An AI Inquiry Into Werner Herzog’s Filmography Opens This Year’s IDFA Documentary Festival
The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam — known globally as IDFA — has revealed its 2024 opening night and competition films coming this November. The 37th edition kicks off with Piotr Winiewicz’s “About a Hero” featuring Vicky Krieps and the filmography of Werner Herzog.
Per the festival, “The film presents a bold exploration into largely uncharted territories of artificial intelligence — reflecting on questions of authenticity and our understanding of what is real. With Werner Herzog’s permission, Winiewicz sets out to challenge Herzog’s assertion that ‘a computer won’t be able to create a film as good as mine for at least another 4,500 years.’ In a tantalizing experiment, Winiewicz trained an AI system on Herzog’s oeuvre and asked it to generate a screenplay. The result is a disturbing search for the soul — of human beings and of creative work.”
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That assertion came from Herzog’s 2016 documentary “Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World,” which ruminates on the existential consequences of artificial intelligence and the internet.
“About a Hero” will also play as part of the international competition, which this year presents 13 films that reflect on technology, the global dominance of right-wing leadership, the ramifications of war, and more. Those films (including an anonymous one) are:
“About a Hero,” dir. Piotr Winiewicz (Denmark/Germany/United States), 84’ – World Premiere
“An American Pastoral,” dir. Auberi Edler (France), 127’ – World Premiere
“The Golden Age,” dir. Camilla Iannetti (Italy), 98’ – International Premiere
“Green Is the New Red,” dir. Anna Recalde Miranda (France/Italy/Paraguay/Sweden), 105’ – World Premiere
“The Guest,” dir. Zvika Gregory Portnoy, Zuzanna Solakiewicz (Poland/Qatar), 81’ – World Premiere
“Home Game,” dir. Lidija Zelovi? (Netherlands), 95’ – World Premiere
“Light Memories,” dir. Misha Vallejo (Ecuador), 77’ – World Premiere
“The Propagandist,” dir. Luuk Bouwman, (Netherlands) 112’ – World Premiere
“Rule of Stone,” dir. Danae Elon (Canada), 84’ – World Premiere
“Trains,” dir. Maciej J. Drygas (Poland), 80’ – World Premiere
“A Want in Her,” dir. Myrid Carten (Ireland/United Kingdom/Netherlands), 81’ – World Premiere
“Writing Hawa,” dir. Najiba Noori (France/Netherlands/Qatar/Afghanistan), 84’ – World Premiere
Anonymous film (to be announced before the festival to protect the filmmakers)
Also announced is the Envision competition, with 12 films from filmmakers who’ve pivoted from the art world to use the cinematic medium for their storytelling.
“Bestiaries, Herbaria, Lapidaries,” dir. Massimo D’Anolfi, Martina Parenti (Italy/Switzerland), 208’ – International Premiere
“Chronicles of the Absurd,” dir. Miguel Coyula (Cuba), 77’ – World Premiere
“CycleMahesh,” dir. Suhel Banerjee India 60 World Premiere
“The Fen-fire,” dir. Erik van Lieshout (Netherlands), 60’ – World Premiere
“A Frown Gone Mad,” dir. Omar Mismar (Lebanon), 71’ – World Premiere
“Garanti 100% Kréol,” dir. Laurent Pantaleon (Réunion), 63’ – World Premiere
“Higher than Acidic Clouds,” dir. Ali Asgari (Iran), 70’ – World Premiere
“Huaquero,” dir. Juan Carlos Donoso Gómez (Ecuador/Peru/Romania), 79’ – World Premiere
“Loss Adjustment,” dir. Miguel Calderón (Mexico/Uruguay), 74’ – International Premiere
“Paradise,” dir. Ana Rieper (Brazil), 76’ – World Premiere
“Park,” dir. Yo-Hen So (Taiwan), 101’ – International Premiere
“Pictures in Mind,” dir. Eleonora Camizzi (Switzerland), 78’ – World Premiere
Per the festival, the premiere-only Luminous section “presents a wide range of styles and formalist approaches, from observational to personal to experimental.”
“A Strange Colour of Dream,” dir. Yasemin Akinci (France, Turkey), 74’ – World Premiere
“A While at the Border,” dir. Ile Dell Unti (Argentina), 143’ – International Premiere
“Things That Happen on Earth,” Dir. Michele Cinque (Italy, Germany), 83’ – International Premiere
“Before Then,” dir. Mengzhu Xue (Germany, China), 30’ – European Premiere
“The Jacket,” dir. Mathijs Poppe (Belgium, Netherlands, France, Lebanon), 71’ – International Premiere
“Lift Lady,” dir. Marcin Modzelewski (Poland), 25’ – World Premiere
“Bright Future,” dir. Andra MacMasters (Romania, South Korea), 89’ – World Premiere
“The Water Eyed Boy,” dir. Lirio Ferreira, Carolina Sá (Brazil), 74’ – World Premiere
“Abo Zaabal 89,” dir. Bassam Mortada (Egypt, Germany), 83’ – World Premiere
“At All Kosts,” dir. Joseph Hillel (Canada), 84’ – World Premiere
“The Shepherd and the Bear,” dir. Max Keegan (France, United Kingdom, United States). 101’ – International Premiere
“Yalla, Baba!,” dir. Angie Obeid (Belgium, Lebanon, Netherlands, Qatar), 102’ – International Premiere
“Silent Observers,” dir. Eliza Petkova (Bulgaria, Germany), 96’ – World Premiere
“Make It Look Real,” dir. Danial Shah (Pakistan, Netherlands, Belgium), 68’ – World Premiere
“Edhi Alice,” dir. Ilrhan Kim (South Korea), 125’ – World Premiere
“Until the Orchid Blooms,” dir. Polen Ly (Cambodia, France), 103’ – World Premiere
“Personale,” dir. Carmen Trocker (Italy, Austria), 93’ – World Premiere
“Please Step Aside!,” dir. Raha Faridi (Germany, Iran), 12’ – World Premiere
“Neshoma,” dir. Sandra Beerends (Netherlands), 87’ – World Premiere
“Light of the Setting Sun,” dir. Vicky Du (United States, Taiwan), 73’ – European Premiere
“Whoever Deserves It, Will Be Immortal,” dir. Nay Mendl (Cuba), 19’ – World Premiere
“The Last Expedition,” dir. Eliza Kubarska (Poland, Switzerland), 85’ – International Premiere
“Been Here Stay Here,” dir. David Usui (United States), 90’ – World Premiere
Per the festival, “the premiere-only section Frontlight showcases thirteen films that critically examine the truth and artistically explore the urgent issues of our time.”
“The 1957 Transcripts,” dir. Ayelet Heller (Israel), 75’ – International Premiere
“The Ban,” dir. Roisin Agnew (Ireland, United Kingdom), 27’ – International Premiere
“Blowing in the Wind,” dir. Eyad Aljarod (Syria, The Netherlands), 139’ – World Premiere
“The Building and Burning of a Refugee Camp,” dir. Dennis Harvey (Sweden, Ireland), 20’ – European Premiere
“Eyes of Gaza,” dir. Mahmoud Atassi (Qatar), 50’ – World Premiere
“Missing Rio Doce,” dir. Claudia Neubern (France, Brazil), 72’ – World Premiere
“On the Border, dir. Gerald Igor Hauzenberger,” Gabriela Schild (Austria, Germany, Switzerland), 103’ – World Premiere
“The Shadow Scholars,” dir. Elo?se King (United Kingdom), 98’ – International Premiere
“Shot the Voice of Freedom,” dir. Zainab Entezar (Afghanistan), 70’ – World Premiere
“Toroboro: The Name of the Plants,” dir. Manolo Sarmiento (Ecuador, Brazil), 103’ – International Premiere
“Tripoli / A Tale of Three Cities,” dir. Raed Rafei (Lebanon), 88’ – World Premiere
“Undercover: Exposing the Far Right,” dir. Havana Marking (United Kingdom), 95’ – International Premiere
“The White House Effect,” dir. Bonni Cohen, Pedro Kos, Jon Shenk (United States), 97’ – European Premiere
IDFA runs November 14 through November 24 in Amsterdam. Head to the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam’s website to learn more about the latest programming news.
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