IDFA Project Space 2025: Project selection and tutor line-up announced

The talent development program will foster a collaborative environment over an extending period—taking place from June to September—hosted both online and in IDFA’s home Het Documentaire Paviljoen in Amsterdam.

The selected projects reflect a broad spectrum of cinematic voices and visual approaches—from deeply poetic and cinematic storytelling to layered explorations of personal and historical realities. While distinct in form and theme, the projects share a strong artistic vision and a commitment to urgent, resonant narratives. Several of the participating filmmakers have previously been supported by IDFA through various programs, including having received support from the IDFA Bertha Fund.

Film still: Rebelión de la Memoria by Joël Jent

From June to September, the program will provide tailored support to the selected projects, each in a different stage of production, adapting the guidance to their creative development and specific needs.

June
The IDFA Project Space program will kick off online from June 2 to 5, offering participants online meetings and Filmmaker Talks—taking inspiration as its starting point. The June program includes a session with psychotherapist and documentary producer Rebecca Day, as well as a Filmmaker Talk with Lina Soualem, whose works bring emotional clarity and universal resonance to deeply personal stories. Soualem’s film Bye Bye Tiberias premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival and was the official Palestinian entry for the Best International Feature for the 96th Academy Awards. In her Filmmaker Talk, Lina Soualem will reflect on her personal experiences, lessons from the editing process, and her approach to constructing narrative and layers in their documentary films.

Late June to July
The in-person week in Amsterdam, from June 30 to July 5, will revolve around developing their projects—with in-depth one-on-one meetings with their assigned tutors. We are thrilled to share the renowned tutors for IDFA Project Space 2025: Editors Niels Pagh Andersen, Ollie Huddleston, Gladys Joujou; directors Ali Essafi and Kumjana Novakova; producers Katja Draaijer and Bianca Oana; and consultant Gitte Hansen.

Returning to IDFA Project Space as a tutor, editor Gladys Joujou shares her thoughts on her experience: “What I like at IDFA Project Space is that filmmakers are encouraged to dare to be different in order to find their own personal path.”

Editor Ollie Huddleston, returning as tutor for the eleventh year, reflects on the talent development program: “It's amazing how much progress can be made in an intense week of questioning and editing.”

During this engaging week in IDFA’s Het Documentaire Paviljoen, participants and tutors are encouraged to exchange experiences and share feedback—and most importantly, to walk away with new creative inspiration and drive to complete their compelling and urgent projects.

The filmmakers selected for the Dutch speaking workshop IDFA Project Space NL will also kick-off their program this week. These filmmakers, as well as a variety of Dutch filmmakers, will be invited to attend the week’s screenings and talks.

The program will conclude during a week in September, with an online program to follow up on the projects process—made up of additional talks and meetings.

Participants of IDFA Project Space will be invited to attend IDFAcademy during IDFA in November with a free accreditation. This will help continue the development of the project and connect the participants to the documentary industry.

Black River
Germany, Guatemala – dir. Anna-Sophia Richard

 is the poetic encounter with a Maya community in the Guatemalan highlands, whose survivors live with the ever-present legacy of the civil war. Every day, they struggle to preserve their memories, traditions, and identity, which are threatened by global economic forces and colonialism.

The Blue Sweater with a Yellow Hole
Ukraine – dir. Tetiana Khodakivska

Weaving together animation, observational cinema, and participatory filmmaking, the film follows Ukrainian children - Taisa (15), Kyrylo (12) and their friends - as they process and draw memories of their six months in a Russian “re-education” camp. As their memories unfold, sketches transform into edgy and evocative animations—capturing not only trauma and doubts instilled by indoctrination but also moments of childhood wonder, joy, and adventure.

Game of Replacing of Gods
Taiwan – dir. An Chu

Game of Replacing of Gods explores the death care industry in Taiwan, specifically the culture of “Zizha”—a craft mainly used as paper offerings in Taoist traditions. Through the repetitive process from making paper houses to burning them, the film seeks to contemplate the very nature of life and death.

Hope is a Word
Norway – dir. Maria Galliani Dyrvik

Oil extraction keeps ravaging the Niger Delta. Poet and activist Nnimmo Bassey refuses to lose hope and gather a new generation of voices. Through poetry, young activists find a way to own the fight and transform words into acts of resistance and visions of a different future.

House of Dreams
Netherlands, Greece – dir. Ehsan Fardjadniya

At 18, Ehsan is exiled from Iran for creating a satirical cartoon. For 20 years, he wanders through Europe, living in asylum centers and abandoned houses. His recurring nightmare warns him against returning to Iran. He wasn't there for his father's last days, and now, with his mother gravely ill, Ehsan faces an impossible choice: return to Iran and risk imprisonment or stay in the Netherlands and miss his mother’s final days. To make sense of his life, Ehsan projects his drawn dreams and nightmares onto the walls of the shelters he hides in. And every time, he asks himself again: Should I go back to Iran? Back to the house of my dreams.

Ma, Let's Fly Together
China, United Kingdom - dir. Yash Zhang

In a train traveling across China and the UK, a filmmaker reconnects with their estranged mother through their lifelong diaries, transforming decades of silence into a shared exploration of trauma, queer identity, and healing across generations.

The Pulse of the Volcanoes 
Guatemala – dir. Anais Taracena

I live in Guatemala, a country shaped by the belt of fire of 37 volcanoes, eternal witnesses to tragedies, conquests, and uprising, cycles that endlessly repeat. Are these volcanoes the voice of a wounded land, or the guardians of a history still seeking justice?

Pure Madness
Tunisia – dir. Inès Arsi

Shaped by her experience with mental health, a filmmaker sets out to uncover the buried story of her great-uncle, who disappeared in 1970s France and was later found in a psychiatric hospital. Her journey reveals family secrets, the impact of migration, and the enduring legacy of psychological trauma.

Rebelión de la Memoria
Peru – dir. Joël Jent

A family of three seek their way out of a dark past. Having fought on different sides of a war, their present is marked by their memories and the attempt to find understanding for each other.

Shadows of the Forest
India – dir. Akash Basumatari and Shrutiman Deori

In the mystical Garbhanga forest of Northeast India, Shadows of the Forest explores the community’s collective subconscious as they endure the impacts of wildlife conservation in their forest. Rumours of new predators and looming eviction fears blur reality with ancestral memory, seeping into dreams and whispered recollections across generations.

The Sixth Story
Iraq – dir. Ahmed Abd

Haunted by his memories of Iraq’s sectarian violence, filmmaker Ahmed reunites with his artist friend Ali. Through Ahmed’s lens and Ali’s brush, they transform a bedroom into a living museum, confronting the nightmares that shaped Ahmed’s life and excavating a harrowing past that refuses to be buried.

Tale of the plum spirit
Serbia – dir. Milica Đenić

An aging bachelor in a remote mountain village in Serbia urges his grandniece behind the camera to find a husband and escape his fate. From the humorous clash of two diametrically opposed worldviews emerges a story of loneliness and a burden of unfulfilled social expectations.

Todo Lo Sólido
Cuba – dir. Luis Gutiérrez Arias & Zaina Bseiso

Set in present-day Cuba and structured as a road movie, Todo Lo Sólido tells the story of an island sinking into the Caribbean Sea. As a nameless drifter searches for explanations about the island's destiny, reality and fantasy merge to reflect on nation-building and the burden of progress.

Tongues of Fire
Philippines – dir. Alyx Ayn Arumpac

The logline for this project is not available for publication.

Anonymous Project

Anonymous Project