Accessibility &
Sustainability
The trademark IDFA flags. Photo by Roger Cremers.
Accessibility
For the past several years, IDFA has worked hard to remove access barriers to the festival. In 2021, we took some important next steps, including better service for wheelchair-users, more films with audio descriptions and closed captions, and a series of low-stimulus screenings.
Marianne Dijkshoorn
Accessibility Consultant, Toegankelijkheid & Evenementen (Accessibility & Events): “IDFA has made a good start with accessibility for people with different types of disabilities. Not every festival in the Netherlands has reached that stage yet. I hope that in the coming years IDFA will further develop accessibility and become an example for others.”
Liselotte Roodbol
Programming & Communications at Het Ketelhuis: “Just as was the case for IDFA, these were the first low-stimulus screenings for Het Ketelhuis, and they are certainly worth repeating. With a few small adjustments, a film screening can be made accessible to an audience that does not normally go to the cinema. What was striking was that a number of regular visitors also came specifically for the low-stimulus setting. We see enormous potential in the low-stimulus screenings and would like to continue working on this with IDFA.”
Ellen Schut
Project Leader, Stichting Audiovisuele Toegankelijkheid (Audiovisual Accessibility Foundation): “SAVT (Stichting Audiovisuele Toegankelijkheid) is very happy with the effort that IDFA has made to put accessibility on the map as an important aspect of filmmaking and film screenings. SAVT manages the free apps Earcatch and Subcatch, which respectively offer audio description for people who are blind and partially sighted and subtitling for people who are deaf and hard of hearing to enjoy films in the cinema, as well as at home. “In the current climate, inclusion and accessibility are big topics that nonetheless often remain underexposed. In normalizing the necessity of being fully accessible, IDFA plays a pioneering role, as the first film festival in The Netherlands to embrace it to this extent. It has been nice to receive reactions from international filmmakers who learn about accessibility from IDFA and wished they had solutions like Earcatch and Subcatch back home. More importantly, at SAVT we find that our end users (who we are in close contact with) feel seen and heard with every accessible film and every mention of accessibility. This is why we are grateful and excited to be working together with IDFA and looking forward to continuing on this journey together.”
A festival visitor with IDFA merchandise. Photo by Lin Woldendorp.
IDFA’s accessibility program is supported by VSBfonds.
Sustainability
More than ever, we’re committed to reducing our CO2 footprint at IDFA. As an international film festival, we’re continuously taking steps to be more sustainable and mitigate our environmental impact each year, from serving vegetarian catering to reducing air travel.
David Leenders
Guest Services Manager at IDFA: “This year, we donated €4,325 to the Fair Climate Fund, a CO2 off-setting program to help compensate for the emissions from our guests flying to the festival. And even more impact is created by encouraging guests to come by train, which we’ve done for several years now already. More and more, we’re seeing people agree with us, leading to three-fold more train trips among guests compared to 2019. And, for the second year in a row, we use electric cars for guest transport in Amsterdam.”
Marjolein Polder
Communications Coordinator at IDFA:
“When producing physical items, we take care to work with suppliers for our give-aways like guest bags and T-shirts that have clear sustainability goals, such as fair working conditions and zero waste production. The printers we use for our publications are committed to protecting the environment and have taken extensive measures to do so."
IDFA chocolate bars. Photo by Lin Woldendorp.