AN OPEN FIELD | IDFA Award for Best Short Documentary

Teboho Edkins
Sun 25 Jan 11:20

On 10 March 2019, a Boeing 737 MAX airplane crashed just six minutes after taking off from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. All 157 people on board perished, including Max Thabiso Edkins, the younger brother of director Teboho Edkins. He and his father, film producer Don Edkins, decided to travel together to the crash site in order to seek something tangible in their grief. 

What they find is a community in which mourning is an important part of the culture. Just as for the Edkins family, the lives of the villagers have also been turned upside down by the crash. In a deeply moving experience, they discover that the community members who welcome them regard the crash victims as visiting guests, whom they have taken into their hearts as brothers and sisters. 

Their compassion contrasts starkly with the calculating stance of airplane manufacturer Boeing. As if attempting somehow to connect with his brother’s spirit, the filmmaker immerses himself in the sounds of the disaster site. 

Winnaar van de IDFA Award voor beste korte documentaire 2025.

BEST OF IDFA ON TOUR 2026
During Best of IDFA on Tour 2026, watch four films that were awarded prizes by various juries during the last IDFA edition because they tell urgent stories or because they touch you in a special way.

PROGRAM
11:20      Past Future Continuous
12:36     Intermission
13:20     Remake
15:17      Intermission
15:40     An Open Field
16:18      A Fox Under the Pink Moon

AN OPEN FIELD | IDFA Award for Best Short Documentary
Direction
Teboho Edkins
Duration
38 min
Year
2025
Country
South Africa, France, Germany
Language
Amharic, English
Subtitles
Dutch

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