About Us
Close Up is a training, development, and mentorship program for documentary filmmakers from
Southwest Asia and North Africa.
Positioned at the intersection of arts, media, social change, and peace-building, Close Up is the only initiative of its kind in the region, creating a transformational experience for emerging filmmakers, coming from diverse ethnic, religious, cultural, and political backgrounds, including Afghanistan, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.
Close Up was founded as a non-profit organization in Brussels, Belgium by five independent partners who collectively believe that working with emerging filmmakers from our region is essential to creating and maintaining cultural awareness and protecting our future. The partners include: Sigal Yehuda, Ahmet Boyacioglu, Bruni Burres, John Appel and Vincent Melilli.
Our Program
We support filmmakers in developing and creating compelling documentaries that illuminate the social and political realities of our complex and ever-changing region.
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Celebrating Our Most Recent Achievements and Honors
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🎉 We’re excited to share that She Was Not Alone, directed by Hussein Al-Asadi from the 2020–2021 Close Up cohort, and produced by Huda Al Kadhimi and Huma Gupta, will have its World Premiere at the highly prestigious IDFA – International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam in the Luminous section!
🎬 Surrounded by water, swaying reeds, and chattering birds, an elderly woman does her chores around her home. She tends water buffalo, cuts reeds, gathers firewood, and bakes bread. Zaira is one of the inhabitants of the ancient marshlands in the floodplains of the Euphrates and Tigris in southern Iraq. We follow her through her daily routines, scolding a disobedient buffalo, grumbling at the man who comes to sell her livestock feed—the price has gone up yet again.
Poetic, meditative shots of dewdrops on the reeds and the glow of wood fires in the darkness of night evoke an idyllic place, though one increasingly under threat. The camera follows Zaira over four years, during which the water level steadily falls. Birdsong grows scarcer and the buffalo become thinner and thinner. Many people leave, but Zaira stays. A moving testament to resilience and perseverance.
Huge congratulations to Hussein and entire team for this amazing achievement! 🌟
📍 The IDFA – International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam will take place from November 12 to 22, 2026 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. ... See MoreSee Less
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🎉 We’re thrilled to announce that Hazara Town, directed by Khadim Dai and produced by Ilyas Yourish from the 2021–2022 Close Up cohort, will have its World Premiere at the highly prestigious International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA)!
🎥 The film is selected for the the International Competition where it will compete for the Best Feature Length Documentary Award at the festival, set to take place from November 12 to 22, 2026 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
🎬 Hazara Town follows filmmaker Khadim Dai’s family as intensifying persecution threatens the life they have built in Pakistan. Forced by the Taliban from Central Afghanistan, they sought refuge in a walled Hazara enclave in Quetta, where their community continues to face targeted killings.
With their future uncertain, the family holds on to daily rituals: sharing meals, telling stories, and helping the children with homework. Meanwhile, the cemetery fills, and the need to find a way out becomes more urgent. As he follows his family’s journey, Dai recalls his own experiences of loss and displacement. The family’s hope of reuniting with loved ones who have already fled carries the risk of further separation: what does it mean to be a family when its members are scattered across the world?
Huge congratulations to Khadim, Ilyas and entire team for this incredible achievement! 🌟
🔗 For more info on its selection, check the link here: linktr.ee/closeuplinks. ... See MoreSee Less
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Big congratulations to Khadim, Ilyas and entire team!!!
🎬 Meet the Mentors of the Close Up 2026-2027 Development Program!
We are thrilled to announce four world-renowned industry professionals who will guide our filmmakers on their upcoming creative journey:
✨ Gitte Hansen
✨ Lucila Moctezuma
✨ Nino Kirtadze
✨ Talal Derki
Through the Close Up 2026-2027 Development Program, our selected filmmakers will embark on a seven-month creative journey, working closely with our experienced and dedicated team and international mentors, and alongside a vibrant community of filmmakers and industry professionals. From our first workshop in Athens to the final Pitching Forum, we will have the time, space and support to question, challenge, strengthen and deepen their narratives and find the cinematic language through which their films can speak with clarity, complexity and with their own distinctive voice.
We are deeply honored to have such exceptional mentors join our program and eagerly anticipate the compelling stories that will emerge from this creative partnership.
The journey begins soon. Stay tuned for more updates as we head towards this exciting transformative process together 💫
🔗 Get to know our remarkable mentors for the upcoming cohort through the link here: linktr.ee/closeuplinks. ... See MoreSee Less
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