Edinburgh International Film Festival and Sheffield Doc/Fest have announced a bold new collaboration that will allow select documentaries to receive double impact premieres.
Instead of documentary filmmakers having to choose one film festival to launch their film at, they will now be able to showcase their pieces at two festivals – giving the filmmakers greater access to industry and audiences, and their films a much bigger launchpad.
James Mullighan, director of the 65th Edinburgh International Film Festival, said of the unique collaboration:
“In these austere times, everyone in the creative industries needs to explore new collaborations, festivals included, and so I’m very pleased that we are announcing this major joint venture today. We’ve always been passionate about our commitment to British and International documentary, we’re delighted to welcome Sheffield to June, and to work with Sheffield to offer these filmmakers this double opportunity to showcase their work.”
The films that will be included are:
Hell and Back Again (dir. by Danfung Dennis)
Synopsis: Set amongst the conflict in Afghanistan, two overlapping narratives intimately explore the impact of war on US Marine Sergeant Nathan Harris, during and after his time on the front.
Calvet (dir. by Dominic Allan)
Synopsis: Jean Marc Calvet is a successful French painter on a quest to make peace with his dark past.
Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure (dir. by Matthew Bate)
Synopsis: Exploring the boundaries between privacy, art and exploitation, this is the story of two friends who tape-recorded the aggressive arguments of their noisy neighbours, and accidently created a viral pop culture phenomenon.
Mama Africa (dir. by Mika Kaurismäki)
Synopsis: The story of the recently deceased South African icon Miriam Makeba, who travelled around the world to spread messages against racism and poverty and for equality and peace through her music.
Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye (dir. by Marie Losier)
Synopsis: An intimate insight into the life and work of groundbreaking performance artist and music pioneer Genesis Breyer P-orridge and his partner and collaborator Lady Jaye, centered around the daring sexual transformations they underwent for the “Pandrogyne” project.
Bombay Beach (dir. by Alma Har’el)
Synopsis: A portrait of a small community living on the fringes of the lost American dream in Bombay Beach, a shanty ghost town in the poorest county of California.
Life in Movement (dir. by Bryan Mason and Sophie Hyde)
Synopsis: Dancer/choreographer Tanja Liedtke was on the brink of artistic stardom – her work was acclaimed world-wide and she had just been appointed artistic director of the Sydney Dance Company when she was struck and killed by a truck.
Mrs Carey’s Concert (dir. by Bob Connolly and Sophie Raymond)
Synopsis: At a Sydney girls school, music director Karen Carey faces rewards and challenges as she prepares her students for a concert at The Sydney Opera House – insisting upon a classical repertoire, exceptionally high standards and participation from all students. A tale of compliance and rebellion, talent and courage, music making and coming of age.
Project Nim (dir. by James Marsh)
Synopsis: Nim is a chimpanzee who, in the 1970s became the focus of a landmark experiment which aimed to show that an ape could learn to communicate with language if raised and nurtured like a human child. An unflinching and unsentimental biography of a creature we tried to make human.
The 65th Edinburgh Film Festival will run from June 15th – June 26th, and mix groundbreaking global film with cutting-edge documentaries and shorts. The full programme will be launched at an event on May 17th.
