About Us
CLOSE UP
We are individual partners who have been working together along this course for 14 years, we have supported more than 200 filmmakers from the Middle East & North Africa.
Close-Up is a Non-profit organization based in Brussels, Belgium, founded by 5 partners, Sigal Yehuda, Bruni Burres, Vincent Melilli, John Appel and Ahmet Boyacioglu. Our strength has always been in our belief of the urgency and the necessity for a dialog between individual artists coming from broken societies but aiming to create and build bridges despite censorship. Working with talented emerging filmmakers from our region is essential to maintaining our cultural awareness and protect our future existence. We’ve witnessed our ability to resist prejudice and ignorance by creating cinematic, powerful documentaries within our community of filmmakers. These filmmakers remind us all about our common values and the strength of an inclusive and open society.
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Our Program
CLOSE UP
We support them in developing and creating compelling original documentaries that illuminate the social and political realities of our fraught region.
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LATEST NEWS
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IN MY FATHER’S HOUSE to be Pitched at FIPADOC in Biarritz, France
IN MY FATHER’S HOUSE to be Pitched at FIPADOC in Biarritz, France Congratulations to Rachida El Garani, director of IN MY FATHER’S HOUSE, on the […]
Happy New Year from Close Up!
Happy New Year from Close Up! On the first day of 2022, we wish a happy, healthy, and film-filled year ahead to our filmmakers, […]
BAGHDAD ON FIRE Selected to FIFDH Geneva’s Impact Days 2022
BAGHDAD ON FIRE Selected to FIFDH Geneva’s Impact Days 2022 BAGHDAD ON FIRE, a Close Up project from last year, has been selected to FIFDH […]
First Workshop of 2021 / 2022 Completed!
First Workshop of 2021 / 2022 Completed! We had a wonderfully busy, intensive, and energizing week last week, with the first workshop of our 2021 […]
Close Up Mourns the Loss of Filmmaker Yzza Slaoui
With deep sadness, terrible shock, and very heavy hearts, the Close Up team and family say goodbye to one of our dear filmmakers, Yzza Slaoui. The […]
Jude Chehab named in 25 NEW FACES OF INDEPENDENT FILM 2021 by Filmmaker Magazine
Jude Chehab named in 25 NEW FACES OF INDEPENDENT FILM 2021 by Filmmaker Magazine Close Up filmmaker Jude Chehab (director of Q, which participated in […]
Summary of Storytelling Edit Lab
Summary of Storytelling Edit Lab Four Close Up film teams spent last week in Berlin participating in our very first Storytelling Edit Lab. It was an […]
Cineuropa Interview with Sigal Yehuda
Thanks to Cineuropa for the interview with founder and executive director Sigal Yehuda! Read the interview to learn more about Close Up, our recent edit lab, […]
Storytelling Edit Lab Continues
Close Up Storytelling Edit Lab in Berlin continues! The second half of the lab has intense but fruitful, as the filmmakers, together with editing mentors, have […]
Edit Lab in Berlin Days 1 & 2
Storytelling Edit Lab in Berlin Days 1 & 2 Greetings from Berlin! Our Storytelling Edit Lab is well underway as day one and day two […]
Close Up Filmmaker Farahnaz Sharifi at IDFA 2021
We would like to congratulate IDFA on their successful 2021 edition, especially despite the difficulties and uncertainties they faced in just the days leading up to […]
SILENT HOUSE Receives Several Honors
One of Close Up’s 2019 / 2020 projects – SILENT HOUSE – has had quite an exciting few months! We are very happy to share below […]
North African Filmmakers: Apply Now for Hot Docs-Blue Ice Docs Fund
To our filmmakers from North Africa – you are welcome to apply to the Hot Docs-Blue Ice Docs Fund! Applications close DECEMBER 1. Established in 2011 […]
Filmmakers: Apply Now for Catapult Film Fund’s Development Grant
CLOSE UP encourages filmmakers from the Middle East and North Africa to apply now for Catapult Film Fund’s Development Grant! Submissions close NOVEMBER 30. Catapult gives […]
Close Up 2021: A Year in Review
Our work is more important now than it ever has before, as art and culture continues to rise beyond national state identities and official political narratives. […]