an open field, a shared mourning where father and son meet at the crash site

an open field is a 38-minute documentary short in which director Teboho Edkins and his father return to Ethiopia after the 2019 plane crash that killed Edkins’s brother. The film premiered at IDFA in

Director Tebogo Edkins’s documentary short an open field follows the aftermath of the Boeing 737 MAX crash that occurred in Ethiopia in 2019. The crash claimed the lives of all 157 people on board, including the director’s younger brother, Max Taviso Edkins, and the director travels to the crash site with his father, film producer Don Edkins. The 38-minute film had its world premiere at IDFA on November 16, 2025, and was also introduced through a trailer released by Netflix.

The memories of those who remained at the site

The film captures more than the visits of bereaved families. It also preserves the memories of nearby residents who gathered at the site to help immediately after the crash and stayed there for some time. There, the Edkins father and son encounter a community that regards the victims as their own brothers and sisters, confronting the process through which personal loss meets communal mourning.

Mourning recorded through sound and landscape

Rather than stopping at an explanation of the disaster’s causes, the director examines the time left behind by grief through the landscape and sounds of the crash site, as well as through conversations. This approach reveals the care shown by local residents in contrast with the aircraft manufacturer’s response, while focusing not on any particular answer but on the attitude of those who continue to mourn.

IDFA Short Documentary Award

A South African–French–German co-production, the film received an award in the IDFA Short Documentary Competition. It was directed by Tebogo Edkins and produced by Don Edkins through Day Zero Films UG, with Karin Chichikowsky serving as co-producer through Survivance.