The world premiere of A Picture to Remember by Olga Chernykh will open the upcoming 36th edition of International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) taking place in Amsterdam from November 8 to 19, 2023.

A Picture to Remember by Olga Chernykh presents a deeply personal and essay-style account of the ongoing war in Ukraine and its violent history, seen through the prism of three generations of women: Chernykh herself, her mother, and her grandmother. In a bid for connection and intimacy, the filmmaker uses old family films, recordings of conversations, and news reports to bridge the distance between her and her grandmother. The result is a kaleidoscopic and personal film that travels through time fluidly.

“This is a film by an independent filmmaker that is both personal and political. By building her film around three generations of women in her family, Chernykh carriers us to the daily experience of Ukrainians today. The director does not shy away from trying to build a cinematic world with fragile elements. The courage and originality of the film’s approach opens up to a much larger world view. That’s what place films like A Picture to Remember at the heart of IDFA,” said IDFA’s Artistic Director, Orwa Nyrabia.

IDFA unveiled the main competition lineup along with new selections including the Envision and International Competitions, the entire IDFA DocLab program, and the nominations for all cross-section awards.

International Competition

• 1489, dir. Shoghakat Vardanyan (Armenia), 76’ – World Premiere
• As the Tide Comes In, dir. Juan Palacios (Denmark), 89’ – International Premiere
• The Burden, dir. Elvis Ngaibino Sabin (Central African Republic/France/Democratic Republic of the Congo/Italy), 80’ – World Premiere
• The Clinic, dir. Midi Z (Taiwan/Myanmar), 87’ – World Premiere
• Danger Zone, dir. Vita Maria Drygas (Poland/United Kingdom), 93’ – International Premiere
• Flickering Lights, dir. Anirban Dutta, Anupama Srinivasan (India), 90’ – European Premiere
• The Last, dir. Sebastian Peña-Escobar (Paraguay/Uruguay/France), 87’ – World Premiere
• Life Is Beautiful, dir. Mohamed Jabaly (Norway/Palestine), 90’ – World Premiere
• Limitation, dir. Elene Asatiani, Soso Dumbadze (Georgia), 125’ – World Premiere
• Selling a Colonial War, dir. In-Soo Radstake (Netherlands), 133’ – World Premiere
• The World Is Family, dir. Anand Patwardhan (India), 96’ – European Premiere

Envision Competition

• La cancha, dir. Mustafa Uzuner (Canada), 54’ – World Premiere
• Canuto’s Transformation, dir. Ariel Kuaray Ortega, Ernesto de Carvalho (Brazil), 130’ – World Premiere
• Chasing the Dazzling Light, dir. Yaser Kassab (Syria/Qatar/Sweden), 63’ – World Premiere
• Damnatio Memoriae, dir. Thunska Pansittivorakul (Thailand/Germany), 108’ – European Premiere
• GAMA, dir. Kaori Oda (Japan), 53’ – International Premiere
• Mud, dir. Ilya Povolotsky (Russia), 50’ – World Premiere
• Paragate, dir. Jialai Wang (Belgium), 72’ – World Premiere
• A Picture to Remember, dir. Olga Chernykh (Ukraine/France/Germany), 72’ – World Premiere
• Silence of Reason, dir. Kumjana Novakova (North Macedonia/Bosnia-Herzegovina), 63’ – International Premiere
• Tales of Oblivion, dir. Dulce Fernandes (Portugal), 63’ – World Premiere
• Thermodielectric, dir. Ana Costa Ribeiro (Brazil), 72’ – International Premiere
• The Wasp and the Orchid, dir. Saber Zammouri (Tunisia), 66’ – World Premiere

IDFA Competition for Short Documentary

• 14 Paintings, dir. Dongnan Chen (China), 24′ – International Premiere
• At That Very Moment, dir. Rita Pauls, Federico Luis Tachella (Argentina/Germany), 12′ – World Premiere
• Between Delicate and Violent, dir. Şirin Bahar Demirel (Turkey), 15’ – International Premiere
• Blow!, dir. Neus Ballús (Spain), 14’ – World Premiere
• Dreams About Putin, dir. Nastia Korkia, Vlad Fishez (Belgium/Hungary/Portugal), 30’ – World Premiere
• How to Please, dir. Elina Talvensaari (Finland), 27′ – World Premiere
• Landslide, dir. Daniel Cortés (Colombia) 25’ – International Premiere
• A Movement Against the Transparency of the Stars of the Seas, dir. Esy Casey (United States/Philippines), 31’ – European Premiere
• My Father, dir. Pegah Ahangarani (Iran/Czech Republic), 19′ – World Premiere
• Newsreel 242 – Sunny Railways, dir. Nika Autor (Slovenia), 31’ – International Premiere
• Our Special Little Secret, dir. Anna Hanslik (France), 16’ – World Premiere
• People from the Heart of the Earth, dir. Guahu’i Guyra Collective (Brazil), 40’ – World Premiere
• Postcards from the Verge, dir. Natalia Koniarz (Poland/Bolivia), 40’ – International Premiere
• Red Flag, dir. Mónica Taboada-Tapia (Colombia), 20’ – International Premiere
• The Story of Ne Kuko, dir. Festus Toll (Netherlands), 25’ – World Premiere

IDFA Competition for Youth Documentary

Films in the 9+ category

• And a Happy New Year, dir. Sebastian Mulder (Netherlands), 21’ – World premiere
• Figure, dir. Jonas Sars (Netherlands), 2’ – World premiere
• Girl Away from Home, dir. Simon Lereng Wilmont, Alisa Kovalenko (Denmark/Norway), 22’ – World premiere
• Girls’ Stories, dir. Aga Borzym (Poland), 62’ – International premiere
• JessZilla, dir. Emily Sheskin (United States), 90’ – European premiere
• Nelson the Piglet, dir. Anneke de Lind van Wijngaarden (Netherlands), 15’ – World premiere

Films in the 13+ category

• Another Body, dir. Sophie Compton, Reuben Hamlyn (United States/United Kingdom), 80’ – Dutch premiere
• Boyz, dir. Sylvain Cruiziat (Germany), 72’ – International premiere
• Eternal Father, dir. Ömer Sami (Denmark), 31’ – International premiere
• Headprickles, dir. Katarzyna Miechowicz (Poland), 8’ – Dutch premiere
• Love, Your Neighbour, dir. Jethro Westraad (South Africa/Hungary/Portugal/Belgium), 8’ – World premiere
• Nyanga, dir. Medhin Tewolde Serrano (Mexico), 20’ – Dutch premiere
• Sister of Mine, dir. Mariusz Rusiński (Poland), 30’ – European premiere
• The Sketch, dir. Tomas Cali (France), 9’ – Dutch premiere
• Where Am I From?, dir. Nouf Aljowaysir (United States/Saudi Arabia), 12’ – Dutch premiere