Taking place in Amsterdam, the International Documentary Film Festival IDFA is considered one of the most important documentary festivals in the world. Yesterday, the jury of the seven competitive sections of the festival selected the candidates for the awards from among all films taking part in the competition. Since then, only these films have a chance of getting the prestigious IDFA award.
“Something better come”, the newest, long awaited documentary by Hanna Polak, received two nominations. The film was nominated in IDFA Competition for Feature-Length Documentary and IDFA DOC U Award. The jury of the first competition consisted of Anne Aghion, Talal Derki, Sandra den Hamer, Joshua Oppenheimer and Alina Rudnitskaya, while the jury of the second was a youth jury composed of young people aged 15 to 18 years. The winner of the feature-length section receives a VPRO IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length (12,500 euro) and the winner of the DOC U section receives a 2,500 euro award. The winners will be announced on the evening of Friday, 28 November, at the awards ceremony in the Compagnietheater.
11-year-old Yula, the main character of “Something better to come”, lives in one of the most desolate places on Earth: the Svalka, the biggest junkyard in Europe, 20 km outside the center of Moscow. Surrounded by barbed wire and guards, the area is closely monitored to keep intruders out. But in the junkyard lives a group of people in a small, lawless society. These people make up Yula’s closest family; here she lives her life, and from here her future springs.
Polish representation at the IDFA festival is exceptionally numerous this year. Apart from “Something better to come” sections, “The Queen of Silence” by Agnieszka Zwiefka, “My Friend the Enemy” by Wanda Kościa and “Invisible” by Zofia Pręgowska are screened in competitive sections . In the non-competitive sections, the following films are shown: “Domino Effect” by Elwira Niewiera and Piotr Rosołowski, “Starting Point” by Michał Szcześniak, “The Breath of the Orchestra” by Katarzyna Kasica, “Penderecki. Paths through the Labirynth” by Anna Schmidt, “Rekongrodek” by Devin Horan and Margherita Malerba and “How to Live?” and “Marticulation” by Marcel Łoziński.
A full list of films nominated for IDFA awards can be found at festival’s website.