IDFA Forum 2018 presents a catalogue of 51 pitch teams from 26 countries, all ready to meet up with commissioning editors, funds, private financiers and other documentary stakeholders at one of the most influential financing markets for creative documentary.
Six Danish projects are lined up this year – films by directors Camilla Nielsson, Sun Hee Engelstoft, Mira Jargil, René Sascha Johannsen, Lasse Barkfors, Frida Barkfors and Guy Davidi touching on subjects of democracy, international adoption, family guilt and much more.
IDFA Forum takes place this year from 18 to 21 November. Read more at idfa.nl.
Democrats II (working title)
Dir. Camilla Nielsson
Denmark / 2018
Zimbabwe is at a crossroads. The young opposition leader, Nelson Chamisa, challenges the old guard, ZANU-PF, lead by Emmerson Mnangagwa, in the first election since Robert Mugabe was ousted from power. How do they interpret principles of democracy in discourse and in practice in the new post-Mugabe era?
The film continues the story of Camilla Nielsson’s award-winning ‘Democrats’ (2014) about the road to democracy in Zimbabwe.
Producer Signe Byrge Sørensen for Final Cut for Real
Forum category Central Pitch
Forget Me Not
Dir. Sun Hee Engelstoft
Denmark / 2018
The film follows three unwed mothers in South Korea who face the impossible task of deciding whether to keep their baby or give it up for international adoption.
Final Cut for Real is behind internationally acclaimed productions such as ‘The Act of Killing’ (2012) and ‘The Look of Silence’ (2014). ‘Forget Me Not’ is Sun Hee Engelstoft’s debut film.
Producer Monica Hellstrom for Final Cut for Real
Co-producer MinChul Kim for Minch&films
Forum category Rough Cut Project
Reunited
Dir. Mira Jargil
Denmark / 2018
An unpolished reality filled with human drama and political undertones. Two children are living alone in Turkey. Mother has fled to Denmark, father to Canada, because of the war in Syria. Everybody is trapped in a Kafkaesque system. Will they succeed in being reunited?
Mira Jargil has previously directed ‘Dreaming of a Family’ (2013) and ‘The Time We Have’ (2011).
Producer Kirstine Barfod for Moving Documentary
Forum category Rough Cut Project
The Rise and Curse of Lukas Graham
Dir. René Sascha Johannsen
Denmark / 2018
When '7 Years' blows the charts and results in a Grammy nomination, it looks like success for Lukas. Only he wrote the song about the loss of his father. How do you recover from immense grief when the whole world is singing along to your sorrow?
The film is René Sascha Johannsen’s debut film. Sonntag Pictures won the Mid-length Feature Competition at IDFA 2015 for ‘At Home in the World’ and is selected for the Kids & Docs competition at IDFA 2018 with 'Fantasy, Fantasy'.
Producer Sara Stockmann for Sonntag Pictures
Forum category Central Pitch
School Shooters (working title)
Dir. Lasse Barkfors, Frida Barkfors
Denmark / 2018
As the disaster of yet another school shooting hits, some parents are faced with a brutal fact: their child was the one pulling the trigger.
The themes of family and guilt are also present in Lasse Barkfors and Frida Barkfors’ previous film ‘Death of a Child’ (2017) – an exploration of the lives of parents who caused their own children's deaths. The couple won at Sundance for their debut feature, 'Pervert Park' (2014).
Producer Anne Köhncke for Final Cut for Real
Co-producer Frida Barkfors for De Andra Films
Forum category Round Table
Senseless
Dir. Guy Davidi
Denmark-Israel / 2018
What does it mean to grow up in a place that forces you to be something that is not who you are?
Guy Davidi won several prestigious awards for his previous film, ‘5 Broken Cameras’ (2011), including an Emmy and two prizes at IDFA. The documentary also received an Oscar-nomination.
Producer Sigrid Dyekjaer for Danish Documentary Production and Hilla Medalia for Medalia Productions
Forum category Round Table
