With more than 300 titles, eleven competition categories and 88 world premieres, the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) starts this Wednesday, writes Bianca Olivia Nita.

Since its beginning in 1988, IDFA turned from a small niche festival into a major event. ‘The first year we had two thousand visitors, now more than 200,000’ says IDFA founder Ally Derks in an interview for Intermediair.
For eleven days, the festival transforms Amsterdam into the capital of documentary film, a meeting point for filmmakers, public and stories from all over the world.
This year the spotlight is on the development of the Brazilian documentary over the past ten years. ‘Cinema Do Brasil’ is a special programme with nineteen films screened during the festival.
The documentaries tell different stories, from what happens when Western anthropologists descend into the Amazon and transform one of the last remote tribes on earth into the most filmed and studied tribe in the world, to the close connections between the business world and the army during Brazil’s military regime.

Talent and great ideas
Just as important as the 11-day festival itself is the IDFA as a marketplace for documentaries and a platform for funding and launching new talent.
IDFAcademy for example is an initiative meant to stimulate talent and documentary production. Part of it is the IDFA Summer School, a one week tailor-made training program for emerging talents.
Andrei Dascalescu took part in the IDFA Summer School in 2008. He filmed his grandparents and their countryside life without having any idea that the would end up as his first documentary. In 2008 Dascalescu won the prize for First Appearance with his film, Constantin and Elena.
‘I remained in love with IDFA’ he says about the festival that marked the beginning of his career as a filmmaker.
What often stays in the way of filmmakers is not the lack of ideas or skill but the absence of funds. This is why IDFA organises The Forum, a platform created in 1993 that offers financing possibilities for documentaries. The film projects go through a selection process. The selected ones are pitched at The Forum and 90% of these receive their funding.
A special fund is available for filmmakers from developing countries. Since its foundation in 1998, the Jan Vrijman fund offered support to more than 400 applications, resulting in highly appreciated documentaries, not only at IDFA but also at Sundance, Toronto, Locarno and the Berlinale.
To fund or not to fund
IDFA’s budget for 2011 is €4m. About 70% of this income is generated through fundraising, donations, ticket sales and sponsoring. But the other 30% comes from the government and the city council. With the recent governmental cutbacks, there is a change IDFA might lose a part of their subsidies.
‘It would be very naive to assume that the cutbacks will pass us by,’ says spokesperson Laura van Halsema for De Film Krant. ‘What adds to that is that our partners could end up in heavy weather as well, therefore investing less in the partnership with IDFA. Think about Oxfam Novib and the NPO, but also about funds like VSB and SNS’ she adds.
In anticipation of possible funding cuts, IDFA rolled out two initiatives aimed at involving festival visitors. Until now IDFA has over 800 friends who contribute €3 to €10 a month. Starting this year you can become a Special Friend of IDFA, contribute €1,000 per year and be actively involved with the festival.
Bianca Olivia Nita is a freelance journalist