Celebrating a harvest of 24 titles supported by IDFA

With the IDFA 2024 official selection announced, we proudly reflect on the titles that were realized with the support of the IDFA Bertha Fund (IBF), previously attended IDFA’s talent development programs, or presented at IDFA Forum.  

This year, the harvest boasts a record number of first-time filmmakers with previous IDFA support presenting their debut films at IDFA 2024—speaking to the festival’s commitment to providing the springboard for the film careers of auteurs of the future. The Fund’s impact is particularly notable with sixteen IBF-supported films in this edition, including six world and international premieres.

“It is wonderful to see filmmakers we know well included in this year’s selection—familiar makers from the Filmmaker Support department, those who have passed through our Talent programs, and some who received support from the IDFA Bertha Fund. After following their filmmaking process closely and having been part of the challenges they faced, we are extremely proud to welcome them to the festival and look forward to celebrating their accomplishment with them,” said Isabel Arrate Fernandez, Deputy Director of IDFA and Managing Director of the IDFA Bertha Fund.

“Our endeavor to boost international creative collaborations through various pitching formats at Forum shows its success with films that were premiering at festivals earlier this year as well as several premieres at IDFA in both the film and new media program. This year, for the first time, we are also welcoming two filmmaker teams who presented at the Forums’ Producers Connection section,” said Adriek van Nieuwenhuijzen, Head of Industry.

This year’s International Competition includes four remarkable titles with previous IDFA support. Among them is IDFA 2024’s opening film About a Hero by Piotr Winiewicz, presenting a script written by an AI trained on Werner Herzog’s body of work. The film has been part of DocLab R&D program, where early iterations were publicly presented as installation pieces in the DocLab exhibition in 2019 (Reflector) and 2023 (William Quail's Pyramid). It was also pitched at the Forum in 2019, then titled Kaspar.

A Want in Her by Myrid Carten, shows a compelling exploration into family love in the International Competition. The film was pitched at IDFA Forum in 2021. Writing Hawa by Najiba Noori debuts her intimate portrait of Noori’s Afghan mother, after participating in IDFA Project Space in 2023 and Producers Connection in 2022. Showing a visually poignant exploration into the effects of an absent father, Misha Vallejo Prut presents the world premiere of Light Memories, after receiving IBF Classic support in 2022 and participating in IDFA Project Space in 2023.

Turning to the Envision Competition, Miguel Calderón presents the IDFA Bertha Fund-supported Loss Adjustment—documenting the corruption that plagues an insurance claims adjuster in Mexico.

Demonstrating the impact of the IDFA DocLab Forum, two new media titles that previously pitched at Forum are included in competition this year. In the IDFA DocLab Competition for Digital Storytelling, Nienke Huitenga, Hay Kranen, and Lieven Heeremans present the Drift. In the IDFA DocLab Competition for Immersive Non-Fiction, Francisca Silva and Maria Jose Diaz present Ancestral Secret VR.

This edition’s harvest shows a record number of IDFA Bertha Fund-supported films—with no less than sixteen titles to be screened during the festival. Some highlights include Bassam Mortada’s Abo Zaabal 89, shown in the Luminous section.The film was successfully pitched at IDFA Forum, participated in IDFA Project Space, and received IDFA Bertha Fund support—all in 2021.

Having both received IBF Classic grants in development, Manolo Sarmiento presents Toroboro: The Name of Plants in the Frontlight section, and Lola Arias presents Reas in the festival’s section celebrating a filmmaker’s distinct signature, Signed.

The non-competitive Best of Fests section remains a centerpiece for IDFA-supported films that met with success at major festivals. Among them is The Brink of Dreams by Nada Riyadh and Ayman El Amir won this year’s the Golden Eye at Cannes Film Festival. The film received IDFA Bertha Fund support with IBF Classic and IBF Europe grants in 2020 and 2021.

Next to this, Best of Fests shows the celebrated The Fabulous Gold Harvesting Machine by Alfredo Pourailly De La Plaza—following several stages of IDFA support. Before garnering international attention at A-list festivals, the title received IBF support in 2015, pitched at IDFA Forum in 2019, participated in IDFA Project Space in 2021.

Additional noteworthy highlights include three titles that pitched at IDFA Forum, received support from the IDFA Bertha Fund and went on to garner attention and received nominations and awards at A-list festivals before making the rounds worldwide. Songs of Slow Burning Earth by Olha Zhurba—which had its world premiere at Venice, My Stolen Planet by Farahnaz Sharifi—which had its world premiere at the Berlinale, and We Are Inside by Farah Kassem—which had its world premiere at Visions du Réel.

Next to these highlighted titles, we invite you to explore the full harvest per category below.

At IDFA 2024 you can find filmmakers with IDFA support across the festival and industry activities. Next to filmmakers with films or projects in the festival selection, this includes filmmakers attending our Industry events, IDFAcademy during IDFA, and other activities supported by IDFA’s training and funding programs. See a complete overview of all supported filmmakers at IDFA 2024 below.