'The Video Guy' Courtesy of IDFA Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment The 33rd edition of the Forum co-production and co-financing market of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) unveiled a lineup of 51 projects on Wednesday, "welcoming a new cohort of debut and seasoned filmmakers to the international stage." The doc projects were selected from 841 entries for the IDFA Forum 2025, which organizers said "takes place at a time when the world is grappling with multiple overlapping crises affecting every aspect of our lives: from escalating wars and conflicts to political turmoil, social and economic hardships, deepening inequalities, environmental damage - and our recurring failure to learn from the past." Related Stories TV MIPCOM: Spain's Secuoya Studios to Receive Sustainability Award TV First Festive Look at Rowan Atkinson in 'Man vs Baby' as Netflix Sets December Air Date They added: "As an inherently political art form, documentary cinema has the capacity to explore and examine these issues with depth and nuance." Said Adriek van Nieuwenhuijzen, head of IDFA Industry. "The selection demonstrates how versatile the domain of the documentary filmmaker and new media artist is. Through the use of inventive cinematic language and formats, these projects bring underexposed stories while also exploring non-narrative expressions, both of which provide context in a society marked by turbulence and uncertainty." This year, 24 filmmakers will bring their debut features to Amsterdam. "The lineup maintains gender balance across the formats," the market highlighted. "Production countries span all continents, with Europe in the lead, followed by Asia, North America, South America, Africa, and Oceania." IDFA Forum takes place Nov. 16-19. The festival runs Nov. 12-26. The market's Forum Pitch and Producers Connection will feature 33 projects this year. "The selection includes notable filmmakers who make their return to IDFA," organizers highlighted. "Mohamed Jabaly, whose Life Is Beautiful scooped the IDFA Award for best directing in 2023, will present My Sister Gaza, co-helmed with his siblings Rima and Ibrahim Jabaly, and co-produced with Idioms Film, Palestine, with Elhum Shakerifar serving as executive producer. Punctuated by the rhythms of war, this collaborative film presents a poignant first-person documentation of the daily reality in Gaza in the early days of the genocide, as lived and chronicled by Rima and Ibrahim Jabaly." Alexandru Solomon, whose films have screened at IDFA in the past (Cold Waves in 2007, Kapitalism: Our Improved Formula in 2010, and Arsenie. An Amazing Afterlife in 2023) returns to pitch Small Expectations, alongside executive producer Ada Solomon of microFILM. "Unfurling during Romania's electoral race, the documentary follows former civic activist Nicușor Dan who takes the helm of a troubled office," reads a synopsis. Sam Howard and Alexander Dickerson-Watson will debut their feature The Video Guy. "From a humble hustle shooting music videos for local rappers, the project morphed into a sprawling decade-long endeavor that follows five African-American youths set to become the next Kendrick, all the while unpacking the hyperreal fantasies, projected onto - and in part perpetuated by the men - and the few paths open to them," reads a synopsis. Meanwhile, Loretta van der Horst's The Documenters, "the labor of gathering evidence of war crimes reveals the perils of 'witnessing' along with the inequities of international justice," while Javier Lovera's ExCoded centers on "the rise of facial recognition technology and surveillance infrastructures that have penetrated public spaces and personal lives, often escaping scrutiny." This year's IDFA Forum crop also features a number of titles that have been supported by the IDFABertha Fund, including Alyx Ayn Arumpac's Tongues of Fire, Juan Pablo Polanco's Trail on theWater, Luis Gutiérrez Arias, Zaina Bseiso's Todo Lo Sólido, and Hao Zhou's All Fixed Up. Check out the list of projects for the various IDFA Forum sections below: Forum PitchA Film for One, dir. Alexandre Donot-Saby, prod. Valérie Montmartin /Little Big Story(France), co-prod. Audrey-Ann Dupuis-Pierre /Portage Films (Canada) All Fixed Up, dir. Hao Zhou, prod. Jenny Wu (China), co-prod. Tyler Hill (United States) Codename: Guster, dir. Katharina Warda, Jascha Hannover, prod. Alexandre Tondowski/Tondowski Films (Germany), co-prod. Alexandre Tondowski/Tondowski Films, Thandi Davids/Storyscope (South Africa) ExCoded, dir. Javier Lovera, prod. Hannah Donegan/Have Magic Media, Marc Serpa Francoeur/Lost Time Media (Canada) I've Always Said We, dir. Lucia Sanchez, prod. Lucia Sanchez/Les Films d'Ici, Marie Régis/Anoki (France), co-prod. Michèle Massé (Spain) Inframince, dir. Alison O'Daniel, prod. May