IDFA Bertha Fund announces IBF Classic fall selection

This fall’s IBF Classic selection spans deeply personal and politically resonate stories from across the globe: from a portrait of resilience and quiet defiance within today’s LGBTQ+ community in Turkey, to a filmmaker tracing exile, mourning, and motherhood through the women of her Haitain family, to an intimate decade-long chronicle of lives in Bakuva, where a society refuses to see them.

Selected from 462 entries, the latest IDFA Bertha Fund selection in the IBF Classic category highlights the Fund’s commitment to independent, author-driven voices from regions where access to funding for creative documentary film is structurally challenging. Nine of the ten projects are first or second-time feature-length films, and will bring bold creative visions to both local and international audiences.

One project cannot be disclosed for security reasons. It is a global ongoing urgency to support filmmakers whose freedom of artistic expression is under threat.

The fall selection also demonstrates IBF’s commitment to long-term collaboration with filmmakers. Arya Amber Lalloo’s project A Girl with a Gun explores her relationship with the camera against the backdrop of a changing South Africa and its complex role in making and unmaking the colonized world. The project previously received IBF Classic – Development support in 2022 and later took part in IDFA Project Space in the same year and the Forum’s Producers Connection in 2023.

Nelson Makengo also marks a familiar name for IDFA audiences. His short Up at Night won the Best Short Documentary Award in 2019, followed by the award-nominated and previously IBF-supported feature Rising up at night, which screened in Best of Fests at IDFA 2024. Makengo’s latest project, VIEUX KILO, delves into buried memories of a Catholic mission in Eastern Congo, where Swahili preaching intersected with copper mined for ammunition.

• One of the selected projects must remain anonymous

Susan Mbogo (Programs and Partnerships Director Docubox EADFF), Malin Hüber (Producer, HER Film), Selin Murat (Executive Director, IDFA Bertha Fund), Heejung Oh (Producer, Seesaw Picture), Carlos Rossini (Filmmaker and producer, Bambú Audiovisual)

Since 1998, the IDFA Bertha Fund (IBF) has been dedicated to strengthening independent, author-driven documentary filmmaking in regions where access to funding and distribution is structurally challenging—across Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Oceania. IBF provides financial support year-round through several funding schemes, including the IBF Classic program, which supports projects from development through post-production.

In addition to funding, IBF offers tailored guidance and professional support through IDFA’s Filmmaker Support department, including consultancies, workshops, and access to IDFA’s markets and talent development programs.

Find more information about the funds, deadlines, and applications here.

The IDFA Bertha Fund is supported by Bertha Foundation, Creative Europe Media, JustFilms / Ford Foundation, Nationale Postcode Loterij, Netherlands Film Fund, and Special Friends+.