An Iranian team has prepared an official promotional trailer for the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) 2026. This project became possible after the creators of the film 'Fox Under the Pink Moon,' co-directed by Mehrdad Oskouei and Soraya Ahlaqi, received an invitation from the festival following the success of their work at IDFA 2025, according to ISNA.
The trailer's creation involved editor Mohammad Babaei and composer Afshin Azizi. Azizi shared on social media that their vision was to create something more than just a festival trailer—a work reflecting the pressing issues of modernity: the world, women, children, and hope for a better future.
He added that amid ongoing war and violence around the world, they aimed to create something that spoke of humanity, compassion, and hope through imagery, animation, music, and sound. The collaboration with IDFA, which they have always considered home for global documentarians, was a special experience for them.
Since 2022, IDFA has invited artists from its community to develop the festival's visual campaign, allowing them to interpret IDFA and explore the connection between art, documentary, and the world.
Continuing the Artistic Dialogue
For the 2026 edition, this creative dialogue is continued by director Mehrdad Oskouei and co-director Soraya Ahlaqi, the authors of the film 'Fox Under the Pink Moon,' which won the IDFA award for Best Film in the International Competition in 2025. Their joint work develops the theme initiated by the film, where Soraya's drawings served as a way to contemplate memory, displacement, and conflict.
This 76-minute documentary is a co-production of Iran, France, the United Kingdom, Denmark, and the USA. It premiered globally at the festival and received its first international award. The film features 16-year-old Soraya, who creates stunning drawings and sculptures that combine beauty and darkness. This determined sculptor and illustrator from Afghanistan has been trying to leave Iran and join her mother in Austria for five years.
The central idea of this year's festival campaign is visual transformation. The trailer combines fragments from previously shown documentaries at IDFA: footage testifying to destruction, migration, and the long-term consequences of conflicts. However, these images are not static; Soraya draws directly on them, transforming scenes of violence and devastation through her own visual language. Her illustrations do not attempt to hide or erase reality but react to it, opening space for another perspective.
The image of destruction can give rise to an unexpected gesture of beauty. Through drawing and animation, documentary footage becomes a canvas for imagination, connecting memory and the present, destruction and hope. This approach echoes the main idea of 'Fox Under the Pink Moon': art can change our perception of the world without denying its realities. Soraya's work acknowledges violence and suffering while insisting that beauty, tenderness, and hope can exist alongside them.
The creation of the campaign reflects the realities upon which it is based. It has become a mosaic of international collaborations forged across borders, time zones, and vastly different circumstances. Soraya worked on the campaign from a refugee shelter, where she currently lives in Berlin, while Mehrdad coordinated the project from France. Composer Afshin Azizi created the soundtrack from the Netherlands, and editor Mohammad Babaei assembled the trailer from Iran. Soraya's drawings were animated by Ukrainian animator Alina Milkina, working from Kyiv while the city continued to be subjected to Russian bombings.
Thus, the campaign is not just a piece about war, displacement, and resilience; it is also shaped by these realities. Its creators bring their experiences of migration, conflict, and distance into the process. Together, they demonstrate the connections that art can forge even when physical boundaries impede communication.
Emotionally, the trailer moves through four interconnected states: war, destruction, migration, and hope. Instead of presenting them as a linear journey, the campaign allows these experiences to intersect and coexist, reflecting the complexity of modern life. Documentary footage serves as a starting point for imagination. Drawings interrupt and transform it. Animation gives it movement and new meaning. The result is not an attempt to make complex realities more palatable, but an invitation to view them differently.
According to the IDFA website, this largely aligns with what IDFA itself strives for. Documentary cinema confronts us with reality while simultaneously creating a space where images can be questioned, shared, and transformed through dialogue. This year's campaign embodies that belief. Art cannot negate violence, but it can change our view of it. And by changing our view, it can help us envision what might come next.
IDFA is a leading international institution for documentary film, providing a platform for exchange, collaboration, and inspiration, bringing together filmmakers, artists, audiences, and professionals from around the world. Its broad activities include a public film and new media festival, funding initiatives, markets, talent development, and educational programs, as well as a year-round documentary center in the Amsterdam Fundelpark.
