Projects in categories: Fiction

Synopsis

A spinning top is spun and several everyday actions become interconnected, through the power of editing.

Then it all starts to go wrong.

Synopsis

Mumbo Jumbo is a sumptuously photographed fairy tale of contemporary culture in the classic tradition of Gulliver and Alice in Wonderland.

Meet Thomas Doubting, a total loser. He can't sell his songs. He can't get a job. He's been evicted. His girlfriend dumped him. Even his dog ran away. With nothing left to live for, he decides to end it all, but he can't even do that right. In the process, he meets a mysterious old fellow who gives him a magic amulet, as if that's going to help. But then Thomas notices a headline in a newspaper the guy leaves behind - a large reward is being offered for the return of the beautiful Princess Vanilla to the land of Sinmouth. So it's off to Sinmouth in search of the Princess and his fortune.

Once there he meets a cast of Oz-like characters who believe Thomas is the next 'Mumbo Jumbo', a mythological Sprite from the sixth century who's been summoned to free them from the tyranny of an evil businessman, Mr Bounder. Bounder has kidnapped many of Sinmouth's villagers, ruined the town, and imprisoned the Princess herself. His intent is to build a financial empire on organic, high-yield fertiliser made from the remains of his fellow villagers. Thomas's work is cut out for him as he muddles and stumbles his way through the magic land on his quest to save the Princess and the world - or at least a mythological part of it.

Synopsis

When Tom comes crashing into Jessica's life from the boughs of a burning tree, she is both alarmed and intrigued by his dark nature. The woods are Tom's sanctuary from his distressing home life and they become the world where he and Jessica form a bond which is powerful and uncompromising and ultimately self-destructive.

Synopsis

Another homage to the low budget, home made style of filmmaking. A speleologist talks about her job.

Synopsis

Two young siblings, seven year old Drew and five year old Emily, find themselves alone after the death of their mother. They embark on a journey to Mysterious Ways, an old magician's shop, to see if they can have their mother brought back to life. Will other-worldly forces intervene?

Synopsis

For his feature debut, musician/photographer/film-maker Roger Thorp returns to themes that have informed much of his previous work, which includes films for the International Labour Organisation and the United Nations. Naked August traces the relationship between two loners, a young drifter and a musician, who meet and find in each other a kindred spirit to banish the feelings of isolation and alienation that have dominated their young lives.

Starring in the lead roles are two young graduates from the Bristol Old Vic, Sophie Clarke and Adam Penny.

Shot on digital video in February and March this year in Bristol, the film, which has been blown up to 35mm, was produced by Parrallel Pictures, the company founded in 1993 by Iain Brown and Bill Chamberlain. Says Chamberlain: 'The film is very much in the European arthouse tradition, in terms of its themes and its style. Although it deals with quite downbeat issues of alienation and malaise, it's a very uplifting film.'

Synopsis

The 'Little Idiot' and the 'Devil Dog' go on an adventure along the Bayou River in Louisiana and they pick up some friends along the way.

Synopsis

In this eerie and moving documentary a woman takes us on a strange and fabulous journey through the deserted seafront of Southend-on-Sea, whilst a narrator tells the tale of the great flood of 31st January 1933.

Synopsis

Alan White's life is in turmoil. His twelve-year-old daughter, Emma, is dying from heart disease. She needs a transplant and the clock is ticking.

Like any good father, Alan would gladly give his own life to save his daughter's life. Tonight, he's going to get the chance.

Alan also has a son, Danny - who he abandoned seven years ago. With nowhere else to turn, Danny shows up at Alan's doorstep, bleeding from a gunshot wound. Accepting inevitable death, Danny agrees to donate his heart to Emma. But there's a price to be paid - a deal to be struck between father and son.

Danny wants to save his only 'real' family - a pack of petty criminals that he grew up with after Alan left. Danny explains to Alan that the gang got involved with hardcore mobsters and are now in way over their heads. The kidnapping job they were assigned has gone terribly wrong. The kidnap victim, a wealthy businessman, accidentally suffocated in the truck of the getaway car and he was to be brought back alive. Now Danny and the gang have to find someone to pretend to be Williams - someone to replace him, so that the mob will never know what happened. Otherwise, Danny's entire crew will be 'eliminated'.

Danny's proposition is simple. Alan will be the one to replace Williams and fool the mob. Once his crew is safe, Danny will give his heart to Emma.

There's only one problem. The mob plans to kill Williams, whoever he is, once the ransom is paid. How far will a father go to save his daughter?

And so begins the strangest, most terrifying night of Alan's life.

Synopsis

This satirical look at war tells the bizarre tale of enemy soldiers, Tchiki and Nino, who find themselves stranded in no-man's land during the 1993 Bosnian conflict. As Tchiki and Nino try to figure a way out of the fog, a brave UN commander goes to help them, despite being ordered not to intervene. In a tense stand off between the many sides involved in the conflict, Nino and Tchiki desperately try to negotiate for their lives amidst the insanity of war.

Synopsis

Paula is an attractive but irascible divorcée. Although a renowned writer of self-help parenting guides, she is estranged from her own children. Brought together reluctantly by her supposed illness, Paula and her grown up children Sarah and Matthew rediscover their old grievances and quarrels. However, when Paula takes off to exact revenge upon her wayward husband, she has an unexpected travelling partner in Sarah's young son Thomas, a Down syndrome child. It is through Thomas that the fractured family is eventually reunited as he unwittingly helps Paula to find contentment and a new purpose in her life.

Synopsis

A story about international film students. Eri, a Japanese girl, who feels insecure about her English and works all night in her editing room at School. Many students come in and out. Sociable American Jena, arrogant German Jan, noisy Brazilian Paolo, self-centred typically British boy Bruce and unconfident Italian Massimo. Deep in its realism, sharp in its critique and uncompromising in its observations on pretentious film student life.