The Edinburgh International Film Festival celebrates its 70th anniversary beginning tomorrow, Wednesday, June 15. Before it wraps on Sunday, June 26, the event will unspool more than 125 new features, including approximately 30 docs, as well as a host of retrospective offerings. The following offers a brief look at a selection of the nonfiction being presented:
Appearing in the standalone Documentaries section are several titles that have made their debuts at other notable events. Some of the premieres or largely undiscovered entries here include: Andrew Becker and Daniel Mehrer’s SANTOALLA (pictured), which recounts the conflict between newcomers and the last residents of a small Spanish village; Niam Itani’s TWICE UPON A TIME, a personal reflection on the plight of refugees of the past and present; Charlene Fisk and Carrie Schrader’s THE FOUNDERS, a history of the resistance to women’s golfing in America; and Melisa Liebenthal’s THE PRETTY ONES, an essay film exploring societal pressures put on young women.
Nonfiction work in other sections includes Mark Cousins’ meditation on cinema spectatorship, BIGGER THAN THE SHINING, in Special Events; Mika Taanila’s experimental consideration of containment via celluloid surface, TECTONIC PLATE, in the innovative Black Box strand; and several docs in this year’s Focus on Finland sidebar, such as Ari Matikainen’s look at the impact of WWII on the Nordic nation, WAR AND PEACE OF MIND (pictured); Juan Reina’s chronicle of an underwater mission to recover the bodies of cave-divers, DIVING INTO THE UNKNOWN; and Christy Garland’s profile of a coach’s efforts to inspire her underperforming cheerleaders, CHEER UP.
what (not) to doc 