The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) has rolled out the first wave of competition titles for its 38th edition, running Nov. 13–23 in the Dutch capital. The announcement includes the lineup for the IDFA Competition for Short Documentary, alongside selections for the festival’s Signed, Best of Fests, Current Future and Paradocs strands, bringing the program to more than 100 confirmed films. Organizers also confirmed winners of the Film Fund DocLab Interactive Grant, presented in partnership with the Netherlands Film Fund.
The Competition for Short Documentary at IDFA features 16 films, led by Palestinian filmmaker Shayma’ Awawdeh, Iranian directors Mohammadreza Farzad and Pegah Ahangarani, Switzerland’s Lasse Linder, South Africa’s Teboho Edkins, and Dutch documentarian Ollie Launspach. Twelve of the titles will have their world premieres, while four others are set for international premieres.
The section will spotlight a mix of returning festival regulars and new voices. Palestinian filmmaker Shayma' Awawdeh brings “Intersecting Memory,” a portrait of a youth spent under occupation in Palestine’s West Bank. Iranian filmmakers Mohammadreza Farzad and Pegah Ahangarani return to a 2009 shaky footage of social protests in Tehran in “As I Lay Dying.”
Lasse Linder, who previously screened at IDFA with “Animals and Other People,” comes back with “Air Horse One,” a portrait of prized show horse Legacy as she flies from championship to championship. South African filmmaker Teboho Edkins is back with “An Open Field,” in which he and his father visit Ethiopia to mourn his brother alongside a community still grieving the victims of a plane crash.
Personal stories also thread the competition. Ollie Launspach’s “kiss kiss bang bang” is described as an exploration of gender transition through the lens of his relationship with his girlfriend.
Other selections in the competition include “Auto Queens” by Sraiyanti (India); “Blue Silence” by Matías Rojas Ruz (Chile); “Detach” by Danielle Kaganov (France); “Dreams for a Better Past” by Albert Kuhn (Netherlands-Spain); “Far from Beyrouth” by Mon Dewulf (Belgium); “Infinity River” by Gonçalo Pina (Portugal); “My Sister’s Room” by Pauline Doméjean (France); “Now That We Are Sending You to The End” by Blake Knecht (USA); “Paper Houses and Horses” by An Chu (Taiwan); “Rahhala: Hayya ala Hayya by Lujain Jo” (Lebanon-Qatar); and “Triangle” by Anaël Dang (France).
The Signed strand welcomes back several IDFA veterans. Aboozar Amini’s “Kabul, Between Prayers” offers an intimate look at a Taliban soldier navigating ideology and daily life, while IDFA guest of honor Gianfranco Rosi (“Sacro GRA,” “Fire at Sea”) returns with “Below the Clouds,” a portrait of Naples and its volcanic undercurrents. Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus screen “Cover-Up,” an inquiry into American power through the work of Pulitzer-winning journalist Seymour Hersh, while Claire Simon’s “Writing Life – Annie Ernaux Through the Eyes of High School Students” follows the Nobel laureate through classrooms.
Other Signed entries include “With Hasan in Gaza,” where Palestinian filmmaker Kamal Aljafari unknowingly captures fleeting moments of everyday life in Gaza, a reality now irreversibly altered by the ongoing genocide.
The Best of Fests sidebar will presents the year’s most celebrated films from various festivals from around the world. Highlights include Déni Oumar Pitsaev’s “Imago,” which follows the filmmaker’s journey of personal discovery after inheriting a piece of land in his estranged motherland of Georgia; Mamadou Khouma Gueye’s “The Attachment,” the forced relocation of her residential community in Dakar; David Bingong’s “The Travelers” documents young African migrants attempting to enter Europe on the heavily guarded border between Morocco and Spain; and Brittany Shyne’s “Seeds” captures the daily lives of Black farmers in the American South, as they struggle to preserve their way of life and ancestral land.
For 2025, IDFA is repositioning its youth strand under a cross-section banner called “Current Future,” curated by filmmaker Niki Padidar, who oversaw the Competition for Short Documentary in 2024, and whose film “All You See” opened the 35th edition of the Festival. The program will place youth-focused films across the festival lineup instead of isolating them. Organizers said the strand will focus on films that “challenge conventions, spark curiosity, and leave space for confusion” for young audiences. The full selection arrives in October.
Paradocs, IDFA’s experimental showcase, continues to spotlight non-fiction film art. Kahlil Joseph will present “BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions,” described as an an Afro-futurist journey through Black history, identity, and potential. Maureen Fazendeiro’s “The Seasons” combines archaeological field notes, local legends, and dreamlike 16mm footage to paint a lyrical portrait of Portugal’s Alentejo region. Isabel Pagliai’s “Fantasy” blurs diary and fiction, introducing her protagonist through diary entries and inner worlds. Kaori Oda’s “Underground” guides us through Japan’s subterranean spaces—caves, tunnels, artificial lakes—where fragmented memories and haunting images unearth a buried past.
Separately, IDFA DocLab and the Netherlands Film Fund named the winners of the Film Fund DocLab Interactive Grant, with four projects to be presented at this year’s festival. The award winners includes “Life Needs Internet 2010–2025” by Jeroen van Loon, “Feedback, un musical antifuturista” by Claudix Vanesix, “Gamer Keyboard Wall Piece #2” by Sjef van Beers, and “The Oracle: Ritual for the Future (For humans and non-humans)” by Victorine van Alphen
The DocLab Industry Track will again convene independent artists, technologists and cultural institutions for research and development in immersive and interactive documentary formats.