Documentary lovers are in for a treat this year, as we have partnered the Scottish Documentary Institute to screen a collection of well-loved and highly acclaimed films from the SDI, plus specially programmed documentaries from this year’s submissions. The Short Docs night is on Sunday November 4th at Summerhall.
SDI is an Edinburgh-based hub for filmmakers, with an international reputation for producing innovative and creative documentary. Since 2004 they have nurtured Scottish documentary talent and have produced over a hundred films, screening in sixty countries worldwide, picking up many awards along the way. In this special collaboration we will be screening a small selection of films made as part of their annual ‘Bridging the Gap’ initiative, which allows emerging talent the opportunity to create a short film and to work with industry professionals.
still from ‘Cailleach’
Alongside the Scottish docs we’re screening on Nov 4th are some outstanding international documentaries, including IMPERATIVE SHIFT: Fukishima, The Tip of the Iceberg by Yoko Kubota, a powerful and horrifying award-winning doc that traces the outcome of the Fukishima nuclear disaster of 2011, as well as the fascinating Ichiro & The Wave, by Isaac Kerlow, in which a survivor recounts how he lived through the Indonesian Tsunami of 2004. Also screening that night are THE MIRACLE, by Eric Piccoli a Shanghai-shot experimental doc which screened at the New York Architecture festival as well as the ITN Source competition winner FERGUSON, MISSOURI by James Arthur Armstrong, a one-minute doc highlighting the social unrest in Missouri after the death of Michael Brown in 2014
Other docs we are screening elsewhere during the Festival include Ruth Grimberg’s powerful doc about the 1980s Miner’s strike SOME WILL FORGET and Martin Lennon’s witty and playful doc detailing the history of the Deep Fried Mars Bar, THE FRYING GAME!
The astonishingly beautiful HINTERLAND explores a unique artistic re-discovery of St Peter’s Seminary, the legendary modernist abandoned ruin in Cardross is another documentary highlight.
From Belgium, the talented Ischa Clissen shot the elegaic doc MAINLAND on Lewis, and tells the poignant tale of islanders coming to terms with the rapid pace of change and it’s impact on the islands. SHEEPO by Ian Robertson is another fascinating and lovingly filmed Scottish Doc which brings the competitive world of sheep-shearers vividly to life and we are also showing the powerful docu-drama TODAY THEY TOOK MY SON by Pierre Dawalibi which explores the controversial issue of child abductions of Palestinian children by the Israeli army.
So from light-hearted looks at food to powerful, politically-themed docs as well as astonishing tales of human endurance and the aftermath of disasters, there’s a rich variety documented life this year!
