Overwhelmed by the vast offerings at The International Film Festival Amsterdam? Let yourself be guided by the IDFA Pathways. De Facto especially recommends ‘Palestine’, ‘The Law of the Land’ and ‘Life in Europe’. See you there?

Yasha, who used to be a devoted Soviet worker, is struggling to adapt to reality after the Soviet Union’s collapse - he prefers to continue his life in a state that no longer exists. Edgar Baghdasaryan’s tragicomedy Yasha & Leonid Brezhnev will be Armenia’s submission for the upcoming Oscars’ Best International Feature Film.

It has been more than 30 years since fighting broke out between Georgia and Abkhazia. Some of those whom the conflict displaced found refuge in a former Georgian sanatorium: the Hotel Metalurg. Now, they’re under pressure to leave again. Watch the documentary here.

A multitude of looks at the Kurds at a chronically urgent film festival: the Amsterdam Kurdish Film Festival, from 10-12 May in the Netherlands.

The winners of IDFA’s 36th edition competition programs were announced at the Awards Ceremony taking place at ITA (Internationaal Theater Amsterdam) on Thursday November 16. 1489 by Shoghakat Vardanyan won the IDFA Award for Best Film.

Reber Dosky, who makes documentaries about Kurdistan and was our guest at De Facto Live #6, has been jailed for three days in Turkey. Dosky was there for a new project and got arrested because of suspected ‘terrorist activities’. (article in Dutch)

Over the past decade, our increasing and often conflicting claims on space have made disputes more intense and more urgent, widening the gap between the haves and de have-nots. This weekend, the Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam (NL) highlights the theme of Contested Space.

A new documentary film, ‘Liza, Go On’, about the war in Abkhazia is on screen in Georgian theaters. The movie tries to show the truth about the opposing sides. ‘If we don’t confess and repent, we won’t get anything back’, the movie says. But part of the audience criticize it.

Warner Bros says map is ‘child-like’ after Vietnam accused film-makers of depicting China’s nine-dash line in South China Sea.

Daughters of the Sun, a documentary by Reber Dosky, premiers this week at the Movies that Matter Festival in The Hague. A tender and inspiring film about a group of Yezidi women and girls who were abducted as sex slaves by Islamic State and now have to rebuild their lives. With each other’s love and support, they find the strength to look forward again.