Iranian documentaries dominate IDFA awards, film festival director talks about political films

The main winners of the 38th IDFA were two Iranian films: Mehrdad Oskouei’s “Fox Under the Pink Moon” won Best Film in the International Competition category, and Past Future Continuous, directed by Morteza Ahmadvand and Firuzeh Khosrovani, won Best Film in the Envision Competition category. Other winners included Marcia Ooms’ My Word Against Mine and Dawood Hilmandi’s Paikar, which won Best Dutch Film and Best Feature, respectively.

This year has been a year of change for IDFA, with Isabel Arate Fernández, long-time head of the IDFA Berta Fund, taking over as IDFA’s Artistic Director. Hours before the awards ceremony, the veteran executive is still walking briskly through the labyrinthine hallways of the Amsterdam International Theater, the festival’s home. “I’m full of energy,” she told Variety. People are surprised that I’m still standing. ”

Still, taking on IDFA, the documentary world’s most important festival, was a difficult mission at a time when political tensions are high and documentary filmmaking is in a constant state of emergency. This year’s selection at the festival featured several films that addressed current sociopolitical crises, such as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, such as Dmytro Suchoritsky-Sopchuk’s Silent Flood and Abdurrahman Sabbar’s The Clowns of Gaza, as well as works by Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus that addressed the growing distrust of mainstream media. Issues surrounding “concealment” and the growing popularity of artificial intelligence, such as Mark Isaacs’ “synthetic honesty.”

“What I am seeing is that we are able to create a space for meaningful dialogue and dialogue that is not one-sided,” said Arate Fernández when asked how to navigate such sensitive political times. “In times like you’re describing, and even more considering what IDFA has been through over the last two years and as an organization, the way forward is to create this space where conversations can happen and people can challenge themselves. I’m looking forward to building on that.”

The festival director then “reflects on the past two years,” referring to the challenges the festival has faced since the outbreak of war in Gaza. The 2023 Dutch event came under intense scrutiny when pro-Palestinian demonstrators occupied the stage during the opening ceremony and raised slogans that appeared to be a cry for liberation for the Palestinians, but were seen as an expression of hostility by supporters of Israel. Just five weeks after the events of October 7, the film plunged headlong into murky waters as the team tried to navigate a complex political climate, with filmmakers pulling out of the festival.

In the wake of the events of 2023, then-IDFA Artistic Director Oluwa Nirabia, along with Arate Fernandez, former Sundance president Tabatha Jackson, and Arab Foundation for Arts and Culture Executive Director Rima Mismal, organized a symposium to discuss how festivals and cultural institutions can respond to protests and debates. The results of the symposium were announced by IDFA.

“I think in all communications, and for me in this role, it’s really important to be considerate of others, to feel empathy, to show empathy,” she added about how she’s dealing with the nuances of the current climate. “It doesn’t necessarily mean changing my position, but taking that into account makes me pay a certain amount of attention to how I say things and when I say things. I think it’s important to be honest, to be transparent, to have difficult conversations, and to name things as they are.”

Returning to the awards, Arate Fernandes pointed out that despite both of the main winners being Iranian and the country’s strong presence at this year’s festival, all the jurors are “making independent decisions.” “These films are very different in the way they explore cinematic language and the stories they tell. So if you strip away nationality and country of production, you’re looking at two impressive works.”

The jury of the international competition praised the “radiant energy” of the main character of “The Fox Under the Pink Moon.” “This powerful collaboration between an established filmmaker and a young emerging artist allows her to reclaim her identity amidst exile and domestic violence, blossom despite oppression, and find solace through creation. It is a self-portrait that witnesses the growth of an Afghan artist whose work will continue to resonate for years to come,” the jury added.

The Envision Competition winner, “Past Future Continuous,” was unanimously chosen by the jury as a film whose “form takes the subject matter to another level.” “The authors invented and set a reality in which the cinematic experience offers emotional truth,” the statement continued. The film is presented as an unusual and harrowing cinematic experiment, bringing together considerations as diverse as diaspora, exile, historical repetition, and personal memory. ”

The complete list of IDFA winners is below.