IDF Competition

IDF Competition is aimed to highlight outstanding documentary filmmakers, all the while encouraging documentary filmmakers to be curious and persistent on their journey of creation. The festival conducts an open call for submission. The submission opens to feature-length documentaries (60 minutes and above), short documentaries (less than 60 minutes)  completed after 1st January, 2021.

 

After two rounds of evaluation and selection, the outstanding documentaries will be shortlisted for IDF Competition of the 6th West Lake International Documentary Festival. The finalists will be evaluated by an international jury committee and compete for awards.

 

* for more details please refer to the announcement of open call for entries of IDF Competition of the 6th West Lake International Documentary Festival

Submission
2021
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2021  IDF Best Documentary
Far Eastern Golgotha
  • Country/Area of ProductionRussia
  • Language of DialogueRussian
  • Runtime85min
  • DirectorJulia Sergina
  • Type of WorkFeature-Length Documentary
  • ProducerAlexander Balashov, Karina Sharafutdinova
Introduction: A taxi driver Viktor Toroptsev from an endangered city in the Far East of Russia, decides that a critical moment has already arrived in his life. He starts a You-tube channel, where he begins publishing evidence of total poverty and lack of rights of his people and gathering a team of soulmates. Victor is sure that he must save his city a…
Preview
2021  IDF Best Chinese Documentary
I’m So Sorry
  • Country/Area of ProductionHong Kong, France, Netherlands
  • Language of DialogueChinese, Japanese, Russian, German
  • Runtime96 min
  • DirectorZHAO Liang
  • Type of WorkFeature-Length Documentary
  • ProducerZHAO Liang, Serge Lalou, Valérie Guérin
Introduction: Anchored by a man whose quest humanizes global changes, this film traces the historical events and present situation of nuclear disaster across human society. Every nuclear site he revisits represents a specific temporality - Fukushima, Japan, as the ongoing present; Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, as the concealed past; Chernobyl, Ukraine, as…
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2021  IDF Special Mention
Radiograph of a Family
  • Country/Area of ProductionNorway, Iran, Switzerland
  • Language of DialogueFrench
  • Runtime82min
  • DirectorFirouzeh Khosrovani
  • Type of WorkFeature-Length Documentary
  • ProducerFabien Greenberg, Bård Kjøge Rønning
Introduction: I am the product of Iran’s struggle between secularism and the Islamic ideology. My parents’ love story takes us from the Shah era to the Islamic Revolution and the hardships during the Iran-Iraq War, up to the present day – all in our home in Tehran. In my childhood, I was constantly forced to choose between my parents; each day, I endur…
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2021  IDF Best Short Documentary
Skies Above Hebron
  • Country/Area of ProductionNetherlands
  • Language of DialogueArabic,Hebrew
  • Runtime55min
  • DirectorEsther Hertog, Paul King
  • Type of WorkShort Documentary
  • ProducerJanneke Doolaard
Introduction: Brothers Amer & Anas simply love pigeons and spend days catching them on their roof in the Palestinian old city of Hebron. The birds fly freely, but the brothers are continuously watched by Israeli settlers and soldiers from the rooftop posts. The more thoughtful Marwaan lives on a street opposite a large Israeli settlement. To get home h…
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2021  IDF Best Documentary Series
Tough Out
  • Country/Area of ProductionChina
  • Language of DialogueChinese
  • Runtime35 min
  • DirectorHuijing XU
  • Type of WorkDocumentary Series(6 Episodes)
  • ProducerHaitao YANG, Kang QI, Aihua CHEN
Introduction: In the suburbs of Beijing, a group of troubled teenagers are learning to play baseball under the guidance of a 70-year-old baseball coach. A boy named Ma Hu joins them and disturbs their peace. He is fond of pranks and forms cliques in the team, which makes him a thorn in others’ side. The series tell the story of a few boys: Ma Hu, Li Ha…
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2021  IDF Best Zhejiang Documentary
Road of No Return
  • Country/Area of ProductionChina
  • Language of DialogueChinese
  • Runtime80min
  • DirectorQU Jiangtao
  • Type of WorkFeature-Length Documentary
  • ProducerQU Jiangtao, FANG Min
Introduction: As a small factory owner on the verge of bankruptcy, Yaoling Wang discovers a heroic dream in his weary life in music. Without any talent, he went around to learn from teachers, but was met with ridicule and humiliation. He was so stubborn that he had a crazy idea to start a solo concert.As the factory was unsustainable, Yaoling Wang went…
Preview
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