It is no secret how, in recent years, IDFA has become a hotbed for Oscars campaigning for Best Documentary Feature and Best Short Documentary. Timing-wise, the Dutch festival is at the perfect place in the calendar, occurring every year around three weeks before preliminary voting opens for branch members, and festival sections like Signed and Best of Fests mean highlights of the year, from Sundance to Toronto, all make their way to Amsterdam — and so do most of their teams, with Netflix and National Geographic, for example, hosting buzzy receptions and special screenings for their big contenders on the ground.

Tapping into awards season buzz from the festival, Michael Benedict — one of the directors at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences overseeing branches like documenta

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