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Covering the latest quick bites from IDA and the world of documentary.

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James, a young activist with Black skin wearing a black tank top, orange pants and gold jewelry, looks off behind him. A still from the film 'The Legend of the Underground.' Courtesy of HBO.
The Kids Are More Than Alright: Documentaries To Watch on Youth Activism
Youth movements have changed the world and revolutionized the way we organize against systems of oppression. From Freedom Summer to the March For Our Lives, young people have been at the forefront of...
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Musa Hadid, the mayor of Ramallah is a middle-aged man with a moustache. He is waving to someone and is wearing sunglasses, and is wearing a grey jacket with a shirt and trousers. There are passersby and an ATM machine behind him. Image from David Osit’s 'Mayor.' Courtesy of David Osit and POV.
Screen Time: Week of August 23, 2021
Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home. In this 2019 documentary from Germany-based DW Documentary, Afghanistan—Land of...
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myida.documentary.org
Introducing MyIDA, Our New Membership Portal
IDA is excited to launch our new MyIDA portal today for all IDA members! This improved platform will make accessing your member benefits and engagement with the IDA easier than it's ever been before.
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Headshot of a smiling Black adult man sitting on a bench in a black and red hat, glasses, and an orange button-up shirt.
IDA Member Spotlight: Alex H. Rafi
Alex H. Rafi is a St. Louis-based documentary filmmaker and educator. Originally from Miami, FL, Alex earned his BA in Communication and Cinema Studies from the University of Pennsylvania and his MFA...
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Caption: Janaé Bonsu is a young Black woman leading an activist gathering. She and her comrades are in yellow shirts that say “Say Her Name”. Image for Ashley O’Shay’s “Unapologetic”. Courtesy of David Magdael & Associates.
Essential Doc Reads: Week of August 16, 2021
Essential Doc Reads is our curated selection of recent features and important news items about the documentary form and its processes, from around the internet, as well as from the Documentary...
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Elizabeth Mirzaei and Gulistan Mirzaei standing in an Afghanistan desert with a camera, in 2019. Gulistan is carrying their daughter, Maryam. Elizabeth is wearing a headscarf, Gulistan is wearing a black t shirt and glasses, Maryam is wearing a striped shirt and floral pants. Image courtesy of the authors.
The Afghanistan We Know and Fight For: Filmmakers Share Shards of Memories
By Elizabeth Mirzaei and Gulistan Mirzaei We are writing this with sleepless eyes, shaking hands, and knots in our stomachs that grow tighter with each bit of news coming out of Afghanistan, as if an...
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A young Afghani girl in a checkered headscarf helps her friend on a skateboarding ramp. Her friend is wearing skateboarding gear. They’re inside a training room with other young skateboarders. Image from Carol Dysinger’s ‘Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl).’ Courtesy of the filmmaking team.
Screen Time: Week of August 16, 2021
Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home. The onslaught of images our news cycles throw at us often ends up benumbing us...
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A man with brown skin in a white checkered shirt and white hat standing in front of a crowd. Still from 'An Insignificant Man' by Khushboo Ranka & Vinay Shukla. Courtesy of IFFLA.
Ten Documentaries To Watch for Indian Independence Day
This Sunday, August 15th, 2021 India celebrates 74 years of its independence from British imperial rule. It has been an incredibly challenging year for South Asian communities, both within the...
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A group of people on the street holding up signs that read 'Free Britney.' It’s daytime and they are wearing masks. Image from 'Framing Britney Spears.' Courtesy of New York Times Op Docs.
Essential Doc Reads: Week of August 9, 2021
Essential Doc Reads is our curated selection of recent features and important news items about the documentary form and its processes, from around the internet, as well as from the Documentary...
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Silhouettes of six men against a setting sun. Image from Vittorio de Seta's 'Solfatara.' Courtesy of The Criterion Collection
Screen Time: Week of August 9, 2021
Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home. When filmmaker Ayo Akingbade finished making Tower XYZ (2016), she wrote a...
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