International Documentary Festival Amsterdam 2005
24 November, 4 december

Sisters in Law (England, 2005) by Kim Longinotto and Florence Ayisi will be the opening film at the 18th International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), to be held from 24 November through 4 December. In addition, IDFA will be presenting a retrospective programme of documentaries by French filmmaker and photographer Raymond Depardon, part of a large-scale overview of his work being organised by the Filmmuseum Amsterdam and the Nederlands Fotomuseum Rotterdam under the title Raymond Depardon: Filmer/Fotograaf [Raymond Depardon: Filmmaker/Photographer]. 

Sisters in Law follows the work of the female public prosecutor and judge in a small town in Cameroon.
On the basis of four different cases, whereby domestic violence plays a role, an impression is created of a traditional society in which women are slowly but surely learning to stand up for their rights. As in her previous work, such as Divorce Iranian Style (England, 1998) and The Day I will Never Forget (England, 2002), with Sisters in Law, Longinotto has made a probing and intimate film on the position of women. The film won this year's prestigious Prix Art et Essai in Cannes.

Raymond Depardon: Filmer / Fotograaf
On the evening of Friday, 25 November, a retrospective will be launched in Filmmuseum Cinerama of the work of French filmmaker and photographer Raymond Depardon, with the première of Profils Paysans: le Quotidien (France, 2005). In this follow-up to Profils Paysans: l'Approche (2000), Depardon once again films a number of farmers in central France. Profils Paysans: le Quotidien is a sober, meticulous portrait of a dying profession, which for Depardon represents the essence of French culture.

Depardon (Villefranche-sur-Saone, 1942) is known in the Netherlands principally for films such as Délits Flagrants (1994), Profils Paysans: l'Approche (2000) and La 10ième Chambre (2004), but is also regarded as an important photographer. IDFA will be screening more than thirty of his documentaries. After the festival, the Filmmuseum will continue to screen Depardon films, up to and including 5 February 2006. The Frenchman's photographic work can be seen from 26 November through 5 February 2006 in the Nederlands Fotomuseum Rotterdam. 
IDFA takes place from 24 November through 4 December in de Balie, the Pathé City Theater, Bellevue Cinerama and Paradiso. For further information, see www.idfa.nl.