IDFA opens its 39th edition in Amsterdam with a film on Myanmar's resistance

The 39th International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, known as IDFA, is underway. Its opening night film is White Tiger Column, which had its world premiere as the festival's opener.

The film is directed by Robert Mentov, Dwight Jantzi and Bryan Dickie. It is set within the resistance movement opposing Myanmar's military-dominated regime. Deadline reported the details in an interview with the festival's artistic director, Isabel Arrate Fernandez, just before the kickoff.

The programme is large. More than 250 films are scheduled across the festival's sections, and White Tiger Column is one of the titles in the International Competition, the section where films compete for prizes.

Other titles stand out in the lineup. Ragazzi al fiume, directed by Pablo Briones, follows three young Afghan immigrants living in Switzerland. It is programmed in Envision Competition, part of the Envision section, which programmed 13 features in total.

Yuula Benivolski's The Black Box Is Orange turns to the Israeli town of Shlomi. The town was built on land that belonged to Al-Bassa, a Palestinian village that was destroyed. The film is also in the lineup.

Two high-profile subjects appear as well. You Can See Everything is about Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of the blood-testing company Theranos. Musk, directed by Alex Gibney, is also programmed at the festival.

Film festivals like IDFA give documentaries an early public life. A title shown in Amsterdam can then travel to other festivals, buyers and cinemas, often long after its first screening. For a general audience, the festival is a useful window onto which true stories filmmakers are telling right now.