Best of IDFA 2026 on Tour

PROGRAM
11:20      Past Future Continuous
12:36     Intermission
13:20     Remake
15:17      Intermission
15:40     An Open Field
16:18      A Fox Under the Pink Moon


PAST FUTURE CONTINUOUS
Maryam fled Iran decades ago and settled in the United States. Her parents remained in Tehran. Now that they are growing older and political unrest is intensifying, she is concerned. She persuades them to install security cameras in every room, so she can stay in direct contact with them from a distance. Maryam finds herself glued to this virtual connection, only now realizing how lonely they must have been all these years.

Footage from these cameras inside Maryam’s childhood home forms the basis of this moving, tender, and philosophical film by Firouzeh Khosrovani and Morteza Ahmadvand, respectively director and art director of Radiograph of a Family (2020). The security footage shows the parents shuffling slowly but routinely through their rooms.

Over this silent montage, at times intercut with home videos from her childhood, Maryam reflects on half a lifetime without her parents, on growing up in Tehran, and on why she can never return. Stylized images of birds seem to symbolize both a lack of freedom and courageous attempts to break free. 

Winner of the IDFA Award for Best Film 2025 in de Envision Competition.

REMAKE
Ross McElwee’s films have always been personal. His own life has remained central even in works that tackled big subjects such as the tobacco industry (Bright Leaves) or nuclear weapons (Sherman’s March). But could he perhaps have overlooked something over all those years? The death of his son compels him to reflect.

Remake is composed largely of old footage of his son Adrian: a bright and imaginative boy who turns into a typically sullen teenager, and later struggles with mental health issues and drug addiction. Footage that had no special purpose when McElwee shot it now seems like the pieces of a puzzle—not only to understand Adrian better, but also himself.

Feelings of guilt and anger—always conveyed in McElwee’s calm, eloquent voice-over—are interwoven with thought-provoking ideas about the role of film in our lives, how images help us hold on to memories, and how they can also make the past seem like fiction. Remake has much to say, but keeps its essence simple: ultimately, this is a film about a father’s unconditional love for his child.

Winner of the Image & Sound IDFA ReFrame Award 2025.

AN OPEN FIELD
On 10 March 2019, a Boeing 737 MAX airplane crashed just six minutes after taking off from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. All 157 people on board perished, including Max Thabiso Edkins, the younger brother of director Teboho Edkins. He and his father, film producer Don Edkins, decided to travel together to the crash site in order to seek something tangible in their grief.

What they find is a community in which mourning is an important part of the culture. Just as for the Edkins family, the lives of the villagers have also been turned upside down by the crash. In a deeply moving experience, they discover that the community members who welcome them regard the crash victims as visiting guests, whom they have taken into their hearts as brothers and sisters.

Their compassion contrasts starkly with the calculating stance of airplane manufacturer Boeing. As if attempting somehow to connect with his brother’s spirit, the filmmaker immerses himself in the sounds of the disaster site. 

Winner of the IDFA Award for Best Short Documentary 2025.

A FOX UNDER A PINK MOON
Soraya is only sixteen, and she already creates the most fantastic drawings and sculptures, as beautiful as they are dark. Soraya is a headstrong Afghan sculptor and artist who has been trying to flee Iran for five years to be with her mother in Austria.

This subtly layered (self)portrait interweaves chilling images of her attempts to flee with political news from Afghanistan and videos in which she sings and dances, or shows her bruises. Soraya is married to a violent man, but determined to shape her own future. Mehrdad Oskouei directed this film entirely remotely: Soraya filmed all the footage herself with her cell phone over a period of five years.

This material is interspersed with her drawings and surreal animations. Art that she does not create lightly: she puts all her worries, happiness, and fears into her drawings and sculptures, made from materials she finds along her escape routes. Many of her drawings feature the same characters: a fox as a faithful companion, a pink moon that always watches over her, and a clown who never smiles—in whom Soraya recognizes herself.

Winner of the IDFA Award for Best Film 2025 in the International Competition.