Projects in categories: Fiction

Synopsis

When ten year old Megan Lancaster meets a grizzly and untimely end, Sam is forced to return to the remote tidal island where he grew up to attend the funeral.
A testing relationship with his disconnected parents, a reunion with his estranged girlfriend Rachel, and a cryptic message from the island’s doctor force Sam to investigate the events leading up to Megan’s tragic death.
The truth is far more shocking and unbelievable than Sam wants to acknowledge, and his life begins to spiral out of control in a macabre descent of paranoia.
Sam must race against tide and time to expose the seedy underbelly of the island – and to save the lives of those he loves.
Debut feature film from director Richard Rowntree. A disturbing folk horror film which taps into our primal fear of what lurks in the woods.

Synopsis

A woman in a small town in 1959 England decides, against polite but ruthless local opposition, to open a bookshop. A decision that becomes a political minefield. By exposing the locals to cutting-edge literature of the day such as Nabokov’s 'Lolita' and Ray Bradbury’s 'Fahrenheit 451', she sows the seeds of an awakening in the conservative town.
Official Selection Berlinale 2018 - Berlinale Special Gala

Synopsis

Bookended by the 2011 London riots, Benedict Seymour’s dramatically, politically urgent new film retells the story of Chris Marker’s 'La Jetée'. A man has been sent back into the past as a way of rescuing the future, his tale told by way of the Narrator who riffs on familiar film dialogue and contemporary references – unpicking the political implications of his journey and our retro obsessions.
A collage, narrative, essay film hybrid, 'Dead the Ends', plunders some fifty years of cinema – including dystopian sci-fi – and uses emojis and gifs as ways of exploring the undercurrents of historical and current visual language, as well as present entrenched, systemic inequality. Cross-currents of thought and broad swathes of material are incisively manoeuvred, whilst, in its intellectually and dramatically gripping shape and scope, the piece feels part-situationist, part-Borgesian. It asks, in richly creative fashion, how did we get here? (LFF brochure)
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2017 - Experimenta Strand - World premiere

Synopsis

Four old friends navigate birth, love, death and the canals of southern England. Fuelled by booze, drugs and the stunning beauty of nature, their increasingly intimate reunion becomes an uplifting meditation on what it means to be middle aged in a world that refuses to grow up.
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2017 - Journey Strand - World premiere

Synopsis

Based on a true story. Young Tom and his misfit friends fight to save Buster the baby elephant during the air raids on Belfast in 1941.

Synopsis

Two couples appear to live in marital bliss until cracks begin to appear in both seemingly steady marriages. The film asks the question 'How well do any of us really know each other' and explores the ideas of love, lust, and family relationships.

Synopsis

After the end of Apartheid in South Africa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, President of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission meets with a brutal murderer seeking redemption.
A fictionalized account of Tutu's struggle with brutal murderer Piet Blomfeld (Eric Bana) over issues of concession and redemption. Adapted from Michael Ashton’s play 'The Archbishop and The Antichrist'
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2017 - Debate Strand - World premiere

Synopsis

Detective Harry Hole investigates the disappearance of a woman whose pink scarf is found wrapped around an ominous-looking snowman. Adaptation of the crime novel 'The Snowman' by Jo Nesbø.

Synopsis

Experimental artist and auteur Andrew Kotting creates a groundbreaking crossover between narrative film and contemporary art piece, based on the award-winning play by Hattie Naylor. The film is inspired by the true story of Ivan Mishukov, who walked out of his Moscow apartment at the age of four and spent two years living on the city streets where he was adopted by a pack of wild dogs. In the recession-ravaged city, Ivan’s human world was dominated by deprivation and violence; his only hope was to turn to feral dogs for company, protection and warmth. Kotting’s spellbinding and utterly original story of survival conjures the streets of Moscow in the 1990s through the eyes of a child, drawing on a range of innovative modes and techniques to produce a montage essay on the state of the world.
Official Selection Rotterdam International Film Festival 2018 - International premiere

Synopsis

After three years Aaron returns to his old estate upon hearing about the death of his younger brother Tom. Aaron's path soon crosses with old circles and he learns his cousin Ryan owes a debt to Shane Waldron for losing a large stash of drugs. Aaron knows ruthless Shane only too well having worked for him in the past, he takes on Ryan's debt in order to stop Shane from taking their Grandmothers house. Aaron finds himself back in a life of crime in order to raise the money. In his race against the clock and with obstacles in his way he seeks help from his ex girlfriend Danielle and cousin Ryan. Aaron pulls out all the stops, however in doing so he uncovers some dark secrets about his past.

Synopsis

An intimate portrayal of a family's last day together, set against the backdrop of North London.
Official Selection Sundance Film Festival 2018 - International premiere

Synopsis

An ensemble slice of life in a diner, where rap lyrics become part of the drama.
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2017 - Create Strand - World premiere