A behind-the-scenes account of the explosive 1968 televised debates between liberal Gore Vidal and conservative William F. Buckley Jr., and their rancorous disagreements about politics, God, and sex.

In the run-up to the U.S. presidential election in 1968, which would seee Richard Nixon becoming president, ABC TV invited two leading thinkers to discuss the state of the nation. In the resulting series of spectacular live broadcasts, the ultraconservative journalist William F. Buckley and the progressive author Gore Vidal hurl increasingly violent verbal abuse at one another—on personal as well as political issues. The debates would become the first American example of on-air political mudslinging. Buckley and Vidal initially express their loathing for each other’s opinions through eloquent taunts and repartee, but by the end this highbrow brawl between two talented debaters has degenerated into an exchange of vulgarities.

The color archive footage is accompanied by voice-overs of passages from the memoirs of the two intellectual giants, while others who were there reflect on this sensational political debate that marked the beginning of a new era in TV.

A warm and attentive film capturing the lives of fishermen on an island in the US facing the threat of rising sea levels. The close-knit community, rooted in faith, navigates an uncertain future with the church at the center of their lives.

For generations, fishermen have made their home on Tangier Island, in the heart of the Chesapeake Bay on the east coast of the US. Two-thirds of the island has disappeared over the last 150 years, and local people are concerned about rising sea levels—and the lack of progress on reinforcing the sea wall—but the church remains the bedrock of this small, close-knit community.

While islanders acknowledge that the climate is changing, they resist attributing it to human activity. A young preacher introduces a different perspective, suggesting that “science is a gift from God”, and subtly shifting the conversation on climate. Amid this, children play, fishermen work, and sermons resound, all set against magnificent natural scenes in an ode to an imperiled world.

The election of the current Brazilian president Lula da Silva led to the storming of Congress by supporters of his opponent Bolsonaro. In the turbulent months that preceded it, Sandra Kogut portrays a country divided to the core.

The Brazilian presidential election on 30 October 2022 ended with a victory for former president Lula da Silva, who managed to beat the incumbent president Jair Bolsonaro by a tiny margin. Lula’s supporters celebrated the victory as the salvation of democracy, but those who voted for his far-right rival candidate were convinced the election was stolen. On 8 January 2023, shortly after Lula’s inauguration, they stormed the Congress building and the Supreme Court.

Shot in the turbulent period that preceded these events, with two tense rounds of voting, this documentary by Sandra Kogut shows a country torn apart. She records the experiences of supporters of both candidates, from those who campaigned for Lula to a truck driver who was considering leaving Brazil if Lula won. She filmed the demonstrations, the work behind the scenes, the prayers in church.Increasingly we gain an impression of two parallel worlds unable to see each other. While poll workers take voting machines to the remotest corners of the country, Bolsonaro spreads disinformation about electronic voting. And the mood of fear and menace intensifies.

An unraveling of the murder of 49 Palestinian villagers by the Israeli Border Police in 1956. Featuring survivors, historians, a courageous journalist and a re-enactment of the trial of soldiers involved in the massacre.

On 29 October 1956, 49 residents of the Palestinian village of Kafr Qasim were murdered in cold blood by soldiers of the Israeli Border Police. The victims were men and women returning from their work in the fields outside the village, as well as children. They were killed because they were unaware that the curfew had unexpectedly been brought forward by an hour on that day. As they returned home, they were mowed down without mercy.

The 1957 Transcripts unravels the background, execution and consequences of the massacre. It features the testimonies of survivors, historians and the journalist who brought the massacre to light three days later, and includes a re-enactment of the military trial of 11 of the soldiers involved. The reconstruction is based on recently released transcripts of the trial. In court, the soldiers said they were only following the orders of their superiors (“carrying out the order required killing”). Moreover, the film also reveals a political plan of ethnic cleansing. The outcome of the trial is shocking to anyone who believes in justice.

Climate change and desertification force a Mongolian herder and his family to move from the Gobi desert to the big city. The loss of their animals severs their connection with nature.

“Climate change and the onslaught of desertification have been ravaging the lands of Mongolia. In the last years, hundreds of thousands of nomads have relocated from the countryside areas to urban Ger districts. Davaasuren and his wife Otgonzaya herd their animals in the Gobi desert just like the generations before them. But the volatile change in nature is putting their future at risk. When half of their herd dies in a
dust storm they make the painful decision to move the family to the city.

Director Gabrielle Brady uses some fictional elements to make tangible the richness of the life that is being lost. For Davaasuren and Otgonzaya, losing their animals means losing their identity. Their connection with nature has been severed. Davaasuren is going to work at a quarry, but he is troubled by the idea of breaking open the earth—is it even allowed? The only thing keeping the couple going is the hope of return. One day, maybe. “

A film made up of archive footage about how the US has handled climate issues since the 1970s. The fossil fuel lobby has turned the broad consensus on the need for intervention into a political battleground.

The climate crisis didn’t come out of the blue. In The White House Effect, made up entirely of archive footage (TV news, memoranda, statistics, corporate documents, presidential speeches), we see that scientists were already warning about what was named “the greenhouse effect” in the 1970s. Both Democratic President Jimmy Carter and later Republican President George H.W. Bush put the climate problem high on the agenda. “These topics have no ideology,” George Bush Senior stressed in 1988.

But fossil fuel giants were not amused by his announcement that he wanted to be “a good president for the environment.” With a PR campaign, they sowed doubts about the climate predictions. They claimed global heating was an unproven theory. The campaign also convinced Americans that “eco-imperialists” wanted to take away their cars.Public opinion in the United States changed and the Bush administration abandoned its climate ambitions. Consensus on the climate issue disappeared and the Republicans turned it into an ideological battleground. The result was a paralyzing stalemate that continues to this day.

How do you prevent a coup? How to deal with events like those that took place during the storming of the US Capitol? American political and military veterans participate in a simulation in which they are called on to avert a civil war.

How do you prevent a coup like the one that almost took place on 6 January 2021, when an angry mob stormed the Capitol in Washington? American political and military veterans take part in a simulation exercise to practice dealing with a situation like this. It is set in a darkened room where all adopt different roles: the US president, an army commander or a spokesperson. They have six hours in this situation room to avert a civil war. They will have to make all the right decisions while facing opposition from a fictional team of insurgents who are using social media and other methods to whip up the population. And things get really exciting when we discover that there are lots of insurgents in the military from local army bases who want to turn against the government. Should the president send in the army, or would that just aggravate the unrest?

We follow the participants during the enacted crisis meeting, and as they speak in individual interviews about their personal motivations for taking part. The fictional president’s impassioned address towards the end holds a reminder of what a capable leader may sound like.

Twenty-five years after a renowned ethno-botanical study in the Ecuadorian Amazon region inhabited by the Waorani, the central figures involved reunite. Members of the community talk about the genocidal colonization that still threatens their people.

At the turn of the century, a renowned ethno-botanical study took place in Quehueiri-Ono, a village in the Ecuadorian Amazon region. It was a partnership between botanists and the native Waorani community, who had lived isolated from the rest of the world until the 1950s. Director Manolo Sarmiento reunites the researchers with community members for a new expedition, aimed to give thousands of plants threatened with extinction a scientific name alongside their Waorani name. More than a record of this enterprise, Toroboro: The Name of the Plants chronicles the history of a people who have been the victims of genocidal colonization since the arrival of Christian missionaries. The main threats to the survival of the Waorani are now the oil and timber industries.

Nasreen wants to become a singer — a far from obvious choice for a woman in Iran. Her sister Leila films Nasreen’s transformation from a vulnerable stay-at-home mother to a woman who takes matters into her own hands.

As Nasreen turns 40, she is deeply unhappy with her role purely as a wife and mother. Is this all she will be remembered for? She decides to pursue her dream of becoming a singer. In Iran, however, this is no simple matter. Women are forbidden to sing in public. And Nasreen can expect little support from her conservative husband.

Her sister Leila has been there with her camera from the start and she films Nasreen over a period of seven years. She closely documents the struggle between chasing a dream and everyday reality, from secret nighttime recording sessions in a car to singing exercises in her bedroom with a toddler rattling the door. She also witnesses increasing tensions within the family.

As Nasreen’s sister, Leila Amini was able to capture particularly intimate and raw moments. But this relationship also presents the filmmaker with difficult dilemmas. What do you do when a loved one is distraught? Do you keep filming or is your primary role that of a sister and aunt? Both Nasreen and Leila persevere, resulting in an inspiring portrait of a woman in search of freedom, and an ode to sisterhood.

Survey interviewer Amber Kumar Gurung travels through the heart of Bhutan with a questionnaire, assessing the well-being of his compatriots. This tender portrait shows how it’s possible to be happy in times of adversity.

The Kingdom of Bhutan set happiness of its people as one of its goals and sent out agents to measure it directly through a questionnaire. The filmmakers chose a more nuanced and telling approach that examines not only the happiness of the subjects, but makes us wonder about the essence of happiness as such.

Inspired by the film theater maker Tijs Huys will explore with the audience what happiness means to them.

IDFA x De Balie
Overwhelmed by the vast selection of documentaries at IDFA? De Balie curates a selection of six remarkable films that together cover a wide range of burning contemporary issues. Each of these documentaries has been chosen for its outspoken artistic vision. But most importantly, we’ve selected these films because they provoke conversation. We invite thinkers, artists and experts on stage after the screening to deepen our understanding of what we’ve seen.