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Edinburgh International Film Festival · 2004

Edinburgh International Film Festival 2004

Document

The EIFF programme says: "Exceptional non-fiction features and shorts from all over the world."

Programme

20 films · 7 reviews

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40 Days (Quaranta Giorni)

The story of thousands of Belarussian orphans who come to Italy to spend time with families there - and the conflicts they face as a result.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2004; Director: Emma Rossi Landi)

UK Premiere

Blue Collar White Christmas (Nede på jorden)

Lifeboat factory workers all lose their jobs over Christmas 2001.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2004; Director: Max Kestner; Writer: Dunja Gri Jensen)

International Premiere

Checkpoint (Machssomim)

Review preview for Checkpoint

This could almost be a laid back Palestinian expose of what is happening at the checkpoints, except it is made by an Israeli.

Chris · 4 out of 5
A documentary about checkpoints between Israel and Palestine.

(Country: Israel; Year: 2003; Director: Yoav Shamir)

Full review

UK Premiere

Documentarist (Vaveragrogh)

State of the nation documentary about Armenia, taking as its premise the filmmaker as tyrant.

(Country: Armenia; Year: 2003; Director: Harutyun Khachatryan; Writer: Valeri Gasparyan, Harutyun Khachatryan, Mikayel Stamboltsyan)

UK Premiere

Document Shorts 1: American Dream

Short documentaries exploring the notion of freedom within the US. Features: Freestyle (Elena Elmoznino), Out Of Status (Sanjina Singh, Pia Sawhney), Parents Of The Year (James Scurlock), Promised Land (Nora Meyer), Three Poems By Spoon Jackson (Michel Wenzer).

(Year: 2005)

Document Shorts 2: Personal Stories

Intimate portraits of people's obssessions. Featuring: A Diary From The Other World (Oxana Barkovskaya), Jumpers (Mark Rinehart), New Improved Deli (Vani Subramanian), Orders Of Love (Jes Benstoc), Stockholm Street (Mans Mansson), Suckerfish (Lisa Jackson), Suicide Tom (Dakota Clearwater Lacroix).

(Year: 2005)

House Of The Tiger King

An Indiana Jones wannabe searches the jungles of Peru for a lost Incan city.

(Country: Sweden, UK; Year: 2004; Director: David Flamholc; Writer: Tahir Shah; Stars: Tahir Shah, Richard Fowler, Eduardo Huamani, Pancho Oserotaki)

International Premiere

In The Dark

A cute study of an old man and his pet cat.

(Country: Russia, Finland; Year: 2004; Director: Serge Dvortsevoy; Writer: Serge Dvortsevoy)

UK Premiere

I Like Killing Flies

Documentary about the restaurant, Shopsins, in Greenwich Village, New York.

(Country: US; Year: 2004; Director: Matt Mahurin; Stars: John A. Papa, Eve Shopsin, Kenny Shopsin, Calvin Trillin)

International Premiere

A Letter To True

Abstract Valentine to the filmmaker's dog.

(Country: US; Year: 2004; Director: Bruce Weber; Writer: Bruce Weber; Stars: Julie Christie, Marianne Faithfull, Bruce Weber, Thomas Sessa, Gerald Johnson, Marleine Bastein, Alicia Tully Jensen, Will Tant, John Martin, Reinaldo Posada, Iedo Ivo Lins Lima)

UK Premiere

Love Is In The Air

People on a theatrical exchange programme between Iceland and London's Young Vic work on a production of Romeo And Juliet.

(Country: Iceland; Year: 2004; Director: Ragnar Bragason; Writer: Ragnar Bragason)

International Premiere

Overnight

Review preview for Overnight

A bit biased.

Gator MacReady · 3.5 out of 5
How to be the next big thing in Hollwood and screw up.

(Country: US; Year: 2003; Director: Mark Brian Smith, Tony Montana; Stars: Troy Duffy, Mark Wahlberg, Billy Connolly, Paul Reubens, Willem Dafoe, Ron Jeremy, Jake Busey, Jeffrey Baxter, Harvey Weinstein, Matthew Modine, Billy Zane, Sean Patrick Flanery, Vincent D'Onofrio, John Goodman, Patrick Swayze)

Full review

International Premiere

Peace One Day

Review preview for Peace One Day

An undulating account of one man's spirit and determination to make an impossibly idealistic vision a concrete reality.

David Stanners · 4 out of 5
One man goes on a global pilgrimage in search of world peace for a day.

(Country: UK; Year: 2004; Director: Jeremy Gilley; Writer: Jeremy Gilley; Stars: Jeremy Gilley, Kofi Annan, the Dalai Lama, Mary Robinson, Shimon Peres, Amre Moussa)

Full review

World Premiere

Rhythm Is It!

Documenting moves by the Berlin Philharmonic to reach out to young children.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2004; Director: Thomas Grube, Enrique Sánchez Lansch; Stars: Simon Rattle, Royston Maldoom, Susannah Broughton, Marie Theinert, Martin Eisentraut, Olayinka Shitu, Volker Eisenach, Die Berliner Philharmoniker, Miriam Pech)

UK Premiere

Riding Giants

Review preview for Riding Giants

Peralta has a real talent for making historic and contemporary documentaries.

Gator MacReady · 3 out of 5
Everything you will ever want to know about surfing.

(Country: US; Year: 2004; Director: Stacy Peralta; Writer: Stacy Peralta, Sam George; Stars: Greg Noll, Flea, Laird Hamilton, John Milius, Gerry Lopez)

Full review

UK Premiere

A Social Genocide (Memoria Del Saqueo )

Exploration of Argentine history after the fall of the military junta.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2003; Director: Fernando E Solanas; Writer: Fernando E Solanas)

UK Premiere

Super Size Me

Review preview for Super Size Me

Through the use of quirky art work, animation, a barrage of facts and figures, plus an incredibly dry wit, Spurlock shines a light on America's attitudes to weight gain.

Amber Wilkinson · 5 out of 5
Documentary filmmaker acts as guinea pig in fast food experiment.

(Country: US; Year: 2003; Director: Morgan Spurlock; Writer: Morgan Spurlock; Stars: Morgan Spurlock)

Full review See: Q&A: Super Size Me director Morgan Spurlock

Scottish Premiere

Touch The Sound

Documentary about deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie.

(Country: Germany, UK; Year: 2004; Director: Thomas Riedelsheimer; Stars: Evelyn Glennie, Fred Frith, Jason the Fogmaster)

International Premiere

Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession

Review preview for Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession

An affectionate, touching piece.

Darren Amner · 3 out of 5
Documentary about the ground-breaking TV channel.

(Country: US; Year: 2004; Director: Alexandra Cassavetes; Stars: Robert Altman, Jacqueline Bisset, FX Feeney, James B Harris, Jerry Harvey, Henry Jaglom, Jim Jarmusch, Alexander Payne, Alan Rudolph, Penelope Spheeris, Quentin Tarantino, Paul Verhoeven, James Woods, Vilmos Zsigmond)

Full review

UK Premiere