During a press conference held last month, the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA, 9-20 November) announced the full line-ups of its Envision Competition and International Competition sections, along with the opening film and the projects selected for its DocLab.

The gathering will open tomorrow with the world premiere of Niki Padidar’s All You See [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] (Netherlands). The official press release describes it as a “multi-layered feature”, wherein “honest, painful and even humorous encounters with three other immigrants to the Netherlands are stylistically interwoven into the director’s own personal history, opening up a vulnerable space of articulation with global resonance”.

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Among the European highlights in the International Competition are Mila Turajlić’s Non-Aligned: Scenes from the Labudović Reels [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Mila Turajlic
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intervista: Lea Glob
scheda film] (Denmark/Poland/France), which focuses on a 13-year friendship between the filmmaker and a magnetic young painter. Other European titles in this competition include Colette and Justin by Alain Kassanda (France/Belgium), Dreaming Arizona [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Jon Bang Carlsen
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In the Envision strand, European titles standing out from the crowd include Luka Papić and Srđa Vučo’s Invoked (Serbia), which looks back at the landmark free elections in Serbia in 1990, reimagining through a montage how history might have otherwise unfolded; and Biserka Šuran’s debut, Scenes with My Father (Netherlands), which enters an abandoned factory-turned-theatre to journey through a family history while interrogating the construct of Europe. Cross Words by Mario Valero (France), The Fabulous Ones by Roberta Torre (Italy), How Dare You Have Such a Rubbish Wish by Mania Akbari (Iran/UK), Light Falls Vertical [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Efthymia Zymvragaki (Spain/Germany/Netherlands), My Lost Country by Ishtar Yasin Gutierrez (Costa Rica/Iraq/Chile/Egypt/France), Notes For a Film by Ignacio Aguero (Chile/France) and Notes on Displacement [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Khaled Jarrar (Palestine/Germany) are also taking part in Envision.

Meanwhile, the festival has also announced the 32 selected titles partaking in the DocLab section. Within this strand, the 12 titles in the Immersive Competition will showcase “the growth of the immersive art form on all fronts”. The ten non-competitive Spotlight titles are “award-winning VR projects, immersive theatre, and an expanded offering of full-dome projects, affirming the latter as a flourishing stage for new media”. Finally, the ten documentaries picked for the Digital Storytelling Competition promise to “build on the rich history of interactive storytelling with both established names and newcomers”. For further information, please click here.

Speaking about this year’s official selection, which includes 277 titles, artistic director Orwa Nyrabia said: “Here’s an eclectic line-up that is united only by originality. Through the subjectivities of these filmmakers, an image of a world in pain emerges – a humanity that is trying hard, that is vulnerable and sincere, that is complex and persistent. The diversity of artistic forms is astonishing, and there are no boundaries when it comes to tackling the biggest powers or inventing new grammar. The Envision Competition introduces artistically and politically courageous films, memorable journeys and new questions. The International Competition brings together profound films that will tour the world and inspire audiences for years to come.”