Competitions and other sections

The International Competition presents a selection of films with wide appeal and their international or world premieres at IDFA. These films transform deeply personal histories into reflections on today’s most pressing issues.

The Envision Competition selection of international or world premieres shows unparalleled, stylistically arresting films, where visionary filmmakers forge new cinematic languages.

This competition selection boldly expands the horizons of the documentary genre, pushing immersive media beyond conventional boundaries.

This competition selection expands the possibilities of digital art and interactive storytelling, featuring works by both emerging talent and established creators.

Documentary art across disciplines, presenting critically acclaimed VR- and fulldome projects next to live performance.

IDFA DocLab: Off the internet explores the paradox of our time: the growing desire to disconnect, the impossibility of ever truly logging off, and the inherent privilege of stepping offline. With Off the Internet, DocLab turns to interactive and immersive art in search of new forms of presence and connection.

The IDFA Competition for Short Documentary celebrates the versatility of the form, with films that use creativity and imagination to push the boundaries of short documentary. This year’s mosaic of styles, themes, and perspectives is driven by ambitious directors with singular cinematic voices and a strong artistic vision.

In celebration of our Guest of Honor, IDFA presents several films by acclaimed filmmaker, curator, and academic Susana de Sousa Dias. Known for her singular approach to archival images and cinematic form, her work interrogates dictatorship, colonial legacies, and the fragile terrain of memory.

In her Top 10 selection, Guest of Honor Susana de Sousa Dias presents an exploration into collective memory and filmmakers rewriting their political narratives—looking to archives to reveal what was hidden in dominant versions of history.

The premiere-only section Luminous presents a wide range of styles and formalist approaches, from observational to personal to experimental—moving between intimate meditations on the filmmakers’ inner worlds and explorations of lives far beyond their own.

The premiere-only section takes an artistic approach to critically examining the truth and exploring the urgent issues of our time.

Dead Angle is a multi-year focus program that uses documentary cinema to reveal what remains outside our direct field of vision. This year, we examine institutions—tracing their histories and contradictions and reflecting on their role in shaping society.

The latest cinematic adventures of some of the most original filmmakers of our time. Signed celebrates those with a unique artistic signature, beyond the canon.

Prize-winners, public favorites, and the year’s most eye-catching titles from the international festival circuit. The selection uses vastly diverse styles and genres to take us to the world’s most pressing topics.

Paradocs showcases the year’s non-fiction film art, in which visual artists and filmmakers present their explorations into non-fiction filmmaking.

Current Future is IDFA’s cross-section program curated by filmmaker Niki Padidar, showcasing films that challenge our understanding of youth documentary—reflecting the complexities of our contemporary reality.

From the International Competition, Envision Competition, Luminous, and Frontlight, an international jury will choose the winner of the IDFA Award for Best First Feature (€5,000).

From the International Competition, Envision Competition, Luminous, and Frontlight, an international jury will choose the winner of the IDFA Award for Best Dutch Film (€5,000).

From across the program, an international jury will choose the winner of the Beeld & Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award (€5,000).

The FIPRESCI jury will choose the winner of the FIPRESCI award from the films nominated for the IDFA Award for Best First Feature.