dok.incubator will present eight new feature-length documentaries at an industry preview during this year’s IDFA. The showcase is scheduled for Sunday 16 November at 15:30 at LAB 111 in Amsterdam and is an invitation-only event aimed at festivals, sales agents and other industry decision-makers. The films come from the 2025 edition of the dok.incubator workshop and are nearing completion ahead of their 2026 festival premieres.
The selection combines personal, political and scientific perspectives, reflecting a wide geographical spread and a range of documentary forms.
- Meant to Be follows a charismatic rural middle-school pupil whose life changes when he unexpectedly becomes a rap star.
- Wise Guys centres on two former gang members from Riga who decide to leave crime behind and attempt to build a legal life.
- La pietà offers a requiem for a disappearing world, told through the legacy of seven siblings whose lives are bound to a glacier.
- Smoking Shores portrays a close-knit community of surfers seeking joy and continuity beside the UK’s last major steelworks, under the shadow of economic and environmental uncertainty.
- We Are Stardust explores the enigma of cosmic dust, linking astronomy, ecology and everyday life.
- River Dreams traces a river in Kazakhstan through women living along its banks, whose personal stories reflect wider political and social currents.
- Blossoming focuses on three generations of women and long-hidden family truths.
- La Mona follows a former rebel fighter and mother who lays down her weapon in the context of Colombia’s historic peace agreement, only to discover that peace can be as harsh as war.
All eight films are expected to premiere soon and begin their festival runs. Over the past 14 years, dok.incubator has supported 14 films that reached Sundance, two recent winners at CPH:DOX 2025, and one title, Always, which is included in IDFA 2025’s Best of Fests section.
