Skip to main content

Edinburgh International Film Festival · 2019

Edinburgh International Film Festival 2019

Documentaries

Programme

17 films · 8 reviews

Jump to a film

2040

Review preview for 2040

This is a grand vision, grandly executed, and like the solutions it depicts it exists today.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
The intrepid creator of the documentary That Sugar Film sets off on another journey, this time to scour the world for solutions and measures to combat climate change.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2019; Director: Damon Gameau; Writer: Damon Gameau; Stars: Damon Gameau, Eva Lazzaro, Zoe Gameau, Davini Malcolm, Damon Gameau, Eva Lazzaro, Zoe Gameau, Davini Malcolm)

Full review

UK premiere

And With A Smile, The Revolution! (Avec Un Sourire, la revolution!)

Following politicians, protesters and cultural commentators in the lead up to the Catalan independence referendum of 2017.

(Country: Canada, Spain; Year: 2019; Director: Alexandre Chartrand; Writer: Alexandre Chartrand; Stars: Mireia Boya, Jordi Cuixart, Lluís Llach, Sergi López, Carles Puigdemont, Mireia Boya, Jordi Cuixart, Lluís Llach, Sergi López, Carles Puigdemont)

UK premiere

Best Before Death

Following Bill Drummond - who now travels around the world baking cakes and building beds - on part of his 12-year world tour, which is his final art project.

(Country: US, UK, Ireland; Year: 2019; Director: Paul Duane; Stars: Tam Dean Burn, Bill Drummond, Sarah Naughton, Tam Dean Burn, Bill Drummond, Sarah Naughton)

World premiere

The Biggest Little Farm

Review preview for The Biggest Little Farm

The real joy in the film lies in watching what started out as barren land gradually bloom over the years.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Filmmaker chronicles his own efforts and that of his wife, to trade in their city life for a small farm dream.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: John Chester; Writer: John Chester, Mark Monroe; Stars: John Chester, Molly Chester, John Chester, Molly Chester)

Full review

UK premiere

Bludgeon

Review preview for Bludgeon

In trying to walk a line between geek and jock it paints (and washes and drybrushes) itself into a corner.

Andrew Robertson · 3 out of 5
Documentary about competitive medieval combat.

(Country: New Zealand; Year: 2018; Director: Ryan Heron, Andy Deere)

Full review

International premiere

Hamada

Review preview for Hamada

Despite desolate circumstances and habitat, Domínguez Serén's film buzzes with humour and human warmth.

Rebecca Naughten · 4.5 out of 5
Portrait of a group of young Sahrawi friends who live in a refugee camp in the Sahara.

(Country: Sweden, Germany, Norway; Year: 2018; Director: Eloy Domínguez Serén; Stars: Sidahmed Salec Labeid, Ainina Sihamed Mohamed, Zaara Mohamed Saleh, Taher Mulay Zain, Sidahmed Salec Labeid, Ainina Sihamed Mohamed, Zaara Mohamed Saleh, Taher Mulay Zain)

Full review

UK premiere

Loopers: The Caddie's Long Walk

Review preview for Loopers: The Caddie's Long Walk

Neat little potted history that it is, it doesn't really require the viewer to know the sport in depth.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
The story of the bond between golfer and caddie.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Jason Baffa; Writer: Carl Cramer; Stars: Bill Murray)

Full review

International premiere

Marianne & Leonard: Words Of Love

Review preview for Marianne & Leonard: Words Of Love

There's a genuine beauty here - this is as much a love letter to love as it is the story of a complicated relationship and the branches (Broomfield included) that sprang from it.

Andrew Robertson · 3.5 out of 5
A story of enduring love between Leonard Cohen and his Norwegian muse Marianne Ihlen. The film follows their relationship from the early days in Greece, a time of ‘free love’ and open marriage, to how their love evolved when Leonard became a successful musician.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Nick Broomfield)

Full review

Scottish premiere

Memory: The Origins of Alien

Review preview for Memory: The Origins of Alien

There are some good stories - various myths around the filming of Alien are punctured, but one of the film's central theses is a mythological one.

Andrew Robertson · 3 out of 5
The untold origin story behind Ridley Scott’s Alien – rooted in Greek and Egyptian mythologies, underground comics, the art of Francis Bacon, and the dark visions of Dan O’Bannon and HR Giger.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Alexandre O Philippe; Writer: Alexandre O Philippe; Stars: Mickey Faerch, Linda Rich, Mickey Faerch, Linda Rich)

Full review

UK premiere

Off Sides (Letni Hokej)

The story of a friendship that grew, via exchange trips, between hockey players in East Bohemia and Morocco.

(Country: Czech Republic; Year: 2019; Director: Tomas Bojar, Rozalie Kohoutova)

UK premiere

Sakawa

A group of young Ghanaians turn to internet fraud and black magic to help them with a desperate situation.

(Country: Belgium, Netherlands; Year: 2019; Director: Ben Asamoah)

UK premiere

Scheme Birds

As her childhood turns into motherhood, teenage troublemaker Gemma comes of age in her fading Scottish steel town. But in a place where “you either get knocked up or locked up,” innocent games can easily turn into serious crime.

(Country: Sweden, UK; Year: 2018; Director: Ellen Fiske, Ellinor Hallin; Writer: Ellen Fiske, Ellinor Hallin)

UK premiere

This Changes Everything

A documentary that gathers a who’s who of female actors and directors for a call to action on elevating women’s roles in film and television, both on and off screen.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Tom Donahue; Stars: Meryl Streep, Sandra Oh, Jessica Chastain, Shonda Rhimes, Reese Witherspoon, Taraji P Henson, Geena Davis)

UK premiere

Underdown

Review preview for Underdown

Kaskas makes the step up from short films to her first feature with ease.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Stories from the breadline in Beirut.

(Country: Germany, Lebanon, Qatar; Year: 2018; Director: Sarah Kaskas)

Full review

UK premiere

Up The Mountain

A portrait of a year in the life of a painting studio in a remote community.

(Country: China; Year: 2018; Director: Zhang Yang; Stars: Jianhua Shen, Dinglong Zhao, Jianhua Shen, Dinglong Zhao)

UK premiere

What She Said: The Art Of Pauline Kael

A portrait of legendary film critic Pauline Kael which revisits late 20th Century cinema through her lens, using ample film clips, never-before-seen archive material, wide-ranging interviews and her writings

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Rob Garver; Stars: Pauline Kael, Sarah Jessica Parker)

UK premiere

Ziva Postec. The Edtor Behind The Film Shoah (Ziva Postec. La Monteuse Derriere Le Film Shoah)

Story of the editor who worked with Claude Lanzmann on his epic documentary Shoah.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2018; Director: Catherine Hébert; Writer: Catherine Hébert; Stars: Ziva Postec, Eric Besson, Kevin Fallis, Claude Lanzmann, Henri Rousso, Jean-Pierre Lledo, François Mitterrand, Robert Postec, Sarah Postec, Lindsay Zarwell, Ziva Postec, Eric Besson, Kevin Fallis, Claude Lanzmann, Henri Rousso)

UK premiere