International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) has just announced the line-up of the main competitions for the festival’s 38th edition. This year marks the inaugural edition for new artistic director Isabel Arrate Fernandez, with close to 250 titles from 76 countries under the festival’s aegis. Newly unveiled selections include the Envision and International Competitions, the entire IDFA DocLab programme, Luminous, Frontlight and the nominees for all cross-section awards. IDFA takes place in Amsterdam from 13-23 November.

Instead of an opening feature film, this year, IDFA will begin with a selection of three boundary-pushing shorts: As I Lay Dying by Mohammadreza Farzad and Pegah Ahangarani, Intersecting Memory by Shayma' Awawdeh, and happiness by Firat Yücel, which, according to Fernandez, will “set the tone for a festival that explores major issues of the present, and which makes room for new voices, fresh forms and unexpected perspectives”.

The International Competition presents 12 films, nine of which are world or international premieres, which transform deeply personal stories into reflections on today’s most pressing issues. European world premieres include All My Sisters (Austria/France/Germany/Iran) by Iranian director Massoud Bakhshi, The Kartli Kingdom (Georgia/France) by Tamar Kalandadze and Julien Pebrel, and IDFA regular María Silvia Esteve’s Mailin (Argentina/France/Romania – see the news). Twelve films will also be competing in the Envision Competition, a section that highlights stylistically bold documentaries and their innovative use of cinematic language. Amongst them are Holy Destructors (Lithuania/France/Latvia) by Lithuanian director Aiste Žegulytė (Animus Animalis (A Story about People, Animals and Things) [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Aistė Žegulytė
scheda film]), the new film by Viktor Kossakovsky, Trillion (Norway/USA), as well as some international premieres of movies helmed by established auteurs such as Sky Hopinka (Powwow People). Films across those strands will also be eligible for the IDFA Awards for Best First Feature and Best Dutch Film, as well as the FIPRESCI Award. There is also a prize to be given out across the film programmes, for Best Creative Use of Archive – The Beeld & Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award. The festival juries are yet to be announced.

At the press conference, IDFA announced the selected titles for its Luminous and Frontlight competitions, as well as the IDFA DocLab Competitions for Immersive Non-Fiction and for Digital Storytelling, while the non-competitive DocLab Spotlight section includes critically acclaimed VR and full-dome projects alongside live performances.

“Through [these selected films], we get to be part of the courage of filmmakers and artists who refuse to give up – who keep pursuing their creative vision and their commitment to stories that they feel matter,” Isabel Arrate Fernandez said of the programme during the press conference. The winners of IDFA 2025 will be announced during the awards ceremony on 20 November.

You can browse the detailed list of IDFA’s 2025 line-up here.