Vacation cancelled? Yup. Dinner plans cancelled? Yup. Birthday parties cancelled? Yup. Seems like you have plenty of time, right? Well, I bet you’re getting tired of being told or recommended what to do in your spare time, right? Anyways, I want to say this series of articles are not such, but then again...they are, haha. However, if you still haven’t found what you can do in your spare time, why not read another article about it?
IDFA stands for International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam and it provides an online streaming service next to the festival itself. If you like free goods and are curious about interesting topics, such as a dementing mother who is in search for her lost childhood crush, a man reliving the worst path in his life, and so on, I recommend taking a look at their catalog! You can watch about 500 documentaries for free. 300 are from The Netherlands and 200 from other countries. However, for a small amount, you can watch many more. The contribution will go straight towards the rightful owner of the documentary, and not a single penny will end up with IDFA.
When you first visit their website, you might get overwhelmed by the amount of documentaries available. But don’t worry, you’re definitely not the only one. I will help you out! I recommend watching Slaves, Bob, and Serial.
â&128;¢ Slaves is a documentary that tells the story of two Sudanese boys being kidnapped by the military. The documentary is an animation in order to protect the identity of the boys.
â&128;¢ Bob is about three radio makers who are in search for an 84-year-old mother’s childhood crush. In this documentary, the makers are bringing you inside the complexity of the human brain when suffering from dementia, the mother suffers from this condition. Throughout the documentary, you will find out whether Bob is real or a fictional character made up in the mother’s mind.
â&128;¢ Serial follows a story of the killing of an Asian-American high schooler. The story has Shakespearean elements incorporated, such as young lovers, jealousy, and murder. Even though the murderer is already in jail, he claims to be innocent. So throughout the documentary, you will play a role as a private detective in proving his innocent or assail his wrongdoing.
If these recommendations still don’t trigger your interest, then maybe IDFA might be of help. They made a list of their recommendations and film tips! So, there is more than enough for you to enjoy your time in quarantine and no need to leave your home. Let us know via our socials @BUASHUB on Instagram and Facebook which IDFA documentary you would recommend!