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, 2023.

 

After two rounds of evaluation and selection, the outstanding documentaries will be shortlisted for IDF Competition of the 7th 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【IDF2024】IDF Competition Call for Entries

Submission
2023
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2023  IDF Best Short Documentary
Neighbour Abdi
  • Country/Area of ProductionThe Netherlands
  • Language of DialogueDutch, Somali
  • Runtime29 min
  • DirectorDouwe Dijkstra
  • Type of WorkShort Documentary
  • ProducerRichard Valk
Introduction: How can you understand a violent past? Somali-born Abdi is furniture designer and support worker. He reenacts his life, marked by war and criminality, with the help of his neighbour and filmmaker Douwe. Through playful reconstructions in a special effects studio, Abdi and Douwe embark on a candid and investigative journey through a painfu…
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2023  IDF Special Mention
The Balcony Movie
  • Country/Area of ProductionPoland
  • Language of DialoguePolish
  • Runtime100 min
  • DirectorPaweł Łoziński
  • Type of WorkFeature-Length Documentary
  • ProducerPaweł Lozinski, Agnieszka Mankiewicz
Introduction: Can anyone be a movie hero? Can the world be locked in one film frame? Director Paweł Łoziński is watching people from his balcony as they are passing by, he accosts them, asks questions, talks about how they deal with life. Every story is unique, and life always surpasses imagination. Maybe it’s enough to stop for a moment to get a deepe…
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2023  IDF Best Chinese Documentary
Trashy Boy
  • Country/Area of ProductionChina
  • Language of DialogueChinese
  • Runtime97min
  • DirectorYifei ZHENG
  • Type of WorkFeature-Length Documentary
  • ProducerLixue WANG, Emma LONG, Vincent DU
Introduction: Big Sponge is a young man living in a small town in China’s west who long ago broke out of the education system, left his parents, and struck out on his own. He wanders the streets, aimlessly getting through one long night after another. Big Sponge loves rap music and has a lot of musical talent, but his daily reality doesn’t allow him to…
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2023  IDF Best Documentary
Geographies Of Solitude
  • Country/Area of ProductionCanada
  • Language of DialogueEnglish
  • Runtime103min
  • DirectorJacquelyn Mills
  • Type of WorkFeature-Length Documentary
  • ProducerJacquelyn Mills, Rosalie Chicoine Perreault
Introduction: GEOGRAPHIES OF SOLITUDE is an immersion into the rich ecosystem of Sable Island, guided by naturalist and environmentalist Zoe Lucas who has lived over 40 years on this remote sliver of land in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean. Shot on 16mm and created using a scope of innovative eco-friendly filmmaking techniques, this feature-length experim…
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2023
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