Director Ally Derkx announced the nominations for this year’s International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) on November 24, 2010. The winners will be announced at an Awards Ceremony on November 26 in the film festival’s Art Deco base, movie theatre Pathé Tuschinski.
IDFA 2010 Competition Jury
Each category at IDFA 2010 has its own jury. Jury members for the Feature-Length Competition, one of IDFA’s most important awards with a cash prize of €12.500, include filmmaker and producer Orlando Bagwell, Frenchman Frédéric Boyer, owner of art-house movie store Videosphere, and veteran Dutch actress Monique van de Ven. Also on the jury is Lixin Fan, whose debut, Last Train Home, won last year’s VPRO IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary and was selected for Sundance 2010.
The nominations are:
IDFA Competition for Feature-Length Documentary (longer than 60 minutes)
- Holy Wars (USA / Canada) by Stephen Marshall
- Marathon Boy (England) by Gemma Atwal
- Stand Van de Sterren (Position Among the Stars) (The Netherlands) by Leonard Retel Helmrich
IDFA Competition for Mid-Length Documentary (30-60 minutes)
- Family Instinct (Latvia) by Andris Gauja
- The Hangman (Israel) by Netalie Braun / Avigail Sperber
- People I Could Have Been and Maybe Am (The Netherlands) by Boris Gerrets
IDFA Competition for First Appearance
Unlike last year, when this category was – confusingly - open to the first or second movie made by a new filmmaker, this year only debut films are eligible. The nominees are:
- Abuelos (Ecuador / Chile) by Carla Valencia Dávila
- Feathered Cocaine (Iceland) by Thorkell S. Hardarson and Örn Marino Arnarson
- Kano: An American and His Harem (Philippines) by Monster Jimenez
IDFA Competition for Dutch Documentary
This category was introduced in 2009 to recognize local productions. It carries a cash prize of €5,000.
- Parradox by In-Soo Radstake
- Sta Me Bij (Stand by Me) by Monique Lesterhuis and Suzanne Raes
- Stand Van De Sterren (Position Among the Stars) by Leonard Retel Helmrich
IDFA Competition for Green Screen Documentary
IDFA’s Green Screen Competition, a new category this year, is presented to the movie in a line-up of 12 that best depicts the interaction between humans and their environment.
The jury has decided not to announce the nominees for this category in advance, but will announce the winner during the Awards Ceremony.
IDFA Competition for Student Documentary
Students from film academies around the world are eligible to enter their movies for a chance to win the Student Documentary Award and a prize of €2,500.
- All My Fathers (Germany) by Jan Raiber
- A Screening at the Tatry Cinema (Poland) by Igor Chojna
- What's in a Name (Belgium) by Eva Küpper
IDFA DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling
- California Is a Place (USA) by Zackary Canepari and Drea Cooper
- HIGHRISE/Out My Window (Canada) by Katerina Cizek
- Soul Patron (Germany / Japan) by Frederik Rieckher
IDFA DOC U Award
The DOC U comprises a selection from IDFA’s programme for teenagers from 15 upwards. The films are selected in cooperation with young people themselves and the winner is chosen by a young jury.
- Armadillo (Denmark / Sweden) by Janus Metz
- Autumn Gold (Germany / Austria) by Jan Tenhaven
- Revolution (Cuba) by Mayckell Pedrero Mariol
IDFA Audience Award
Film festival visitors are invited to vote for films following a screening. All films in competition and non-competition films made in 2010 have a chance of winning the Audience Award.
As the film festival reached its halfway point on November 24, the three movies with the most votes were:
- Waste Land (England / Brazil) by Lucy Walker
- Autumn Gold (Austria / Germany) by Jan Tenhaven
- The World According to Ion B. (Romania) by Alexander Nanau
Movie Trailers Online
More information on all the nominees and movie trailers can be found on the IDFA website.
Cecily Layzell - Cecily Layzell is a food and travel writer and founder of restaurant review site www.eat-amsterdam.com.
Join the Conversation