coordinator at the Bogota International Film Festival (BIFF), he has been a jury at festivals like FICCI and MIDBO, awards like the Golden Globes and Premios Gabo, and various open calls in Colombia.

A graduate of Anthropology (1997) and Urban Arts studies (2020), Lulu Ratna is an Indonesian short film activist based in Jakarta who programs, promotes, and distributes Indonesian short films. She has been working as a film festival organizer since 1999 and now is a lecturer on film festival management with an annual international student film festival UCIFEST - UMN Animation & Film Festival as her students' practice. She has been part of the IDFA Program Advisor Team since 2021.

Céline Roustan is a film curator, with almost a decade of experience. Senior programmer at the website Short of the Week, she also programs short films at the Palm Springs ShortFest and SXSW where she also programs features. She has previously programmed for the Dublin International Film Festival, SFFILM, and currently contributes to the programs of the Cannes Official Short Film Competition, TIFF ShortCuts, Aspen ShortsFest.

Ana Siqueira is a Brazilian film curator, translator and researcher. Head of program at FestCurtasBH - Belo Horizonte International Short Film Festival (2013-14 and since 2017), she was previously a programmer at Cine Humberto Mauro film theater and other Brazilian film festivals, such as forumdoc.bh and Mostra Tiradentes. As a PhD researcher at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG - Brazil), she explores linguistic differences within films, discussing notions such as colonialism, equivocation, opacity and hospitality. She has been a program advisor for IDFA since 2022.

Sarah Teixeira St-Cyr is a Portuguese/Canadian curator, researcher, and community organizer from Montreal, currently based in the Netherlands. She graduated in Journalism and Film Studies, where her thesis focused on the aesthetics of melancholy in postcolonial cinema. Her work sits at the intersection of film, art, and social justice, with a focus on politically engaged and community-driven practices. She has been involved with Cinema Politica, the PFFA, Sheffield DocFest, and a range of grassroots initiatives aimed at building collective spaces for critical dialogue and socially engaged film culture. 

Jelte Zonneveld is a writer, programmer and creative producer based in Rotterdam. He graduated with a specialization in documentary research and development from the MA in Film Studies at the University of Amsterdam. Since then, he has worked as a (freelance) editor/researcher, programmer and (impact) producer for various broadcasters, festivals and production companies. He was creative producer for multiple projects at mint film office in Rotterdam and an independent producer for several (short) documentaries. At IDFA he worked as a producer of the Industry program, IDFA Forum and as an editor for the Doc Talks program; since 2017 he has been a program advisor. Currently, he is finishing his Creative Writing studies, and advising for NPO-fund, Netherlands Film Fund, Amsterdam Fund for the Arts, a.o.

Through the annual open call for festival entries, and IDFA DocLab’s R&D consortium Shared Realities, a broad range of interdisciplinary documentary projects are considered for IDFA’s new media program DocLab. These works are presented in an exhibition and series of live events during IDFA. 

Head of New Media Programs Caspar Sonnen and co-curator Beata Calińska collaboratively work on the selection and curation of projects in DocLab’s two competitions: Immersive Non-Fiction and Digital Storytelling, supported by Nina van Doren and the wider DocLab team.

All festival entries and proposals are evaluated by an international group of dedicated new media program advisors with an outstanding track record in interactive and immersive art and storytelling. With their extensive expertise, they provide crucial input to ensure the DocLab program pushes artistic exploration, signals new trends and talents and showcases the best and most cutting-edge projects in the field. 

Dutch projects eligible for the Film Fund DocLab Interactive Grant are selected together with the Netherlands Film Fund. 

In addition to our program advisors, we are supported in the IDFA DocLab program selection by R&D partners including: Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, ARTIS-Planetarium, Flemish Cultural Center De Brakke Grond, POPKRAFT and Diversion. 

Caspar Sonnen is Head of New Media at IDFA, where he created IDFA DocLab in 2007 to provide a platform for curating, showcasing, and developing interactive and immersive documentary art. Previously, he co-founded the Open Air Film Festival Amsterdam and served as an advisory board member for SXSW Film and MIT Open DocLab. In 2015, he received the EDN Award for Outstanding Contribution to European Documentary Culture. 

Beata Calińska is co-curator of IDFA DocLab 2026 and Senior Advisor for Digital Innovation at The Music Center - Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County. Previously, she managed the Sundance Institute’s New Frontier Labs and festival exhibitions, earning a Webby Award. She has served as a mentor, juror, and advisor for Tribeca Immersive, the PHI Centre, the MIT Open Documentary Lab, Cubaverso, Mentoras Creativas, and the Miami, Sarajevo, and Guanajuato international film festivals. She has also produced installations and events for LACMA and Civic Signals’ New Public Festival.

Nina van Doren is a coordinator and editor at IDFA DocLab with a background in art history, media art preservation, and sound design. Since 2021, she has worked on the selection and presentation of DocLab’s exhibitions and live events, with a focus on indie games, experimental storytelling, and digital culture.

Nienke Huitenga-Broeren is an award-winning immersive director and producer. Her designs stem from a curiosity for how technology sharpens our understanding of being human. Her latest VR documentary LACUNA about memory and identity premiered in the immersive competition at Cannes 2025. In the past years she has worked on a generative audio experience titled DRIFT (2024) that speculates about post-climate crisis Netherlands, a performative hybrid lecture OFF THE RECORD (2023) and debuted with the non-fiction VR story ROZSYPNE (2019) at IDFA DocLab. In Utrecht she runs Studio ZZZAP where she blends an XR practice with digital art and experiential storytelling. 

Dutch/Iranian artist and immersive maker Ali Eslami, creates experimental, interdisciplinary works across VR, simulation, and physical installation. His work deals with long-term, practice-based research that builds and grows through speculative thinking and world-building. His works, including Nerd_Funk and DeathTolls Experience (IDFA DocLab Award 2016), have been presented at venues such as MoMA, Het Nieuwe Instituut, MU and LWL- Museum Münster.  

Avinash Changa is a VR-maker, director, creative technologist, and international speaker on immersive creation. He founded the award-winning WeMakeVR studio, known for Meeting Rembrandt, Angels of Amsterdam, and The Saga of Sage. Avinash coaches talent, consults on immersive productions, and is developing technologies to improve immersive experiences, from social VR performances to hybrid theatre/music/VR works and educational content. He also pioneers new workflows for better production and long-term preservation of immersive works. 

Toby Coffey is an award winning executive producer, director and consultant working with storytelling and emerging technology. Formerly at the National Theatre, London, Toby founded their Immersive Storytelling Studio in 2016 examining how emerging technology could enhance the NT’s remit to be a pioneer of dramatic storytelling. Current projects include LILI: a screen-life-thriller video game adaptation of Macbeth; a co-production between Royal Shakespeare Company, iNK Stories and Alambic Production. His work has been shown at the Venice, Sundance, Cannes, Tribeca and London Film Festivals, IDFA, Sandbox Festival Beijing, National Theatre, Young Vic, MoMA and TATE Modern.  

Callum Cooper is Head of Digital at Powerhouse Museum (Sydney), where he leads digital strategy, content, and platforms across exhibitions, film, and web. His teams have delivered award-winning projects and global partnerships with the New York Times, Nowness, and others. Previously, he was Creative Director at Squint Opera (New York), producing exhibitions and installations for institutions including the National Air and Space Museum, the V&A, the Empire State Building, and Toyota. His personal creative practice spans film and interactive media, with work shown at Sundance, Tribeca, and the Venice Biennale, and fellowships from MIT, the Met, Mozilla, and the Sundance Institute. 
 
Julián Cordero is a game developer from Quito, Ecuador, now based in New York City. His latest project, despelote, is a slice-of-life adventure about childhood and the magical grip soccer held over the people of Quito in 2001. He's passionate about finding new ways to capture the world, and sees video games as the perfect vessel for that exploration. 

Sasha Dees is a world citizen and connector who lives for the arts. She founded her production company SDPM in 1998 and has worked as an independent producer, curator, writer, and consultant in Amsterdam and New York. Notable projects include "Chinese Whisper" (New Museum, 2001), "Bloody Mondays and Strawberry Pies" (Gouden Kalf, 2008), "Traversing the Mist" (IDFA DocLab, 2023) and "Free UR Head" (Venice Immersive 2024). Her book, Entangled Species, was published in 2021. She curated "NEXUS" at the Museum for Contemporary Art in Taipei (2023) and serves on various funding committees. 

Callum Griffiths is an audiovisual specialist at ARTIS-Planetarium in Amsterdam, where he produces fulldome shows and maintains the technical systems behind them. His work spans immersive content production, AV, and interactive planetarium experiences. He is an active member of the immersive and fulldome communities, sharing his time and production knowledge with artists who want to create for the dome. 

After studying astronomy and science communication, Milo Grootjen joined the ARTIS-Planetarium in 2001. As Director of the Planetarium, he is responsible for its content and programming, combining its modern virtual universe with simple objects, engaging examples and demonstrations that help audiences visualise and understand complex astronomical concepts. He is currently leading the large-scale renewal of the Planetarium. Alongside managing the project, he is responsible for its content development, with a central focus on humanity’s connection to nature on the very largest scales.

Faye Kabali-Kagwa is a South African-Ugandan cultural curator based in Cape Town. Her work is embedded in a social practice that seeks innovative, interdiscplinary platforms where creative production and audience engagement meaningfully intersect. Faye has networks across Africa, Europe, and North America such as ASSITEJ, ISPA, the Pan African Creative Exchange, Salzburg Global Forum, and the African Festival Network. Faye is invested in the narratives and experiences of African people across the world. 

Corine Meijers is founder and creative producer of Studio Biarritz and Stichting Podium Biarritz, behind award-winning film and immersive works premiered at IDFA, Venice, IFFR, Cannes and SXSW. Winner of the 2025 CFAP award, she is also a mentor, coach and board member of the Dutch producers’ alliance NAPA. 

Tamara Shogaolu is an Emmy® Award-winning, Peabody-nominated director, writer, and artist whose work merges cinematic storytelling with bold experimentation. Recognized for her visionary approach to narrative and technology, she creates immersive worlds that bridge emotion and innovation, reimagining how histories are remembered, and futures envisioned. Her acclaimed projects have been presented at MoMA, IDFA, Tribeca, SXSW, Annecy, Sheffield Doc/Fest, and museums and galleries worldwide.  

Mac Liu is an Amsterdam-based media professional with a background in Sociology. Since 2021, she has been working with IDFA on programme-related projects. Her experience spans VR and Chinese art-house cinema, collaborating with CinemAsia, Kaboom, and Sprouts, as well as Eye Filmmuseum, STUDIO/K, and KINO Rotterdam. She currently works across advertising and media, bridging commercial and cultural practice. 

Alaa Minawi is a Dutch–Lebanese–Palestinian artist based between Amsterdam and Beirut. His work spans performing arts and installation art, exploring themes of belonging, presence and absence, Arab futurism, war, trauma, and healing. His installation My Light Is Your Light… (2014) was included in UNESCO’s International Year of Light (2015) and was nominated for Best Light Art at the D’Arc Awards in London (2016). In 2024, he received a Special Jury Mention at IDFA for The Liminal, which was also nominated for the Best Dutch Director Award in Digital Storytelling (2025). 

Design collective Polymorf (Marcel van Brakel, Mark Meeuwenoord and Peter Boonstra) creates immersive experiences that engage audiences through fully embodied multi-sensory installations and cutting-edge technologies. They act as an innovative pipeline across industries, creating strategies for prototyping the future and pushing the boundaries of human connection and physical exhibition.  

Amy Rose is a highly acclaimed director and creative leader - specialising in immersive narrative and interactive experience design. To explore audience participation and the use of emerging technologies in storytelling, she co-founded the multi-award-winning creative studio Anagram with May Abdalla in 2013. In 2024 Rose developed and curate the first immersive gallery at Watershed, called Undershed. She is also developing a network of venues dedicated to showing immersive work in the UK, called Radius. Throughout, Rose seeks innovative methods for creating unique connections between stories and the people meeting them - playing with the body as much as speaking to the mind. 

Harm van de Ven is an interactive media developer who thrives on collaboration, working closely with directors and artists to bring interactive concepts to life. He is specialized in crafting experiences that feel natural, intuitive and immersive. Co-founder of the collective Zesbaans, he actively contributes to the broader community as a juror, moderator, and advisor. His projects have been showcased at festivals including Cannes, IFFR, and IDFA. He is driven by a passion for exploring new intersections of technology, storytelling and user experience. 
 
Rafaella Wang is an illustrator and graphic designer who has worked with various cultural institutions. She has collaborated with IDFA DocLab on exhibition design and festival publications since 2012. Rafaella has been a program advisor since 2020. 
 
Maisha Wester is a professor and researcher in Cultural Studies and Film Studies. She is also the designer, curator, and lead writer of Coded Black, a game for PC featuring an auxiliary 360 video. The project won Honorable Mention in IDFA's 2025 Digital Storytelling Competition, Best in PC Gaming at Queensland XR, and has been featured in numerous other festivals and competitions. An established professor in American Culture Studies, Black Diaspora Studies, Film theory, and Literary criticism, Wester won a prestigious British Academy Global Professorship for her work (2020-2025). 

Babette Wijntjes has twenty years of experience, from film programmer for a cinema to managing director of a film distribution company. As co-founder of Vedette, she is committed to introducing new talent and high-profile films to the widest possible audience. Besides her film work, Babette is also the brains behind VR distribution platform Nu:Reality, through her other company, Cassette. Nu:Reality’s mission is to make VR a permanent part of the Dutch cultural scene.