Close:Up Edinburgh Docufest
Close:Up Edinburgh Docufest, Edinburgh's one and only annual documentary film festival, returns on the 25th & 26th October to the historic Cameo Cinema.
About Close:Up Edinburgh Docufest
The 2024 Close:Up Edinburgh Docufest will take place on 25 & 26 October at the Cameo Picturehouse celebrating the art of documentary with a multifaceted programme. T
his year's edition features 14 documentaries by local and international filmmakers highlighting various aspects of modern-day life around the globe.
Aiming to highlight the power of the documentary and showcase filmmakers sharing inspiring and thought-provoking stories, the EDDF brings a carefully picked film selection to the Cameo Cinema. From a glimpse into socio-political issues to philosophical questions and cosmic wonders, this year's programme blends various themes and types of documentaries.
DAY 1
FEATURE FILM
18.00 - 19.40
From Abdul to Leila, Albayaty Leila, 92' • Iraq • 2024, Category: Best Experimental Documentary
After suffering amnesia from an accident, Leila, a young French artist of Iraqi origin, reconstructs her history by reconnecting with her family and delving into her roots. She learns Arabic and interprets the poems of her father, an Iraqi political exile. An inner journey, an identity quest sublimated by her songs, bridging Europe and the Middle East.
**Break: 19.40 - 19.50
SHORT DOCS
19:50 - 21:30
Sparta Quinn, Callum Boath, 14' • United Kingdom • 2024, Category: Best Scottish Production
The life and work of Quinn, an artist from Dundee whose artistic process, centred around creating spray-painted nebulas. Quinn has an unconventional approach to sharing his art - he leaves his creations in public spaces for anyone to take, free of charge. The documentary takes us on a journey through his creative endeavours and invites viewers to reflect on the power of art to inspire and connect, leaving a lasting impact on both the artist and the world around him.
Memories in the Clouds, Kristina Laine, Albert Aleksanteri Laine, 7' • Finland • 2023, Category: Best Short Documentary
"Memories in the Clouds" visualises Kristina (Žičkutė) Laine’s childhood memories in Soviet Lithuania and reflects her view as a child during the vast socio-political changes of the collapsing Soviet Union. The film is produced with timelapse videos, volumetric 3D simulation and digital 2D animation and utilises specifically tuned AI algorithms.
The Astronauts of Feuerbach, Johann Schilling, 28' • Germany • 2022, Category: Best Student Documentary
Soon enough humankind will ascend to space. Who can join that mission? Who has to stay behind? In some places, it has already started. Men and machines taking flight, leaving for the unknown future. For the endless void. That’s where they meet. The People use machines to clean machines and the people are sheltered inside those machines. Destined to collide, never to engage. Welcome to Europe's biggest car wash.
Scissors, Toyoko Matsuo Saindon, 20' • United States • 2023, Category: Best Student Documentary, Best Experimental Documentary
This experimental documentary short follows the filmmaker's Japanese mother, Eiko, as she attempts to find a final resting place for the ashes of her younger sister who refused to be buried in their family plot in Hasami. Through a tapestry of dreamlike reenactments of memories, Hasami (Scissors) is the filmmaker's attempt to understand Eiko as a person outside of her role as a mother and to aid in her journey to healing from an abusive childhood.
One-Way, Ignacio Ragone, 14' • Argentina • 2022, Category: Best Short Documentary
An ill man embarks on a journey of no return. A filmmaker proposes filming his journey. This is the result.
If I Had a Time Machine, Yunchang Zhang, 6' • United States • 2023, Category: Best Student Documentary
If there were a time machine, where would people choose to go? This New York-based vox pop short documentary features a series of spontaneous interviews with passersby, revealing their varied and colourful answers. It delves into the origins of humanity, boundless curiosity, unfulfilled expectations, personal reflections, and relationships, weaving together emotions of both sadness and joy. Ultimately, it paints a vivid portrait of the city itself, as seen through the desires and regrets of its inhabitants.
DAY 2
FEATURE FILM
18.00 - 19.30
Flotacija, Eluned Zoe Aiano, Alesandra Tatić, 77' • Serbia • 2023, Category: Best Feature-Length Documentary
In Eastern Serbia, in a town with a dual identity divided between magic and industry, a family whose destiny is extrinsically linked with both does their best to ensure the survival of their traditions and their future generations. Lifelong miner Dragan Markovic is the last in a line of dragon hunters while his sister Desa is the widow of the union leader trying to continue his legacy by fighting for the rights of fellow mine-worker families.
**Break 19:30 - 19:40
SHORT DOCS
19:40 - 21:25
The Sowing, Jacek Redźko, 29' • Poland • 2023, Category: Best Short Documentary
In the movie "The Sowing," we discover one of the oldest Warsaw garden farms, where tradition and the cycles of nature take on significance. It's a journey through time where the past inspires the future in a family.
Muddy Waters, Gabriel Panazio, Kleber Leão, 7' • Brazil • 2023, Category: Best Short Documentary
At the Z10 one of Brazil's country's oldest and most traditional fishing colonies, fish stocks have decreased due to marine pollution. As we follow the story of the local fisherman Zezinho whose life is drastically altered by increasing marine pollution, we discover how locals reinvent their practices, transforming from fishermen into guardians of the ocean. This short film is a visual and emotional journey, highlighting human resilience in the face of environmental adversity, and the community's ability to find creative solutions to global problems.
Wicked & Bad, Toni Lotta Groner, 15' • United Kingdom • 2023, Category: Best Student Documentary
Tyler is one of the 28 charged protestors after attending the ‘Kill the Bill’ demonstration and being in confrontation with the police outside the New Bridewell Police Station in Bristol. ‘Wicked and Bad’ is the story of Tyler Overall’s journey to prison. We focus on his final week of freedom before prison, whilst also covering the events of the March 2021 Kill the Bill protest.
Quasi Perfetto, Federico Frefel, 10' • Italy • 2023, Category: Best Experimental Documentary
In 1969, Switzerland's image of perfection was undermined by a clumsy television operator who mistakenly deleted the official commentary of the Apollo 11 Mission. Journalists Marco Blaser and Eugenio Bigatto will return to the studio of forty years earlier to correct the mistake. But it won't be that simple.
Katarakt, Sofia Ntona, 27' • Greece • 2023, Category: Best Experimental Documentary
KATARAKT focuses on ‘Katarraktis’ a coastal village in the Greek island of Chios located 11 km across Turkey, relating its name to the eye disease of 'cataract’. As many Turkish people who cannot return back home visit ‘Katarraktis’ to look at their villages across, the film uses wordplay to talk about blurred vision, memory, migration and borders.
Have You Seen the Beast?, Will Hewitt, Austen McCowan, 7' • United Kingdom • 2024 Category: Best Scottish Production
A cold case rumour-mentary about sightings of an alien big cat in the rural Welsh countryside told through eyewitness telephone accounts.
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