Five ITVS Documentaries to Screen at IDFA

The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) will take place later this week (November 19-29). Five ITVS documentaries will be screening as official selections at this prestigious festival––the largest showcase of documentary film in the world. Many ITVS films have screened to audience and critical acclaim at IDFA, including last year’s features MILKING THE RHINO, directed by David Simpson, and SEA POINT DAYS, directed by Francois Verster. Both films competed in the Joris Ivens (feature) competition. 

In addition to the five films screening at the festival, ITVS will host a “Guests Meet Guests Reception” to celebrate all participating filmmakers and highlight the ITVS International Call and the approaching 2010 deadline. The event will be held on Monday, November 23 from 6:00- 7:00 PM at the central festival venue Escape DeLux on Rembrandt Square. The event is open to all credentialed festival attendees and filmmakers. The following productions will be featured at IDFA:

BANANAS! (Sweden) 
Director: Fredrik Gertten, Producers: Fredrik Gertten, Margarete Jangard, Bart Simpson 
Juan “Accidentes” Dominguez is on his biggest case ever. On behalf of 12 Nicaraguan banana workers he is tackling Dole Food in a groundbreaking legal battle for their use of a banned pesticide that sterilized workers. Can he beat the giant, or will the corporation get away with it? In the suspenseful documentary BANANAS! filmmaker Fredrik Gertten sheds new light on the global politics of food. Co-production with WG Films, ITVS International, SVT, ARTE/ZDF, VPRO

COWBOYS IN INDIA (England) 
Director: Simon Chambers, Producers: Teddy Leifer, Paul Taylor 
Aided by two inept locals, director Simon Chambers goes to the poorest area in India where a tribe is fighting to save a sacred mountain from multinational mining moguls who say its resources will bring prosperity to the people. COWBOYS IN INDIA explores accusations of murder and whether the company-built hospitals and schools actually exist—landing these investigators in bigger trouble than expected. Co-production with ITVS International, Channel 4 UK

LAST TRAIN HOME (China/Canada) 
Director: Lixin Fan, Producers: Daniel Cross, Mila Aung-Thwin 
China experiences the largest internal migration in the world as rural workers travel to cities looking for employment. In LAST TRAIN HOME, filmmaker Lixin Fan follows the Zhang family who save all year to travel home for Chinese New Year, along with over 100 million other migrant workers, hoping to salvage the relationship with their teenage daughter. Co-production of EyeSteel Films in association with ITVS International, Sundance Documentary Fund, TV5, Super Channel, Channel 4 UK

THE LAST TIGHTROPE DANCER IN ARMENIA (Armenia) 
Directors: Arman Yeritsyan, Inna Sahakyan, Producer: Vardan Hovhannisyan 
Zhora, 78-years-old, and Knyaz, 77-years-old, were once the most celebrated masters of tightrope dancers in Armenia. With Zhora's health deteriorating and Knyaz struggling to find a student to succeed him, THE LAST TIGHTROPE DANCER IN ARMENIA looks at how these two men put their rivalry aside to train Hovsep, a 16-year-old orphan, who holds the fate of this ancient art in his hands. Co-production with ITVS International, NHK, SVT, TVP, Estonian Television, YLE

THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA (USA) 
Directors/Producers: Judith Ehrlich, Rick Goldsmith 
In 1971, Dr. Daniel Ellsberg, a top war planner, leaked top-secret documents to The New York Times that lead to what many consider the toppling of President Nixon and the end of the Vietnam War. THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA looks at how one man risked it all and transformed the American political landscape. Co-production with ITVS, ARTE/ZDF

Learn more about IDFA >>