Kabul Year Zero

Source: IDFA

‘Kabul Year Zero’

IDFA Forum (November 12-15), the co-production and co-financing market of International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), has selected its 2023 edition titles, with the likes of Aboozar Amini, Asmae El Moudir and Michael Madsen returning with their latest projects to Forum Pitch, while the Rough Cut Presentations section has expanded.

Afghanistan-born, Netherlands-based filmmaker Amini’s Kabul, City In The Wind screened at IDFA in 2018, and is now pitching Kabul, Year Zero, which threads together four vivid coming-of-age stories against the backdrop of war.

After presenting The Postcard at IDFA 2020 and receiving IDFA Bertha Fund support for The Mother of All Lies, Moroccan El Moudir is back with Don’t Let the Sun Go Up On Me, about a relationship between a father and daughter. The Visit’s Danish director Madsen returns with Architecture As Invention, which captures Polish-US architect Daniel Libeskind’s journey into imagining his final masterpiece.

Rough Cut Presentations, which caters specifically to film projects in editing or in rough cut stage that are looking for sales, distribution, or other exhibition opportunities, will now take place over two days, as opposed to one, on November 13 to 14. It has expanded from showcasing six projects, to 11, featuring five Ukrainian projects, four of which have previously received support by IDFA Bertha Fund, such as Flowers Of Ukraine by Adelina Borets and To Use A Mountain by Casey Carter.

“We received a record number of Rough Cut submissions this year, over a third more than in previous years, which we took as a clear sign that filmmakers and producers are in need of support in their process. That is why this edition of forum has extended its Rough Cut Presentations to show crucial projects from Ukraine that need to be seen and deserve the widest possible audience,” said Adriek van Nieuwenhuijzen, head of IDFA industry.

The programme also includes Producers Connection, a producer-to-producer showcase of projects looking for international co-production opportunities; and the IDFA DocLab Forum, for interactive and XR projects.

IDFA Forum 2023 line-up

IDFA Forum Pitch

All Rivers Spill Their Secrets (To The Sea) (UK) dir. Jeanie Finlay, prods. I Am Charlie, Glimmer Films

The Amazing Tale Of The Peace River Meteorite (Can-Isr) dir. Yoav Shamir, prods. Yoav Shamir Films, Intuitive Pictures

Architecture As Invention (Den) dir. Michael Madsen, prod. Paloma Productions

Ashes Settling In Layers On The Surface (Ukr) dir. Zoya Laktionova, prod. 2Brave Productions

Casting My Mom (China) dir. Rongfei Guo, prod. CKF Pictures

The Death Of Death (NZ) dir. Justin Pemberton, prod. The Docufactory

Don’t Let The Sun Go Up On Me (Mor) dir. Asmae El Moudir, prod. InsightFILMS

EatenFish (Nor) dir. Daniel Nils Roberts, prod. Final Cut for Real Norway

Fire, Water, Earth, Air (Den) dirs. Phie Ambo, Ewa Cederstam, Rógvi Rasmusen, Janne Lindgren, prod. Tambo Film

A Hole In The Wall (Pol) dir. Arjun Talwar, prod. Uni-Solo Studio

Issa’s House (Isr-Palestine) dir. Tomer Heymann, prod. Heymann Brothers Films

Kabul, Year Zero (Neth-Afg) dir. Aboozar Amini, prod. Silk Road Film Salon

Lights (working title) (Ger-Ukr) dirs. Mila Teshaieva, Marcus Lenz, prod. Wildfilms

The Long Cuban Night (Col) dir. Sergio Fernández Borrás, prod. Casatarantula

Our Seeds (working title) (Turkey) dir. Erhan Arık, prod. Horovel Films

The Photographer (Fr-US) dir. Francisco Bello, prods. What’s up Films, 
Katherine Harper

La Pietà (Sp-Ice- Lithuania) dir. SUICAfilms, Axfilms, Pepe Andreu

Shadows Of The Forest (India) dirs. Akash Basumatari, Shrutiman Deori, prod. Raintree Films

Son Of The Street (Palestine) dir. Mohammed Almughanni, prod. Gaza Films

Undisclosed Project (Nor-Italy) dir. TBC, prod. Zalab Film

Producers Connection

Babchenko Time (Fr) dir. Denis Sneguirev

Before The Fire (Col) dir. Angel Giovanni Hoyos

Compadre Fannie (Ecu) dir. Ivan Mora Manzano

El Dorado (Geo) dir. Rati Oneli

A Girl And A Gun (S. Afr) dir. Ayra Amber Lallo 

Hope Against Hope (Iran) dir. Mina Keshavarz

Kongo Is Burning (Con) dir. Arnold Aganze

Manifested Belonging (Tan-Can) dirs. Darragh Amelia and Jesse Gerard Mpango

Mrs. Escobar (US-Arg) dir. Nicolas Entel

Queens Ballroom (US) dirs. Siyi Chen and Hansen Lin

Red Zone (Ukr) dir. Iryna Tsilyk

Untitled Mary Kathryn Nagle Project (US) dir. Sky Hopinka

Velvet Generation (Slo) dir. Ivana Hucikova

Rough Cut Presentations

Coexistence, My Ass! (US) dir. Amber Fares

Company Of Steel (Ukr) dir. Yuliia Hontaruk

Displaced (Ukr) dir. Olha Zhurba

Flowers Of Ukraine (Pol-Ukr) dir. Adelina Borets

Hakuchu Munayta (Per) dir. Augusto Zegarra

Land Of Sar (Slo) dir. Petra Seliskar 

Militantropos (Ukr) dirs. Maksym Nakonechnyi, Yelizaveta Smith, Alina Gorlova, Simon Mozgovyi

Pax Neerlandica (Neth) dir. Daan Veldhuizen

There Was, There Was Not (US-Arm) dir. Emily Mkrtichian

To Use A Mountain (US) dir. Casey Carter 

Up In The Air (Ukr) dir. Oksana Syhareva