IDFA Competition for Short Documentary | IDFA Festival

IDFA Competition for Short Documentary

IDFA Competition for Short Documentary

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.

A

Air Horse One

Air Horse One

Show jumping horse Legacy travels from Florida to Europe, zigzagging from one championship to the next aboard a specially equipped airplane, where every effort is made to ensure she arrives at her destination with as little stress as possible.

As I Lay Dying

As I Lay Dying

Mohammadreza Farzad, Pegah Ahangarani

“When it all ended, each of us went our own way.” Accompanied by jerky footage of the flaring protests in Tehran in 2009—in which the energy of the moment is palpable—a calm voice recounts what became of the people who took part.

Auto Queens

Auto Queens

Together with her friend and fellow worker, the head of an Indian trade union for women auto rickshaw drivers is building her dream of achieving equal opportunities. A celebration of revolution, sisterhood, and perseverance in a patriarchal system.

B

Blue Silence

Blue Silence

Matías Rojas Ruz

In 1965, one of the worst shipwrecks in Chilean history took place. With mesmerizing analog images, this short film explores the memories of the inhabitants of this remote corner of Chile’s lake district.

D

Detach

Detach

Danielle Kaganov

What happens when a surgical robot, originally developed to operate on soldiers on the battlefield, becomes self-aware? A disorienting, unsettling exploration of the thin line between saving a life and taking a life.

Dreams for a Better Past

Dreams for a Better Past

Albert Kuhn’s multi-stranded cinematic exploration of his family’s past interweaves a personal story with a more universal truth: what is left unsaid always finds a way to travel with us.

F

Far from Beyrouth

Far from Beyrouth

A modern correspondence unfolds between Mon Dewulf in Brussels and his partner Karim in war-torn Beirut. Dewulf uses videos, voice memos, and text messages to craft an intimate portrait of their relationship.

I

Infinity River

Infinity River

Commuter workers scrub sterile flex office spaces, haul rolls of insulation material or cycle with your meal across the city. Enchantingly beautiful scenes honor the invisible people who keep our world turning.

Intersecting Memory

Intersecting Memory

Shayma' Awawdeh

Shayma’ was six when the Second Intifada began in Palestine. As time passes, she rediscovers old videotapes blending childhood memories with stark scenes of Hebron. A powerful portrait of childhood under Israeli occupation.

K

kiss kiss bang bang

kiss kiss bang bang

Ollie Launspach

Ollie Launspach wants to know what it’s like for his girlfriend Sterre Mulder that he’s transitioning, but discovers in this graduation film—a playful, colorful, and uplifting collage—that his wariness mainly reveals his own insecurities.

M

My Sister’s Room

My Sister’s Room

Pauline Doméjean

An intimate portrait of Justine who resides in her bedroom and feels down. The camera hardly ever leaves her room, and neither does she. She sleeps, scrolls and socializes in bed. A film that delicately reveals the impact of depression and anxiety.

N

Now That We Are Sending You to The End

Now That We Are Sending You to The End

A girl predicts the end of the world. The deteriorating desert ecosystem directly affects this film: Blake Knecht treated the 16mm film with salt dried up from the Great Salt Lake and buried it in desert soil.

O

An Open Field

An Open Field

Teboho Edkins and his father visit the site in Ethiopia where his brother died in a plane crash in 2019. There, they encounter a community still deep in grief, tenderly cherishing the memory of the victims.

P

Paper Houses and Horses

Paper Houses and Horses

Poetic and delicately crafted portrayal of a ritual guiding a deceased child in Taiwan into the afterlife. The parents are not present, so the ceremony is performed by staff members at a funeral home.

R

Rahhala: Hayya ala Hayya

Rahhala: Hayya ala Hayya

This testimony of domestic violence is told by a woman who recalls fragmented memories of a decade of abuse endured by her and her sisters. The film consists entirely of abstract images and fragments of text—shards of a story.

T

Triangle

Triangle

Revealing portrait of the family formed by director Anaël Dang and his parents. Twenty-one years after a painful family secret came to light, they reflect on the past and their mutual bond.