The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is the world's largest documentary film festival held annually since 1988 in Amsterdam. Over a period of twelve days, it has screened more than 300 films and sold more than 250,000 tickets. Visitors to the festival have increased from 65,000 in 2000 to 285,000 in 2018.
For a few marbles more is a 2006 short Dutch film directed by Jelmar Hufen. The film was selected for over 240 film festivals in 57 countries and received 41 awards. 'For a few marbles more' is the most selected and awarded Dutch (short) film ever.
The Giant Buddhas (2005) is a documentary film by Swiss filmmaker Christian Frei about the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamyan in Afghanistan. The film premiered in August 2005 and was released in March 2006. The movie quotes local Afghans that the destruction was ordered by Osama bin Laden and that initially, Mullah Omar and the Afghans in Bamyan had opposed the destruction.
The Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale, is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europe's "Big Three" film festivals alongside the Venice Film Festival held in Italy and the Cannes Film Festival held in France. Furthermore, it is one of the "Big Five", the most prestigious film festivals in the world. The festival regularly draws tens of thousands of visitors each year.
"Side by Side" Lesbian and Gay International Film Festival is an international film festival that seeks to explore the issues of homosexuality, bisexuality and transgender (LGBT) through art cinema. Since 2008 it has taken place every autumn in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In addition, various special events are held almost every month, and since 2009 film showings and discussions have also been conducted in other parts of Russia.
Academia Film Olomouc (AFO) is an international science documentary film festival in Olomouc, Czech Republic, held each April under the patronage of Palacký University. The focus of the festival is science and educational films from the fields of humanities, natural science and social science, as well as current scientific, artistic and technological advances. The festival features TV productions, podcasts, YouTube channels, and on-demand broadcast, with the aim of science popularization. A variety of film specialists and scientists are invited to discuss current topics with audiences after film screenings, and at special lectures or workshops. The audience mostly consists of visitors with an interest in audio-visual production or science topics, university students, and high school students. The program also focuses on children with a special program block offering film screenings, workshops, and games.
Vanni Mouse is a short film produced and directed by Tamiliam, a Sri Lankan Tamil from the diaspora. It won the best award in an international festival. It won the best film award in the fiction category in the nine-day 11th International Short and Independent Film Festival (ISIFF) in Dhaka 2010. Commenting on the award, Barrister S. J. Joseph of Eelavar Cine Arts Council, based in London, told TamilNet this was the first time a Sri Lankan Tamil artist had been awarded at an international film festival.
Anibar is an annual festival devoted to animated movies, held in Peja Kosovo. Its intent is to familiarize people from Kosovo with the latest global trends in animation. Its purpose is to help and encourage Kosovo youngsters to express themselves and their ideas through animation by discussing topics that they are passionate about. This way, they tend to bring out more topics and break civic apathy through cultural activism.
Cinematography in Kosovo in the Albanian language began its activities after the foundation of Kosovafilm, which produced short films, documentaries, cartoons and later feature films. Since 2008, the central authority for cinematography in Kosovo is Kosova’s Cinematography Center (KCC) though there are numerous independent film companies active in Kosovo. Before Kosovafilm, there were no fully Kosovan films.
Final Cut for Real ApS is a film production company based in Copenhagen, Denmark specializing in documentaries for the international market. The two Oscar-nominated groundbreaking documentaries The Act of Killing (2012) and The Look of Silence (2014) helped establish the company as a recognized provider of independent creative documentaries on the international stage. The recent years, Final Cut for Real has also expanded to fiction films and virtual reality. In 2019 Final Cut for Real Norway was established.
The culture of Prizren consists of a rare blend of the various identities which make up Kosovo. Prizren is a community where different cultures and civilizations have come together, contributing to the city's cultural development over the centuries.
NGOM Fest is a music festival established in Prizren, Kosovo. The word "Ngom" is written in Gheg Albanian dialect and it means "Listen to me" whereas the word "Fest" represents the abbreviation of the word "Festival". This Festival originates from a group of young and creative people who are active in the social life of Prizren and Kosovo. The first edition of the festival was held in June 2011 and due to its major success, the activists were more committed in organizing this event. The main objectives of this festival are to promote new bands and artists, build a new perspective for music festivals in Kosovo, and to connect different ethnic groups in Kosovo and in the region.
As the capital city of Kosovo, Pristina is the heart of the cultural and artistic development of all Albanians that live in Kosovo. The department of cultural affairs is just one of the segments that arranges the cultural events, which make Pristina one of the cities with the most emphasized cultural and artistic traditions.
The capital city of Kosovo, Pristina, especially National Theater-Pristina is the host of many different film festivals. Celebrities from all over the world walk in the red carpet of the festivals which are held annually. These festivals make the city attracts interest from local and international visitors, therefore making the city's life more dynamic. The list below shows the main film festivals held in Pristina.
Thomas Imbach is an independent filmmaker based in Zürich, Switzerland. With his production company Bachim Films, Imbach produced his own work until 2007. He then founded Okofilm Productions together with director/producer Andrea Staka. All of his films have been released theatrically and Imbach has won numerous awards for his work, both in Switzerland and abroad. With Well Done (1994) and Ghetto (1997) Imbach established his trademark audio-visual style, which is based on a combination of cinema- verité camera-work and fast-paced editing. His fiction features Happiness is a Warm Gun, as well as Lenz (2006), I Was a Swiss Banker (2007) and the fictive autobiography Day is Done (2011) all premiered at the Berlinale. His latest feature film Mary Queen of Scots celebrated its premiere in Locarno and at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2013. His latest documentary Nemesis celebrated its international premiere at International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam 2020, where it received the Prize for Best Cinematography. Thomas Imbach is currently considered one of the most unconventional and consistent Swiss filmmakers.
Boris Gerrets (1948–2020) was a Dutch film director, film writer and editor based in Berlin, Germany. He was born into a Bulgarian-German family in Amsterdam and was raised in The Netherlands, Spain, Sierra Leone and Germany.
Starless Dreams is a 2016 Iranian documentary directed by Mehrdad Oskouei.
Amal Ramsis is an Egyptian filmmaker. She studied directing at the International Film and Television School in Madrid.
The Earth Is Blue as an Orange is a 2020 documentary film, directed and written by Iryna Tsilyk, who won the Directing Award in the "World Cinema Documentary” category for the film at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
Writing with Fire is a 2021 Indian documentary film directed by filmmakers Sushmit Ghosh and Rintu Thomas about the journalists running the Dalit women led newspaper Khabar Lahariya, as they shift from 14-years of print to digital journalism using smartphones. It is the first Indian feature documentary to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
