Wat zijn de openingstijden?

Maandag 09:00 - 17:00 Dinsdag 09:00 - 17:00 Woensdag 09:00 - 17:00 Donderdag 09:00 - 17:00 Vrijdag 09:00 - 17:00

Close Up

A Training and Development Program for Documentary Filmmakers from South West Asia and North Africa

22/05/2026

🎉 Exciting news — 2025–2026 Close Up Rough Cut Program Pitching Forum Awards! 🎉

We are honoured to share that this year's forum brings together an outstanding group of partners, each offering transformative opportunities to support the next chapter of our filmmakers' journeys. From development funding to prestigious residencies and international market access, these awards reflect an extraordinary collective commitment to documentary cinema from Southwest Asia and North Africa.

We are deeply grateful to each of our partners for making this possible:
💫 Docs Up Fund – A €1,500 post-production grant for a selected project highlighting human rights issues, offered by Alex Szalat
💫 Goethe-Institut & Berlinale EFM – A €5,000 residency award supporting up to two projects, including access to the Berlinale and the European Film Market
💫 Jacob Burns Film Center – A creative residency of up to four weeks in Pleasantville, NY, with a weekly stipend of $500, presented by Film Programmer Ian LoCascio
💫 MEDIMED Documentary Market – A place at the MEDIMED Pitching Forum in Sitges, Catalonia, October 8–11, 2026, selected by Director Sergi Doladé
💫 Lala Gomà Fund – A €3,000 cash award for a selected 2025–2026 Close Up project, presented by Lala Gomà

These partnerships go far beyond funding — they open doors, forge connections, and give our filmmakers a real foothold in the international industry. We could not be more grateful to everyone who makes this possible. 🌍✨

20/05/2026

🎬 Meet the Panel Members: 2025–2026 Close Up Rough Cut Program!

From June 7–13, our cohort will come together in Athens, Greece, for an unforgettable week of creative refinement, one-on-one industry meetings, and high-stakes pitching sessions. After months of intensive development work, they are ready to present their projects to some of the most respected decision-makers in the documentary world. 🎉

We are proud to reveal this year's Pitching Forum Panel — an exceptional gathering of leaders from the world's foremost documentary funds, festivals, broadcasters, and industry organizations:

✨ Alex Szalat – Head of Docs Up Fund
✨ Basil Tsiokos – Senior Programmer at Sundance Film Festival
✨ Ian LoCascio – Film Programmer at The Jacob Burns Film Center
✨ Lisa Kleiner Chanoff – Co-Founder of Catapult Film Fund
✨ Lala Gomà – Head of Lala Gomà Fund
✨ Margje de Koning – Artistic Director of Movies That Matter Film Festival
✨ Michael Stütz – Head of Panorama and Co-Director of Film Programming at the Berlinale
✨ Sergi Doladé – Director at MEDIMED: The Euro-Mediterranean Documentary Market
✨ Sophie Chegaray – Commissioning Editor for Documentaries at France Télévision

🎤 Guiding the sessions as our Pitching Forum Moderator and Special Expert: the internationally acclaimed documentary consultant Gitte Hansen.

Stay tuned for the Awards Announcement from this year's Close Up Pitching Forum! 🌍✨

18/05/2026

🎉 We are thrilled to announce that My Father and Qaddafi, directed by Jihan K. from the 2020–2021 Close Up cohort, will have its South African Premiere at the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival!

📅 Screening dates:
• 6 June – 6:30PM, JHB: Ster-Kinekor Brooklyn Commercial
• 8 June – 7PM, CT: Ster-Kinekor V&A
• 11 June – 6:30PM, CT: Ster-Kinekor V&A
• 13 June – 4PM, JHB: Bioscope

📍 28th edition of Encounters South African International Documentary Festival is taking place between June 4-14 in Cape Town & Johannesburg, South Africa.

👏 Congratulations to Jihan and the whole team!

🔗 For more info on the screenings and tickets, check the link here: linktr.ee/closeuplinks.

17/05/2026

📣 CALL FOR ENTRIES

The Telluride Film Festival is open for submissions!

One of the most prestigious film festivals in the world, Telluride brings together filmmakers, industry professionals, and cinephiles for an intimate and celebrated programme of new and classic cinema in the heart of the Colorado mountains. Films with North American premiere prefered.

📅 Deadline: July 1st
📍 The 53rd edition of the Telluride Film Festival will take place August 28 – September 1, 2026 in Telluride, Colorado, USA.

🔗 For more info on how to apply, check the link here: linktr.ee/closeuplinks

📸 Hollywoodgate, a film by Close Up 2021–2022 fellow Ibrahim Nash’at and Talal Derki, had its U.S. Premiere at Telluride Film Festival 2023.

15/05/2026

📢 CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: Close Up 2026-2027 Development Program

Since 2019, Close Up has supported over 100 projects and 130+ filmmakers. Beyond mentorship, we connect our community with the vital resources and industry pathways needed to bring their urgent stories to the screen.

Here is a glimpse of the support awarded during our 2024-2025 development cycle:

✨ No Other Land Award: A total of $6,000 in special prizes awarded to 3 projects (Echoes of Avey, Confidential Project, and Hana, Algeria and Me) by our Academy Award-winning alumni, the No Other Land team, in a powerful act of solidarity with fellow filmmakers.

✨ Docs Up Fund Grants: A total of €4,000 in development grants awarded to 2 projects (Echoes of Avey and The 10th Month) focused on human rights.

✨ The Whickers Grant: A £3,000 development grant awarded to the project Ashes, offering hope, justice, and powerful storytelling.

✨ IEFTA Grant: A €2,000 development grant awarded to the project 14.5 KM Away From Our Dreams, exploring themes of identity, longing, and the fragile space between nations and generations.

✨ MEDIMED Award: Exclusive participation for the Confidential Project in the MEDIMED Euro-Mediterranean Documentary Market in Spain, supporting a project that carries a vital message of hope and powerfully portrays women's daily struggles under oppressive regimes.

✨ Silver Sun Foundation Residency Fellowship: A two-week creative residency in Woodstock, NY—awarded to the project Bury a Dove—offering an inspiring environment and a weekly stipend to develop work-in-progress materials.

✨ The Jacob Burns Film Center Residency: An up to four-week creative residency in New York—also awarded to the project Bury a Dove—providing housing, private editing suites, travel support, and a weekly stipend.

Every year, we are delighted to connect our filmmakers with these prestigious awards, standing alongside them as they take their documentary projects one step further.

Join our growing community and take your documentary project to the next level.

🗓️ Deadline: July 3

🔗 Apply via the link in our bio.

13/05/2026

📣 CALL FOR PROJECTS

The Medimed, the Euromed Docs Market & Pitching Forum is now open to filmmakers with new documentary projects!

MEDIMED, the Euro-Mediterranean Documentary Market, is one of the leading documentary co-production markets in Europe, with a strong track record of helping projects secure financing, sales, and broadcast agreements across dozens of TV stations in Europe and beyond. Almost 85% of the documentaries pitched at the forum over the years have gone on to be produced and distributed making it one of the most effective platforms for documentary projects at development stage. Both project and finished film submissions are welcome, with no submission fee requested.

📅 Deadline: June 30, 2026
📍 October 8–11, 2026 in Sitges, Spain.

📸 As part of the Close Up Pitching Forum and our long-standing partnership with MEDIMED, CONFIDENTIAL PROJECT, by a collective of filmmakers from Afghanistan, won the post-production award at the MEDIMED Doc Market & Pitching Forum 2025.

11/05/2026

📣 CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

The DOK Leipzig Co-Pro Market is open for applications!

The DOK Co-Pro Market features 35 international documentary and animated documentary projects in development, connecting project holders with new partners for co-production, financing, and distribution. It expands networks and creates valuable opportunities for innovative creative documentaries by fostering potential partnerships.

📅 Deadline: July 1st
📍Festival Dates: 26 October – 1 November 2026

🔗 For more info & to apply, check the link here: linktr.ee/closeuplinks

📸 My Aunties, a project by Hazal Hanquet from the 2024–2025 Close Up cohort, was selected for the DOK Leipzig Co-Pro Market 2025, where it won the No Nation Films Fellowship Award.

10/05/2026

We are thrilled to announce that two award-winning Close Up films are now streaming on Watermelon+ (Watermelon Pictures)! 🎥

Q, directed by Jude Chehab (Close Up '20–'21), and Yalla Parkour, directed by Areeb Zuaiter (Close Up '20–'21), are both now available to watch on the platform — bringing two of the most celebrated voices from our community to a wider global audience.

We are so proud to see both films finding new audiences through Watermelon+. Watch them now through the link here: linktr.ee/closeuplinks! 🎬

08/05/2026

Do you have a documentary project that needs creative support, expert mentorship, and a pathway into the international market? Applications for the 2026/27 Close Up Development Program are now open!

Since 2019, more than 130 filmmakers from across the SWANA region have taken this journey with us — developing stronger films, building lasting industry connections, and becoming part of a creative community that extends far beyond the program itself. Several alumni projects have gone on to receive major international recognition, including Academy Award and Emmy wins, and screenings at leading A-list film festivals worldwide.

Join a diverse network of filmmakers shaping the future of cinema.

🔗 Apply now through our website — linktr.ee/closeuplinks

07/05/2026

🎉 We are happy to share that Writing Hawa, directed by Najiba Noori, Close Up Fellow 2020–2021, and Rasul Noori, will screen in Switzerland at the Orient Express Film Festival!

Screening dates:
• May 17, 14:00h – Quinnie, Bern
• May 24, 17:00h – KinoKonie, Basel

🎬 Forty years after her arranged marriage as a child, Hawa is eager to finally begin the life that was taken from her. She wants to be literate and experience the joys she never had as a youth. However, Hawa is once again blocked by the oppressive barriers of the Taliban regime as she strives to liberate herself as an independent woman.

🔗 Find more info and tickets here: linktr.ee/closeuplinks

05/05/2026

🎉 🎉 We’re delighted to welcome two new intern producers to the Close Up team: Atanur Nabiyeva, Close Up 24’-25’ alumni, and Jacky Liu. They've joined us recently and will be working alongside our team for the next three months.

We’re excited to have them on board and look forward to a productive collaboration during their internships.

✨Welcome to the Close Up team, Atanur and Jacky!

Adres

Rue Des Colonies 11
Brussels
1000

Openingstijden

Maandag	09:00 - 17:00
Dinsdag	09:00 - 17:00
Woensdag	09:00 - 17:00
Donderdag	09:00 - 17:00
Vrijdag	09:00 - 17:00

Website

https://closeupinitiative.org/

Meldingen

Wees de eerste die het weet en laat ons u een e-mail sturen wanneer Close Up nieuws en promoties plaatst. Uw e-mailadres wordt niet voor andere doeleinden gebruikt en u kunt zich op elk gewenst moment afmelden.