Must-watch documentaries during IDFA 2025

2000 Meters to Andriivka

It looks like you're watching a computer game, but the action scenes in the gripping 2000 Meters to Andriivka are unfortunately all too real. In 2023, the Ukrainian army launched an offensive to liberate the village of Andriivka. The distance to get there is only 2,000 meters, yet it takes the soldiers three months to reach their goal. Footage from helmet cameras makes it clear why, as Russian bombs continuously fall and the ground is riddled with craters and fallen colleagues. Not everyone makes it to the finish line, making this an important and moving watch.  

Director: Mstyslav Chernov

• 14 November at 15:00 in Theater Carré, 16 November at 10:30 in Eye Filmmuseum and 22 November at 14:00 in De Balie

Handle with Care

In Flemish theatre troupe Ontroerend Goed's latest performance, Handle with Care, theatre is reduced to its absolute essence, without actors, technicians, sets or direction. It's just the audience and a box. Depending on what spectators find in that box, they create their own performance where no one knows how the evening will unfold. Each show is unique and Handle with Care is set to be performed simultaneously at various locations worldwide.

Direction: Ontroerend Goed, Alexander Devriendt

• 16 + 19 November at de Brakke Grond

Love+War

It's hard to imagine a greater contrast between work and home life than that of war photographer Lynsey Addario. One moment, she is taking photos of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, the next, she is on her way to London for her eldest son's school performance. Addario has been travelling to conflict zones for her photographic reports for 30 years. Her work, of course, is not without danger, and it's tough for her family at home. Yet she persists – as much because it's important, and as much because she cannot do without it.

Directed by: Char Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin

• 14 November and 15 November at 13:30 in The Pulse, 16 November at 16:15 in Rialto De Pijp, and 18 November at 15:00 in Pathé City

Monkondee

The river Marowijne forms the natural border between Suriname and French Guiana. It is also home to the Maroons, descendants of Africans who freed themselves from Dutch slave owners. One of them is Boogie, a Fiiman (‘free man’), who delivers goods to the villages along the riverbank with his motorised elongated boat (korjaal). Boogie finds himself in a difficult dilemma as climate change and gold mining make it increasingly hard to make a living. But the gold mine is also a major client…

Direction: Tolin Erwin Alexander, Lonnie van Brummelen, Siebren de Haan

• 19 November at 15:00 in Podium Mozaïek, 21 November at 18:30 in Tuschinski (with a post-screening discussion with the creators), and 22 November at 18:30 in Bijlmerbios

Orwell: 2+2=5

In 1949, George Orwell (pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair) published his last book: the dark 1984, about a near future where everything you do is recorded and monitored (‘Big Brother is watching you!’ / Big Brother keeps an eye on you!) and where real news and fake news are indistinguishable. Director Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) artfully weaves together diary fragments, film scenes, and current events to create a compelling narrative. The message is clear: Orwell's dystopian scenario has already become reality.

Director: Raoul Peck

• Including on 14 November at 17:30 at Rialto De Pijp, 16 November at 15:45 at The Documentary Pavilion: De Spiegel, and 21 November at 21:30 at Pathé Noord

Palestine Comedy Club

Six Palestinian comedians, performing as the Palestine Comedy Club before 7 October 2023, are touring various Palestinian and Israeli cities. The diverse group, comprising both men and women of different ages and from all corners of the country, demonstrates that we can still learn a lot from each other.

Direction: Alaa Aaliabdallah

• Including on 15, 17 November & 20 November at Tuschinski, 16 November at 18:45 at The Pulse, and 18 November at 18:30 at Het Ketelhuis

Queer as Punk

Being openly different in Malaysia comes with its own dangers. And being queer is even punishable by law. A couple (two women) is whipped and a male politician is arrested for wearing women's clothes. Despite the repression and the high risk of retaliation, the members of the queer punk band Sh…Diam! (Malaysian for ‘shut up’) dare to be shamelessly themselves and perform both domestically and internationally with songs like ‘Lonely lesbian’ and ‘I woke up gay’.

Director: Yihwen Chen

• On November 15 at 11:00 in Kriterion, November 17 at 18:15 in The Documentary Pavilion: The Mirror, and November 22 at 21:30 in Pathé Noord

Redlight to Limelight

In the red-light district of Kalighat, a poor neighbourhood in Kolkata, a group of Indian sex workers start a film collective, CAM-ON. They draw inspiration for their short films from their own lives. They then begin work on their first feature film, about a mother who rebels when her daughter is forced into prostitution as well. Redlight to Limelight is a hopeful documentary about the resilience and camaraderie of a group of women for whom life has not gone as hoped.

Direction: Bipuljit Basu

• Including on 15 November at 17:15 at Pathé City, 17 November at 18:45 at het Ketelhuis, and 22 November at 15:45 at Rialto De Pijp

The Shipwrecked

30 years ago, documentary filmmaker Diego Gutiérrez left Mexico for Amsterdam. For The Shipwrecked, he returns to his homeland for a dreamy, philosophical journey. How do you deal with something as fragile and precious as life? The people he captures on camera are also searching for more meaning. The restorer who refurbishes an ancient image of Jesus, two young lovers – and biologists – studying a rare bat species, and the farmer who returned to his father's farmland.  

Direction: Diego Gutiérrez

• Including on 15 November at 15:00 in Eye Filmmuseum, 16 November at 18:00 in The Pulse, and 20 November at 17:45 in Tuschinski

Those who watch over

In Brussels, hidden among tall terraced houses, lies a multireligious cemetery. It is the only place in Belgium where all religions are equally welcome and where many immigrants find their final resting place. Visitors chat animatedly with their deceased loved ones and with each other. Personal stories and local specialities are freely shared among them where even the gravediggers speak enthusiastically about their profession. At an unexpected location, Those Who Watch Over showcases the richness of life in a multicultural city. 

Directed by: Karima Saïdi

• Including on 16, 19 November and 21 November at Tuschinski, 20 November at 10:00 at Ketelhuis (sensory-friendly) and 22 November at 18:30 at Cinema de Vlugt