From first idea to IDFA 2026: 28 films

Documentary films and new media projects often take years to develop. Along the way, filmmakers need space to experiment, opportunities to find creative partners, and funding to bring their ideas to life. Through its filmmaker support programs and the IDFA Bertha Fund, IDFA helps make this possible at different stages of the process. 

The 2026 selection includes 28 IDFA-supported projects, among them 12 debut films. Together, they reflect the range of work that can emerge when filmmakers have the resources, guidance, and connections to develop their ideas. Three projects offer a closer look at these different paths: Hello You by May Abdalla and Barry Gene Murphy, Concrete Land by Asmahan Bkerat, and Regarding Memory and Neglect by Ricardo Martensen. 

In Concrete Land (2026), Palestinian filmmaker Asmahan Bkerat follows the Najar family, one of the last Afro-Palestinian Bedouin families living on the outskirts of Amman. As the Jordanian capital continues to expand around them, three generations face a difficult choice: hold on to their land or find a new place to call home. 

The film’s journey has been closely connected to IDFA. Bkerat first received support from the IDFA Bertha Fund in 2020 to help bring the project into production and complete the film. In 2021, she took part in IDFA Project Space, a program that helps filmmakers develop their projects and strengthen their creative practice. Three years later, she presented the film at IDFA Forum, where filmmakers meet potential partners and financiers. Now, Concrete Land returns to IDFA as part of the Best of Fests program. 

How well do we know the person looking back at us in the mirror? In Hello You (2026), immersive artists May Abdalla and Barry Gene Murphy of Anagram turn the familiar act of looking at your own reflection into an uncanny experience. Through light, sound, and illusion, the installation explores how memories and expectations shape our sense of self—and what happens when the image we recognize as our own begins to shift. 

The project has evolved with IDFA at several stages. In 2024, it was presented at IDFA DocLab Forum, where it won the DocLab Forum Award. That same year, Anagram shared an early version of the work with artists, professionals, and audiences at DocLab Playrooms, inviting them to experience the project while it was still taking shape. Their feedback helped inform its further development. Now, the project returns to IDFA as Hello You, selected for the DocLab Competition for Immersive Non-Fiction. 

May Abdalla: “In 2024, we came to IDFA with a question: could an experience change the way someone feels in their own body? The DocLab Playroom gave us seven hours with the public to start finding out. Working with dance artist Kat Hawkins, who had experienced phantom limbs, we explored how our sense of our bodies could shift through play. 

There’s something valuable about having space to experiment while an idea is still taking shape. In a room with the public, ideas must become real. You see what resonates, what falls away, and what moves forward without being forced. 

The Forum Award gave the project encouragement and visibility; the Playroom gave us somewhere to get our hands dirty. That exploration helped lay the groundwork for Hello, You, which premieres this year: an encounter with your own reflection and the strangeness of recognizing yourself. Returning to DocLab feels like continuing a conversation that began in that room two years ago.” 

In Regarding Memory and Neglect (2026), Brazilian filmmaker Ricardo Martensen follows families searching for answers about the deaths and disappearances of their loved ones. From the exhumation of victims murdered during Brazil’s military dictatorship (1964–1985) to a mother seeking answers about her son, who was killed by police decades later, the film explores the struggle against official silence. Through archival home movies, the dead are brought back into view, while those left behind continue to demand recognition and justice. 

For Martensen, IDFA’s support was crucial to bringing the film to life. The project received its first funding through the IDFA Bertha Fund in 2020, at a time when the pandemic and cuts to cultural funding in Brazil made filmmaking particularly difficult. Martensen went on to take part in IDFA Project Space, where filmmakers develop their projects with guidance from experienced professionals, and presented the film at IDFA Forum to connect with potential partners. Further funding from the Bertha Fund helped the project move forward through production and post-production. The film is now part of IDFA’s Frontlight program. 

Ricardo Martensen: “The development grant we received from the IDFA Bertha Fund in 2020 was the first investment in the project. We were in the midst of the pandemic, under a government that had cut off the main funding channels for culture in Brazil. Receiving that support at such a moment was a breath of hope and a crucial incentive to keep making the film despite all the difficulties we were facing. 

“Over the years, through IDFA Project Space, IDFA Forum, and further funding from the Bertha Fund, we gained invaluable guidance, creative exchange, and international connections. I can say that this film might never have existed without the IDFA ecosystem. The work IDFA does is essential in breaking down the isolation of Brazil’s audiovisual sector and opening doors for our films, regardless of the political and economic circumstances we face.” 

This year’s harvest includes 28 films and new media projects in the IDFA 2026 selection. Of these, 15 were previously presented at IDFA Forum, 14 received support from the IDFA Bertha Fund, and nine took part in IDFA Project Space. Several projects received support through more than one program. 

Explore the full selection and discover the different paths that brought these projects to IDFA 2026.