Saturday, November 29---------One of the pleasures for me in attending the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is the theatrical experience of viewing "serious cinema" in a plush environment. With its move last year to the Rembrandtplein, IDFA has been able to license two of Amsterdam's premiere theaters: the art deco movie palace the Tuschinski and the modern multiplex Pathe Munt. Both theaters offer a widescreen and "big" presentation of what is often thought of as "small" films.

The Tuschinski is a classic movie palace that has seen been divided into 6 theaters but still retains its regal splendor in its bigger salles. The architectural detail and art deco motifs remind me of a smaller version of the New York art deco jewel Radio City Music Hall. The Pathe Munt, with its three floors of cinemas, offers a modern version of the "big experience", with theaters that are perfectly pitched and a widescreen that commands attention.

By screening the documentaries in these settings, the Festival is making a statement that non-fiction is indeed the equivalent of feature films in terms of engaging and exciting motivated audiences. And IDFA audiences are indeed motivated......films that can safely be called highly specialized drew record crowds and full houses. It has been a very heartening development to see these films generate so much excitement and word-of-mouth buzz. No red carpets, no papparazzi, no pretentious hype.....just the raw and very pleasurable experience of filmmakers bringing their unique stories and inviting the audiences to be part of the experience.

I cannot imagine any filmmaker in the world not wanting his/her film to be experienced at the level that IDFA now demands. To screen in a movie palace may not be every filmmaker's dream, but the experience is one that clearly excited both the makers and the appreciators of the films being presented.

Sandy Mandelberger, IDFA Dailies Editor