Director Olga Chernykh Discusses Mentally Surviving Ukraine War by Working on IDFA Opener ‘A Picture to Remember’

IDFA – the largest documentary film festival in the world — has just wrapped its 36th edition, and it was a memorable one by every definition. Two hundred and fifty films screened in Amsterdam, representing work from across the globe –the Middle East to Africa, Asia, North and South America, and Europe.

French studio Federation’s new theatrical sales arm Ginger & Fed and Paris-based genre specialist WTFilms have unveiled a slew of AFM deals for apocalyptic thriller Survive.

The Peasants would already be a daunting project in the best of times. Like their previous film, Loving Vincent, directors Hugh and DK Welchman oversaw a team of animators painting each frame of the film based on live-action reference material. Hugh, who came to Los Angeles from Poland just for his 12-minute Contenders panel, said The Peasants also had to work around COVID and the Ukraine War.

Palestinian filmmaker Mohamed Jabaly is leaving the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam with a major award: Best Director in International Competition for his film Life Is Beautiful. But where he goes next is uncertain – he can’t return to Gaza for the time being because the border is closed as the Israel-Hamas war rages on.

Will Tizard Contributor Sean Pean says the cost in human lives of Russia’s continuing war on Ukraine is on “all of us.” Political dithering in the West has given Russia great advantages in the conflict, Penn argued, speaking to the audience Friday in Torun, Poland, after screening “Superpower,” his documentary on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Camerimage cinematography film fest. If Ukraine had been supplied with enough military support to control its airspace early on, Penn argues, the war that began with Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion last year could have been ended by now.

Carey Mulligan highlighted the need to support children in war zones across the world at Variety’s Power of Women Presented by Lifteime event on Thursday. Mulligan was honored for her work as a global ambassador for War Child UK, an organization focused on protecting children in conflict zones.

Andy Burnham has set out plans to bring together a network of cities and charities to support the recovery of Ukraine after the war.

International Documentary Festival Amsterdam has long enjoyed a reputation as a politically engaged festival – standing up for artists and speaking out for freedom of expression. For instance, IDFA forcefully advocated for Ukrainian filmmakers at last year’s event, making no secret of its position on Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine.

Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer Nikita Kuzmin has opened up to fans about his journey, struggles and symptoms living with Type 1 diabetes. To mark World Diabetes Day, the 25 year old year old, who is partnered this year with Layton Williams on the hit BBC show, spoke out to his 217k followers to support and lend some advice.

Rafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor Five years after opening the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam with his feature debut “Kabul, City in the Wind,” Afghanistan-born, Netherlands-based filmmaker Aboozar Amini returns to IDFA to present his latest, “Kabul, Year Zero,” at the festival’s industry section, Forum. The choice to return to IDFA was an obvious one to Amini and frequent collaborator Jia Zhao of Silk Road Film Salon, who is co-producing “Kabul, Year Zero” alongside Julia Niethammer for Chromosome and Heejung Oh for Seesaw Pictures.

Film Movement has acquired U.S. rights to Maciek Hamela’s In the Rearview, winner of well over a dozen awards at film festivals around the world, including the top prize at Sheffield DocFest.

A Ukrainian mum has told of the "suffering" she and her son have experienced due to the war in their homeland making them "homeless".

Caroline Brew editor Film Movement has acquired the U.S. rights to Maciek Hamela’s “In the Rearview,” following its Cannes Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival premieres. Film Movement has a theatrical release and awards campaign planned with the documentary’s producers and Polish Film Institute, which co-financed the film.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic War onscreen, whether fictive or documentary, is often a sort of highlight reel: the excitement and terror of battle, cities in flames, the devastated aftermath. It’s infrequent that a film dedicate itself to the disorientation of civilian survival in a long-term war zone, when everyday life goes on to an extent despite a surreal atmosphere of constant threat, and the uncertainty of any future at all. That largely interior state is what director Olga Chernykh seeks to capture in “A Picture to Remember,” which opened the 2023 International Documentary Film Festival.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Rise and Shine World Sales has acquired In-Soo Radstake’s “Selling a Colonial War,” which world premieres in the International Competition section of documentary festival IDFA in Amsterdam. “Selling a Colonial War” looks to encourage the Dutch government and society to accept responsibility for their actions as a colonial power in Indonesia – and especially their actions when fighting a war in Indonesia after the country declared independence in 1945. The Dutch government still refrains from using the term “war crimes” to describe their actions as this would have great impact on calls for reparation.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) has issued an apology after three activists burst on stage during the opening ceremony on Nov. 8 with a banner that read “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will be Free.” The slogan, which calls for the destruction of Israel, has been used by Hamas, the terrorist group behind the Oct.

Rafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor When asked how she felt about this year’s opening film at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) having been supported by the IDFA Bertha Fund (IBF), the fund’s executive director and IDFA deputy director Isabel Arrate Fernandez beamed with pride, stating it is “amazing, most of all because it’s a beautiful film.” The film in question is Olga Chernyk’s “A Picture to Remember,” which has its world premiere at IDFA, running between Nov. 8-19.

CNN Max is attracting users who are “20 years younger” than traditional TV viewers, according to Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav.

Rafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor For the second year in a row, the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) launches against the backdrop of a major war. Last year, the festival took place at the height of Russia’s attacks on Ukraine, this year it runs as the Israel-Hamas War rages.

Staff from Perth and Kinross Council’s housing service have claimed a prestigious national award for their work to resettle people fleeing the war in Ukraine.