AN OPEN FIELD & ONE LAST ORDER Documentary Shorts Acquired by Netflix
Director Teboho Edkins and filmmakers Lauren DeFilippo and Sam Soko helm the two acquired shorts.
Netflix has acquired two documentary shorts, AN OPEN FIELD and ONE LAST ORDER, following a run of festival honors for both films. AN OPEN FIELD, directed by Teboho Edkins, won the IDFA Award for Best Short Documentary after premiering in the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam's Competition for Short Documentary. ONE LAST ORDER, directed by Lauren DeFilippo and Sam Soko, won Best Documentary and the Audience Award at Aspen Shortsfest, along with audience awards at the Miami Film Festival and the Nantucket Film Festival.
AN OPEN FIELD
Logline: Through collective grief and compassion, an open field follows director Teboho Edkins' return to the Ethiopian field where his younger brother and 156 others were killed in a Boeing 737 MAX plane crash in 2019.
Synopsis: On March 10, 2019, a Boeing 737 MAX crashed shortly after takeoff in an open farm field in the Gimbichu district of Ethiopia, killing all 157 people aboard, including Max Thabiso Edkins, director Teboho Edkins's younger brother. In an open field, we learn that dozens of nearby villagers immediately converged on the site to help, and that some stood vigil for a month to protect and preserve the crash area. Years later, they continue to mourn alongside family members who visit the site, including Edkins and his father, Don, who produced the film. Boeing's widely criticized response to the crash stands in sharp contrast to the community's enduring compassion. Both a personal essay on loss and an exploration of the potential healing power of collective mourning, Edkins's film is a quiet testament to humanity— moments of warmth, resolve, grief, fear, patience, and simple acts of kindness.
Directed by: Teboho Edkins
Produced by: Don Edkins, Carine Chichkowsky
Production Companies: Day Zero Film and Video Productions (South Africa) Day Zero Films UG (Germany), Survivance (France)
'This is a delicate and personal work, and about something fundamental to being human. I hope that the film can find its way to as many people as possible, and that something in it might resonate with them. Having Netflix bring the film to its global audiences is very meaningful to me and I'm grateful for their support as it makes its way out into the world.'
ONE LAST ORDER
Logline: After 37 years of turning drive-thru orders into personal connections, Sighle Williams expects a quiet farewell from a Florida burger joint—but her town has other plans.
Synopsis: At Mac's Drive-Thru in Gainesville, Florida, Sighle Williams is working her final shift after 37 years. She's the voice who knows your order before you say it, the smile that turned fast food into something personal. But this isn't just any farewell. The owner of Mac's announces every dollar earned that day goes straight to Sighle. Cars wrap around the block. Three-hour waits. All carrying a Sighle story. ONE LAST ORDER is the story of a woman who met the world with kindness through a drive-thru window and made the most routine moment of someone's day feel like it counted.
Directed by: Lauren DeFilippo, Sam Soko
Produced by: Lauren DeFilippo, Sam Soko, Amanda Pollak
Executive Producers: Ruth Ann Harnisch, Sam Bisbee, Ron DeFilippo, Bramwel Iro, Stephen Ives
Production Companies: An Insignia Films & LBx Africa Production In Association with The Harnisch Foundation
'Sighle remembered every order and every smile. Now we get to celebrate her, and all the other Sighles out there who make an ordinary day feel a little brighter. This film is a love letter to everyday kindness and the people who make ordinary places extraordinary. We're thrilled Netflix is sharing it with you, too.'
AN OPEN FIELD follows Edkins as he returns to the site in Ethiopia's Gimbichu district where a Boeing 737 MAX crash killed his younger brother, Max Thabiso Edkins, and 156 others in 2019, examining the community response in the years since. ONE LAST ORDER centers on Sighle Williams, a longtime employee at Mac's Drive-Thru in Gainesville, Florida, during her final shift after 37 years on the job.
