IDFA presents range of talk shows

Ally Derks, IDFA Director

During the upcoming International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), which will take place from 18 through 27 November 2016, once again the festival will organise a large number of talk shows based around the film program.

From 17 through 23 November, six Industry Talks will be held in de Brakke Grond, open to all professional IDFA guests with an accreditation. In addition, various Industry Sessions will take place in the NH Carlton Hotel, which this year will again house the Industry Office for professional IDFA guests. For the first time, IDFA is also presenting the ‘In Conversation with’ program, featuring in-depth conversations with three filmmakers attending the festival.

Each year, IDFA receives a large number of professional guests from the international documentary world. As well as visiting the festival, they can also attend the IDFA Forum and Docs for Sale markets and the IDFAcademy.

Accredited IDFA guests can get advice, meet one another and do business in the Industry Office in the NH Carlton Hotel.

As in previous years, a range of discussions and talk show programs are being organised for the professional guests.

These include eight Industry Sessions in the Industry Office, at which various topics will be discussed in an intimate setting. Topics covered will include the use of archive material, the international distribution of educational films, Video-on-Demand and the ways in which new VR technologies can tell stories for consumers and bring these to audiences. European legislation concerning copyright in the new media landscape will be discussed on 21 November, in cooperation with LaScam.

As in previous years, the Rode Zaal in de Brakke Grond will host the Industry Talks, every afternoon from 17 through 23 November. Here, professional festival guests can discuss a range of themes and topics with experts and other guests. One of the topics covered will be the developments taking place in and the future of the interactive documentary, and on 23 November an Industry Talk (supported by the Netherlands Film Fund) will be dedicated to diversity within the international documentary world as part of IDFA’s themed program Shifting Perspectives.

On 18 November, David Magdael, a leading publicist from Los Angeles, will be the guest in the discussion ‘Why would you need a publicist?’ focusing on the importance of the right communication strategy.

Various leading editors – including Anne Fabini, Per Kirkegaard and Claudio Hughes – will talk to Nicolas Rapold about the role of the editor in the process of making a documentary.

For the first time, three in-depth interviews will also be held with filmmakers who are guests of the festival. On 18, 21 and 23 November, Coco Schrijber, Kirsten Johnson and Steve James will talk to their international colleagues about their careers, films and sources of inspiration.