★★★★☆ In the opening moments of Karen Guthrie's understated and extremely moving The Closer We Get (2015) her car glides along darkened roads at twilight, the way ahead lit only as far as low beams will permit. The notion of driving into the unknown and of unseen elements hidden in obscure surroundings is a clear metaphor for a highly personal, even therapeutic, ninety-minute journey of discovery, understanding and acceptance that the documentary filmmaker embarks upon more for her own good than ours.
- 11/11/2015
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
A crisis brings a family together in Karen Guthrie’s intimate documentary
There’s a hint of the poetry of Mark Cousins in artist/film-maker Karen Guthrie’s almost whispered narration for this poignant examination of the bonds of family love. When her mother is debilitated by a stroke, Karen and her siblings rally round, joined by father, Ian, who left them years ago, but who has remained a powerful presence/absence. Unravelling the complex strands of their home life takes Karen from Scotland to Africa, wondering how she managed to go so long without asking:“How exactly did we get here?”
Although her story is unusual, anyone with more everyday experience of separated or incapacitated parents will recognise the strange stresses, strains and areas of silence with which Guthrie wrestles. It’s oddly intimate fare, at times a touch too inward looking (particularly when musing about what Karen has...
There’s a hint of the poetry of Mark Cousins in artist/film-maker Karen Guthrie’s almost whispered narration for this poignant examination of the bonds of family love. When her mother is debilitated by a stroke, Karen and her siblings rally round, joined by father, Ian, who left them years ago, but who has remained a powerful presence/absence. Unravelling the complex strands of their home life takes Karen from Scotland to Africa, wondering how she managed to go so long without asking:“How exactly did we get here?”
Although her story is unusual, anyone with more everyday experience of separated or incapacitated parents will recognise the strange stresses, strains and areas of silence with which Guthrie wrestles. It’s oddly intimate fare, at times a touch too inward looking (particularly when musing about what Karen has...
- 11/8/2015
- by Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
- The Guardian - Film News
Karen Guthrie documents the surprise return of her estranged father, and reveals much about family dynamics in the process
This exceptionally candid documentary – perhaps the closest British equivalent to Jonathan Caouette’s Tarnation – transforms the camera into a therapeutic tool to reassess a complex family history. Recalled home to Largs after her mother suffers a stroke, film-maker Karen Guthrie encounters a surprise houseguest: her estranged father, Ian, returning to the fold years after starting an affair while working in Djibouti in north-east Africa. Given the relation between director and subjects, we expect the heightened intimacy, but here the subsequent silences, awkward small talk and sudden emotional outpourings have been stitched into an epic chamber play. There have been few more perceptive and empathetic non-fiction portraits of the hold a particular kind of patrician male can exert over those around them. Some scenes, inevitably, make painful viewing, but Guthrie proves fearless...
This exceptionally candid documentary – perhaps the closest British equivalent to Jonathan Caouette’s Tarnation – transforms the camera into a therapeutic tool to reassess a complex family history. Recalled home to Largs after her mother suffers a stroke, film-maker Karen Guthrie encounters a surprise houseguest: her estranged father, Ian, returning to the fold years after starting an affair while working in Djibouti in north-east Africa. Given the relation between director and subjects, we expect the heightened intimacy, but here the subsequent silences, awkward small talk and sudden emotional outpourings have been stitched into an epic chamber play. There have been few more perceptive and empathetic non-fiction portraits of the hold a particular kind of patrician male can exert over those around them. Some scenes, inevitably, make painful viewing, but Guthrie proves fearless...
- 11/5/2015
- by Mike McCahill
- The Guardian - Film News
★★★☆☆ Every family is unique and each one has its own personal stories to tell. Scottish-born artist and filmmaker Karen Guthrie puts her own family under the spotlight in her low scale but no less effective documentary The Closer We Get (2015). The film, which was featured at the Scottish Documentary Institute's Edinburgh Pitch last year, is an intimate and quietly moving portrait of Karen's family in the wake of a stroke that left her mother Ann incapacitated. As her family - father Ian and three siblings - all return to the nest and rally around to take care of their mother, Karen takes the opportunity to peel back the lid on their unconventional situation and ask the questions that have been plaguing her for years.
- 6/17/2015
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
"My mum was my 'co-pilot' in a many ways and part of the strength of the film comes from that sense of two women in cahoots." Karen Guthrie's The Closer We Get sees her turn the camera on her own family to record the months after her mum Ann had a stroke. As the family's world revolves around caring for her mum, Guthrie begins to consider the past that saw her dad move out their home and the present which has brought him back again - it's a journey that takes her a long way from her family home in Largs. The film won the Best International Documentary award at Canada's Hot Docs Film Festival and will have its European premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival tomorrow night (June 18).
We caught up with the filmmaker at the festival to talk about her film.
Amber Wilkinson: It seems you...
We caught up with the filmmaker at the festival to talk about her film.
Amber Wilkinson: It seems you...
- 6/17/2015
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
In his preview for the BFI of this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival, opening today and running through June 28, Neil Young notes that 2015 "marks the 69th consecutive edition of an event which, while technically younger than Cannes and Venice (both established in 1932), boasts a longer unbroken run than either." Many previews are highlighting this year's representation of women directors, including Jane Linfoot (The Incident), Helen Walsh (The Violators), Marielle Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girl), Isabel Coixet (Learning to Drive), Karen Guthrie (The Closer We Get)—and Amy Berg, in town with Prophet’s Prey and Every Secret Thing. » - David Hudson...
- 6/17/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
In his preview for the BFI of this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival, opening today and running through June 28, Neil Young notes that 2015 "marks the 69th consecutive edition of an event which, while technically younger than Cannes and Venice (both established in 1932), boasts a longer unbroken run than either." Many previews are highlighting this year's representation of women directors, including Jane Linfoot (The Incident), Helen Walsh (The Violators), Marielle Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girl), Isabel Coixet (Learning to Drive), Karen Guthrie (The Closer We Get)—and Amy Berg, in town with Prophet’s Prey and Every Secret Thing. » - David Hudson...
- 6/17/2015
- Keyframe
European premiere set for Edinburgh film festival.
Documentary The Closer We Get is to receive its European Premiere at the 69th Edinburgh International Film Festival 2015 (June 17-28) on 18 June.
Directed by Karen Guthrie and produced by Guthrie and Nina Pope, it recently won Best International Feature Documentary Award at HotDocs in Toronto.
The Closer We Get is an autobiographical film told by director Guthrie who returns home to looks after her mother Ann after a stroke and is faced with the father who has been separated from Ann for years.
The film was developed with support from the Scottish Documentary Institute, Royal College of Art, Creative England and Sources2 and produced with support by Arts Council England, Creative Scotland, Splice and 333 Indiegogo funders.
The Closer We Get will be released in UK cinemas in September.
Documentary The Closer We Get is to receive its European Premiere at the 69th Edinburgh International Film Festival 2015 (June 17-28) on 18 June.
Directed by Karen Guthrie and produced by Guthrie and Nina Pope, it recently won Best International Feature Documentary Award at HotDocs in Toronto.
The Closer We Get is an autobiographical film told by director Guthrie who returns home to looks after her mother Ann after a stroke and is faced with the father who has been separated from Ann for years.
The film was developed with support from the Scottish Documentary Institute, Royal College of Art, Creative England and Sources2 and produced with support by Arts Council England, Creative Scotland, Splice and 333 Indiegogo funders.
The Closer We Get will be released in UK cinemas in September.
- 5/21/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
New additions to programme include Karen Gillan’s directorial short debut Coward, Hector starring Peter Mullan and music documentary Big Gold Dream.
Edinburgh International Film Festival (Eiff) has announced a number of Scottish titles for its upcoming edition, running June 17-28.
Alongside the previously announced Opening and Closing Galas of The Legend of Barney Thomson and Iona, this year’s festival will also screen Jake Gavin’s Hector, starring Peter Mullan, Karen Gillan’s directorial short debut Coward and the world premiere of music documentary Big Gold Dream, which will be followed by an exclusive live gig from singer/songwriter Vic Godard and friends.
Other Scottish titles include The Shammasian Brothers’ Pyramid Texts, Colin Kennedy’s directorial debut feature Swung, Martin Radich’s Norfolk, Talulah Riley’s writer/directorial debut feature Scottish Mussel, Karen Guthrie’s The Closer We Get and Vicky Matthews’ documentary Andrew Carnegie: Rags to Riches, Power to Peace.
Joining Gillan...
Edinburgh International Film Festival (Eiff) has announced a number of Scottish titles for its upcoming edition, running June 17-28.
Alongside the previously announced Opening and Closing Galas of The Legend of Barney Thomson and Iona, this year’s festival will also screen Jake Gavin’s Hector, starring Peter Mullan, Karen Gillan’s directorial short debut Coward and the world premiere of music documentary Big Gold Dream, which will be followed by an exclusive live gig from singer/songwriter Vic Godard and friends.
Other Scottish titles include The Shammasian Brothers’ Pyramid Texts, Colin Kennedy’s directorial debut feature Swung, Martin Radich’s Norfolk, Talulah Riley’s writer/directorial debut feature Scottish Mussel, Karen Guthrie’s The Closer We Get and Vicky Matthews’ documentary Andrew Carnegie: Rags to Riches, Power to Peace.
Joining Gillan...
- 5/19/2015
- by ian.sandwell@screendaily.com (Ian Sandwell)
- ScreenDaily
Here's your daily dose of an indie film in progress; at the end of the week, you'll have the chance to vote for your favorite. In the meantime: Is this a movie you’d want to see? Tell us in the comments. "The Closer We Get" Tweetable Logline: A bittersweet doc following an ordinary Scottish family facing up to home truths & coming to terms with how a stroke & a secret changed them Elevator Pitch: How many of us put off breaking family taboos till it's too late? What are we afraid of? I decided to go under the skin of my family story after my Mum's devastating stroke brought me back home to her. I wasn't the only one who returned: My prodigal father, separated from Mum for years, also turned up and little by little, we both became Mum's carers. Suddenly we all had to hang out and talk...
- 1/7/2014
- by Indiewire
- Indiewire
As London's Floating Cinema sets sail once again, its project director talks public art and making creative partnerships work
Hi Emma, can you tell us a bit more about Up Projects and your role there?
I am the founding director of Up Projects, which began in 2002, and I'm responsible for the creative programme as well as the organisation's direction and development. Up Projects is a non-profit public art commissioning organisation based in Shoreditch – we aim to provide opportunities for artists to develop high quality work for new, public contexts, ranging from parks and green spaces, urban public areas, and more recently the canal network.
What's the motivation behind your most recent project, the Floating Cinema?
The Floating Cinema is the most recent iteration of our Portavilion programme, which sees artists and/or architects create temporary architectural structures for public spaces – the aim is that these spaces become a platform for...
Hi Emma, can you tell us a bit more about Up Projects and your role there?
I am the founding director of Up Projects, which began in 2002, and I'm responsible for the creative programme as well as the organisation's direction and development. Up Projects is a non-profit public art commissioning organisation based in Shoreditch – we aim to provide opportunities for artists to develop high quality work for new, public contexts, ranging from parks and green spaces, urban public areas, and more recently the canal network.
What's the motivation behind your most recent project, the Floating Cinema?
The Floating Cinema is the most recent iteration of our Portavilion programme, which sees artists and/or architects create temporary architectural structures for public spaces – the aim is that these spaces become a platform for...
- 8/13/2013
- by Matthew Caines
- The Guardian - Film News
New documentary Jaywick Escapes casts light on a part of Essex that has changed from a holiday retreat to a rundown refuge for troubled Londoners
If people know the name Jaywick Sands for anything, it's the often-cited statistic that the poorest ward in Britain isn't in Liverpool or Glasgow – it's in the south-east of England, a couple of miles from Clacton-on-Sea.
Karen Guthrie and Nina Pope's new documentary, Jaywick Escapes, paints a picture of a town still seen as a refuge for troubled Londoners but now seemingly abandoned by the government, the council – everyone except for its few thousand residents.
The landscape is unlike anywhere else in the country. Initially it was part of the plotlands craze of the early 20th century, which saw city dwellers buying strips of cheap agricultural land for a country retreat. Jaywick was colonised by workers from the Ford plant in Dagenham who built...
If people know the name Jaywick Sands for anything, it's the often-cited statistic that the poorest ward in Britain isn't in Liverpool or Glasgow – it's in the south-east of England, a couple of miles from Clacton-on-Sea.
Karen Guthrie and Nina Pope's new documentary, Jaywick Escapes, paints a picture of a town still seen as a refuge for troubled Londoners but now seemingly abandoned by the government, the council – everyone except for its few thousand residents.
The landscape is unlike anywhere else in the country. Initially it was part of the plotlands craze of the early 20th century, which saw city dwellers buying strips of cheap agricultural land for a country retreat. Jaywick was colonised by workers from the Ford plant in Dagenham who built...
- 7/2/2012
- by Bob Stanley
- The Guardian - Film News
Ahead of the 2012 Olympics, a dilapidated canal boat has been transformed into 12-seat theatre that navigates east London's waterways. Sarfraz Manzoor takes a cinematic tour ...
It is possibly the only cinema in the UK equipped with life jackets and buoyancy aids – and it is in the vanguard of the cultural events that will surround the Olympics. Two years ago the Cole was a tattered narrowboat with no roof, plumbing or electrics: now it has been transformed into a 12-seat floating cinema that for the next two months will be navigating the waterways of east London.
The Floating Cinema is funded by the Arts Council and commissioned by the Olympic Delivery Authority and it is the brainchild of curator Emma Underhill. "The waterways are the arteries that run through the Olympic parks," she said, "so when we were invited to put forward a proposal for a project that would engage the...
It is possibly the only cinema in the UK equipped with life jackets and buoyancy aids – and it is in the vanguard of the cultural events that will surround the Olympics. Two years ago the Cole was a tattered narrowboat with no roof, plumbing or electrics: now it has been transformed into a 12-seat floating cinema that for the next two months will be navigating the waterways of east London.
The Floating Cinema is funded by the Arts Council and commissioned by the Olympic Delivery Authority and it is the brainchild of curator Emma Underhill. "The waterways are the arteries that run through the Olympic parks," she said, "so when we were invited to put forward a proposal for a project that would engage the...
- 7/29/2011
- by Sarfraz Manzoor
- The Guardian - Film News
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