Marketing & Communications
A snapshot of the festival campaign trailer developed by We Are Pi.
A festival is nothing without an engaged audience. Getting the message out through the festival campaign, announcing the program, and highlighting new collaborations were only a few things the team succeeded in doing effectively for the 2021 edition.
Martine van Duijn
Head of Marketing & Communication at IDFA: “IDFA's marketing and communication is primarily aimed at positioning IDFA among the general public and documentary film professionals, sponsors, and partners. The festival campaign is a great example of our effective efforts, where every year IDFA invites an artist to create a visual concept. In 2021, the Rorschach test was the foundation for the campaign—one that evokes a multitude of associations. After all, everyone sees something different in the same image, which forms a direct link with the personal experience of watching and experiencing films at IDFA. It also reflects the beauty and diversity of filmmakers' global perspectives at IDFA. Circus Family, an audiovisual design studio, developed a machine especially for IDFA that scanned documentary images. Based on the color and temperature of the footage, it was determined which dye should be dropped into a water tank.
“Ahead of the festival, our communication efforts worked to release the film and new media selection of 269 titles gradually, through international outlets like Variety and Screen, and IDFA’s online channels—leading up to the press conference where the opening film and all competitions were announced. In our communication, we provide context to the program and strike a balance between interesting films from an artistic perspective and more accessible films to reach different audiences, from real cinephiles to culture lovers. According to the results of the audience survey, nine out of ten repeat visitors (93%) see IDFA as a crucial and engaged festival, 89% agree that it features cinematically interesting films and offers a diverse and inclusive program (85%). Almost two thirds (64%) of the participants consider themselves promoters of the festival and indicated themselves to talk positively about IDFA to friends, family, and colleagues. This results in a high Net Promoter Score of 61 for this edition.”
Film still: The Voice of the People, dir. Andreas Wilcke.
Q&A with Joost Daamen,
Senior Programmer at IDFA
For a few years now, IDFA has been actively working to involve students. We invite various study associations of the University of Amsterdam to moderate an interview after a film that is relevant to their field of study.
What is the idea behind the collaboration of IDFA with universities and student organizations? IDFA shows documentary films about the world we live in, including subjects that pertain to a large number of studies and education programs. By working together with various student associations, we want to give students who are trying to find their way in Amsterdam new perspectives on the world through documentaries. Documentary film can thus form a bridge between the theory at university and practice in everyday life.
How did the student program take shape? In collaboration with the student associations, we also try to give students a major role in shaping the programs and organizing the discussions. Associations such as Off-Screen and Macchiavelli, or a Master’s degree program such as Preservation and Presentation of the Moving Image, have taken this seriously and collaborate with great enthusiasm.
Around the German elections, for example, we could connect the IDFA film The Voice of the People with an existing study module about populism and the AfD. How do you deal with the balance between academic topics vs the creative vision of IDFA? The special thing about this type of program is that there is room for both artistic and awareness perspectives, in which both content and form play a major role. That makes the collaboration with students a no-brainer.
Film still: Les Enfants Terribles, dir. Ahmet Cupur
Scyler van der Wal Klein
Head of MAC 2021/2022, Study Association Off-Screen, University of Amsterdam: “The collaboration we had with IDFA was a screening of Les Enfants terribles, directed by Ahmet Necdet Çupur. IDFA was kind enough to arrange that the director could attend virtually after the screening for a Q&A. The technical team was incredibly helpful and patient with setting this all up.
“This event was a great opportunity for our association to ask insightful questions to such a talented filmmaker, as well as engage with the large audience that attended the screening. We really appreciate the trust and respect that IDFA showed us and felt that it was a success. This is the kind of collaboration we are proud to share with our members. We look forward to working with IDFA again in the future.”
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The creative partner of IDFA is We Are Pi.