The 6^th West Lake International Documentary Festival took place from November 24^th to 26^th, 2023, at the lakeside Xiangshan Campus of China Academy of Art in Hangzhou.

The annual theme of the 6th edition was “People · Person,” featuring three main programs: the IDF Competition, IDF Forum, and Glory of Documentary Screening. Chinese and international filmmakers, production companies, distributors, cultural scholars and media professionals celebrated the art of documentaries. The Xiangshan Campus of China Academy of Art, being the primary venue, hosted the three programs: five forums and lectures that engaged nearly 4,000 participants; 43 screenings of 38 documentaries, including 21 fully booked in just five minutes; as well as 20 post-screening Q&A sessions, attracting over 7,000 audience members. And the festival’s digital mini-program recorded an impressive 322,000 visits.

The lineup of the 6^th IDF included three world premieres, seven Asian premieres, 12 China premieres, and six Chinese Mainland premieres. Ann Hui’s ELEGIES also made its debut screening in Mainland China at IDF. The festival showcased award-winning and nominated films from Cannes, Venice, Berlin and other prestigious international film festivals, such as KIND HEART, the winner of the Grand Prix in Berlin’s Generation 14plus, HAULOUT, GEOGRAPHIES OF SOLITUDE, MARINER OF THE MOUNTAINS, and INNOCENCE.

The IDF Competition received a total of 641 valid submissions from 96 countries and regions across six continents, including 284 Chinese films, 18 co-productions, and 339 made by filmmakers from abroad. From 351 feature-length documentaries and 290 shorts, 10 and five were selected respectively to compete for prizes, with one world premiere, three Asian premieres and nine China/Chinese Mainland premieres.

Apart from a 24-hour VR program, the first-ever IDF Outdoor Special Screening was held at the lawn park of Tongwu Village, with HSU Hsiao-ming, Dean of School of Film Art at China Academy of Art, acting as the village’s Cultural Chief. Audiences enjoyed the unique wonder of cinema reborn in nature. The festival also co-hosted a Y2K party with Loopy Club.

The IDF Forum featured Asian Documentary Alliance Forum, Women in Documentary Forum, and Young Scholar Forum, as well as two academic lectures by Zhao Qianfan and John Paul Sniadecki.

The 2023 IDF welcomed 69 distinguished guests from 12 countries across three continents, such as Russia, the United States, Germany, France, Japan, India, etc. 84 registered industry guests, 73 media outlets, and 70 volunteers participated in various events. People’s Daily, People’s Daily Online, Hong Kong Wen Wei Po, CZTV, Tide News, China Art Weekly and other media released nearly 20 articles. IDF conducted 17 exclusive interviews and posted over 350 messages on social media to interact with the public through Weibo, bilibili, Xiaohongshu (RED), Douyin, WeChat Channel, etc.