As the IDFA documentary film festival gets under way on 18 November, two Danish films will be part of the official programme:
Songs of Repression
In 1961, the German preacher Paul Schäfer and his congregation moved to Chile with the stated aim of helping the poor. They established Colonia Dignidad which transformed into a closed sect. This film explores how the remaining residents of the colony deal with 45 years of child abuse, collective beatings and slave-like living conditions.
Marianne Hougen-Moraga and Estephan Wagner's 'Songs of Repression' and Sine Skibsholt's 'Long, Live, Love' are both selected for the Best of Fests section, one of IDFA's classic series showing film gems of the year.
Like so many other film events, the world's largest documentary film festival is transformed following the current health crisis.
Depending on the situation regarding the Dutch cinemas – which are planning to reopen on 18 November after a two-week shutdown – films will first screen in theatres, allowing filmmakers and audiences to meet. The physical cinema premiere will be complemented by an extensive online programme. IDFA comprises slightly fewer titles than previous editions – from normally over 300 to 258 this year – although the organisers promise that the festival remains "a reflection of and a testimony to the beauty and the necessity of good film" and "the artistic treatment of reality".
From CPH:DOX to IDFA
Both 'Songs of Repression' and 'Long, Live, Love' were warmly received as they both world premiered in March at CPH:DOX, the very first international festival to be released fully digitally. Hougen-Moraga and Wagner's portrayal of a German colony in Chile and its grim past won the festival's main prize.
Long, Live, Love
A young adult film about figuring out who you are in this chaos called life. On top of that, there is a degree of seriousness to Rosemarie's life, for which she is much too young. She has been diagnosed with cancer, and although the doctors say she will survive, the long treatment leaves a mark on her young life.
'Long, Live, Love' by Sine Skibsholt, who took home the First Appearance award at IDFA for her previous film 'Who We Were', tells the story of Rosemarie who struggles to move forward with her life after having been diagnosed with cancer.
Also from Denmark, Paradiddle Pictures with producer Ove Rishøj Jensen at the helm is co-producing 'Camp Century', a British-Danish-American VR game and podcast selected for IDFA's competition for interactive works.
Forum market goes online
Four Danish projects have been selected for the IDFA Forum, considered one of the most important meeting places in Europe for documentary filmmakers, producers and investors. This year, the market runs exclusively online.
Lea Glob presents her artist portrait, 'Apolonia, Apolonia', Anders S. Jepsen's 'Of Boys and Men' dives into a painful taboo, Simon Lereng Wilmont picks up the threads from his previous film from Ukraine in 'A House Made of Splinters', and Talal Derki tells the story of a group of strong women in Syria in 'Song of Summer and Winter'.
Lea Glob's 'Venus' was selected for IDFA's First Appearance section in 2016, and her 'Olmo and the Seagull' screened in Paradocs in 2015. Simon Lereng Wilmont's 'The Distant Barking of Dogs' won IDFA's First Appearance award in 2017.
Danish co-producer Peter Fisher of Khora VR is collaborating with Greenland and Canada on the outdoor mixed reality installation 'Thunder and Drum'.
Danish films and filmmakers at IDFA 2020
Best of Fests
- Songs of Repression by Estephan Wagner and Marianne Hougen-Moraga / Produced by Signe Byrge Sørensen and Heidi Elise Christensen for Final Cut for Real
- Long, Live, Love by Sine Skibsholt / Produced by Helle Faber for Made in Copenhagen
Co-production
- Camp Offside by Anrick Bregman and Nicole Pagliain (England, Denmark, USA) / Danish co-producer: Ove Rishøj Jensen for Paradiddle Pictures / Festival series: IDFA DocLab Competition for Immersive Non-Fiction
IDFA Forum
- Apolonia, Apolonia by Lea Glob / Produced by Sidsel Siersted for Danish Documentary
- Of Boys and Men by Anders S. Jepsen / Produced by Anne Köhncke for Final Cut for Real
- A House Made of Splinters by Simon Lereng Wilmont / Produced by Monica Hellström for Final Cut for Real
- A Song of Summer and Winter by Talal Derki / Produced by Sigrid Dyekjær for Sigge Production
- Co-production Thunder and Drum by François Blouin (Canada, Denmark, Greenland) / Co-producers: Peter Fisher for Khora VR (DK), Emile Hertling Péronard for Ánorâk Film (GL)
IDFAcademy
- Producer Puk Lodahl Eisenhardt of Gotfat Productions is invited to IDFA's workshop for young filmmakers.
Jury members
- Director Estepahn Wagner and programmer Tereza Simikova from CPH:DOX are selected for festival juries.