The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is the world's largest documentary film festival held annually since 1988 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

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International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam

Location	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Founded	1988
Hosted by	IDFA
Language	International
Website	idfa.nl

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IDFA was founded by Ally Derks, who remained at the helm from 1988 until 2017, when she stepped down. Barbara Visser oversaw the 2017 edition as interim director. In January 2018, Syrian film producer Orwa Nyrabia was appointed^[1] as the new artistic director of IDFA.

Over a period of twelve days in 2018, it screened more than 300 films and sold more than 250,000 tickets. Visitors to the festival increased from 65,000 in 2000 to 285,000 in 2018.^[2]

The festival is an independent, international meeting place for audiences and professionals to see a diverse (in form, content, and cultural background) program of high-quality documentaries. IDFA selects creative and accessible documentaries, which offer new insights into society.^[3]

The festival was initially held at the Leidseplein area in the centre of Amsterdam. It has since spread to a number of other locations, including Tuschinski Cinema and EYE Filmmuseum. Apart from its international film program, the variety of genres, and the many European and world premieres featured each year, the festival also hosts debates, forums, and workshops. Since 2007, the festival's New Media program IDFA DocLab showcases the best interactive non-fiction storytelling and explores how the digital revolution is reshaping documentary art.^{[citation needed]}

In addition to the festival, IDFA has developed several professional activities, contributing to the development of filmmakers and their films at all stages. At the co-financing and co-production market IDFA Forum filmmakers and producers pitch their plans to financiers; at Docs for Sale new documentaries are on offer to programmers and distributors; the IDFA Bertha Fund supports filmmakers and documentary projects in developing countries, and the IDFAcademy offers international training programs for up-and-coming doc talents.^[4]

At the opening ceremony of the festival in 2023 held on 8 November in the shadow of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, three activists burst onto the stage and waved a sign bearing the inscription "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free". This was to show solidarity with the people of Gaza,^[5] who have been exposed to bombardment by the Israeli army in retaliation to the terror attack on Israeli citizens by the terror organization Hamas.^[6][7] The activists received applause from the audience, which included the festival director Orwa Nyrabia. On 10 November members of Israel’s film community condemned the activists' use of the slogan and the fact that it was applauded by Nyrabia.^[8] Following the IDFA's official apology,^[9] the Palestinian Film Institute withdrew its three documentaries from the festival and started a petition protesting what it perceives as "institutional vilification and censorship in the filmmaking industry".^[10]

The best new documentaries of the year compete in IDFA's main competition programs:

• The IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary for best documentary longer than 70 minutes.

Prize: €15,000 (The jury also presents a Special Jury Award)

• The IDFA Award for Best Mid-Length Documentary for best documentary between 40 and 70 minutes.

Prize: €10,000 (The jury also presents a Special Jury Award)

• The IDFA Award for Best Short Documentary for best documentary under 40 minutes.

Prize: €5,000 (The jury also presents a Special Jury Award)

• The IDFA Award for Best First Appearance for best debut film.

Prize: €10,000 (The jury also presents a Special Jury Award)

• The IDFA Award for Best Student Documentary for best student documentary from film academies around the world.

Prize: €5,000 (The jury also presents a Special Jury Award)

• The Beeld en Geluid IDFA Award for Dutch Documentary for best Dutch documentary.

Prize: €7,500 (The jury also presents a Special Jury Award)

Alongside the competition programs, five awards are awarded during IDFA:

• VPRO IDFA Audience Award for best film as voted by the audience.

Prize: €5,000

• Amsterdam Human Rights Award for the documentary that best depicts the theme of human rights.

Prize: €25,000

• Prins Bernard Cultuurfonds Documentary Scholarship, a €50,000 grant for a documentary talent, allowing the recipient to make a documentary about a subject of their choice.
• Filmfonds DocLab Interactive Grant, a cash prize for the development of interactive projects within the Netherlands.
• Karen de Bok Talent Award for the winner of the IDFAcademy & NPO-fonds workshop. It is the successor of the Media Fund Award Documentary. The NPO Fund awards the winner €25,000 to further develop the project in collaboration with a producer and a broadcast.

In addition to the competitions, IDFA presents several non-competitive film programs: