Close Up is an independent non-profit NGO based in Brussels, Belgium. It provides annual year-long training and development program for emerging documentary filmmakers from Southwest Asia and North Africa, supporting filmmakers who come from diverse ethnic, religious and cultural 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, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Since their initiation in 2019, Close Up has supported the development of 64 feature-length documentary projects and worked with 90+ emerging documentary filmmakers from the region of Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA).
Close Up established a new collaboration with ZagrebDox International Documentary Film Festival that took place between March 26 - April 2, 2023 in Zagreb, Croatia!
The Close Up Founder and Executive Director Sigal Yehuda gave a Masterclass titled: Resistance Through the Eyes of Documentary Filmmakers from Southwest Asia & North Africa; as part of the festival's industry programme ZAGREBDOX PRO!
The five-day industry program brought together 8 documentary projects from Greece, Croatia, Canada, Serbia, Switzerland, Türkiye and Ukraine. Selected filmmakers participated in case studies, group and individual discussions, masterclass lectures, special film screenings and round tables. This year’s edition of ZagrebDox Pro: Dox of War is a niche project focusing on deeper research of the key question: How to film a war? Close Up Founding Partner and Mentor John Appel as well as Close Up Industry Expert Hans Robert Eisenhauer were the mentors that worked with selected filmmakers as part of the ZAGREBDOX PRO programme.
