Projects in categories: Documentary

Synopsis

This feature documentary uses the highly successful stage adaptation of Mark Haddon’s novel, 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time' to frame a cinematic exploration of being on the autistic spectrum.
The film uses the story of the play, in which Christopher Boone travels to London to find his mother and solve the mystery of who killed his neighbour’s pet dog, as a spine from which to jump off and explore the journeys of people who are the real life equivalents of the characters in the play.
Dakota, a teenager with autism from the Bronx projects, who travels to Manhattan where he inspires and educates the New York cast (in a similar way to Cian Binchy, who advised the original London cast), and who is now training to be a performer himself at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Synopsis

aka 'Breaking Good: the Untold Adventures of Two Underground Psychedelic Chemists and Their Mission to Save the World One Trip at Time'
The untold story of two idealistic young underground chemists at the heart of the American psychedelic revolution. A real-life 'Breaking Bad' for the psychedelic set, this documentary reveals the entertaining, untold story of Nicholas Sand and Tim Scully, the unlikely duo at the heart of 1960s American drug counterculture. United in a utopian mission to save the planet through the consciousness-raising power of LSD, these underground chemists manufactured a massive amount of acid, including the gold standard for quality LSD, Orange Sunshine, as they tried to stay one step ahead of the feds. (Doc NYC brochure)

Synopsis

A year in the life of the world’s best footballer Cristiano Ronaldo. Filmed on location in Madrid, Lisbon, Madeira, Brazil and the USA, following Ronaldo on and off the pitch during the most important season of his life- offering a fascinating insight into the level of sacrifice, pain, isolation and determination that has gone into making Ronaldo one of the most celebrated football players in the history of the sport.

Synopsis

An energising and controversial feature documentary that lifts the lid on the fast growing UK battle rap scene.
The film reveals the history and evolution of this unique subculture of hip hop: charting from its origins in playgrounds and parks, through to nightclubs and competitions. From its beginnings as a battle of quick-thinking freestyle wit, through to its current incarnation as a form of well-rehearsed poetry and theatre.
Directors Craig Tuohy and Tom Worth followed and filmed major players involved with the UK battle rapping scene over a period of two years- revealing behind the scenes footage, clips from some of the best battles, and interviews with the top battle rappers from all over the UK including poet Mark Grist, whose battle rap with Blizzard has had over 4.5 million hits on YouTube.
The film is an entertaining expose on how the UK has taken an American art form and made it uniquely British, and so creating one of the most exciting youth subcultures around today.

Synopsis

René Redzepi, the Danish chef and co-owner of the two-Michelin star restaurant Noma is considered by many to be a genius. He plays with the wilderness and interprets a forgotten edible world into a culinary language we all understand. In his search for belonging, Redzepi, a modern ugly duckling bullied by his peers, found his home in no man’s land and transformed into a swan. This film offers a creative journey into the unique mind of René Redzepi.
San Sebastian International Film Festival 2015 - World premiere

Synopsis

This film sets out to solve one of the greatest mysteries of our age: why despite rising material wealth, many Western countries are experiencing profound social breakdown.
This real life detective story unravels the big story of the unprecedented shifts in income and wealth that have occurred over the last 35 years – the how, why and who. At the heart of the story is the shift to the freedom of the market, freeing businesses to create wealth for all, and make everyone better off.
As markets were freed and the financial sector deregulated, the wealth flowed to the top. Between 1979 – 2007 the top 1% of US households gained 275%, compared to 18% for the bottom fifth. A series of human narratives piece together the realities of life for those at varying ends of the income spectrum in the developed world today - a harsher society where stress, crime and fear are rising, and we increasingly see those around us as "other". Could economic differences be driving these social differences?
Inspired by he award-winning book 'The Spirit Level' by Professors Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, the film features Michael Marmot, Noam Chomsky, Alan Budd, Ha-Joon Chang and Alexis Goldstein.

Synopsis

A WW2 RAF veteran remembers lost comrades whilst looking through old photos and letters.

Synopsis

Constructed entirely from existing films, the film offers a journey through fear and cinema that asks whether horror movies know us better than we know ourselves.
Encouraging viewers to interrogate a diverse range of images and sounds sampled from a hundred years of global cinema, the aim of the documentary is to change the way audiences watch horror movies for good.

Synopsis

A shorthand term made popular by gay men in recent years for the use of drugs (specifically crystal meth, GHB and mephedrone) in a sexual context, ‘chemsex’ has been seen by some as a significant contributing factor in the rise of HIV diagnoses in London... In this unflinching documentary, we meet a host of men whose lives have been affected, from self-confessed ‘slammers’ to sexual health workers, each of whom talk candidly about the pleasures and perils associated with the scene. (LFF brochure)
BFI London Film Festival 2015 - World premiere

Synopsis

Turner prize-winning artist Mark Leckey’s autobiographical film started with a piece of found bootleg documentation of a Joy Division gig that he attended in 1979, and the realisation that many of our personal memories and experiences can now be found online. From there, 'Dream English Kid' attempts to create a record of all the significant events in Leckey’s life during the late 20th Century through found traces of film, adverts and popular music- Benjamin Cook, LFF
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2015 - Experimenta Strand

Synopsis

Captain Maurice Seddon, an inventor and eccentric in the great English tradition, made electrically heated clothing for ‘paraplegics, sclerotics, arthritics, rheumatics, the poor and landscape painters’. The details of his extremely modest, uncompromising way of life are here unpicked through a rich weave of incredible archival TV appearances from around the world (he featured on amongst others, the David Letterman show) plus very touching 16mm and mobile phone footage shot by friend and director William English. 'Heated Gloves' evokes Ben Rivers' 'Two Years at Sea' and the Maysles brothers' 'Grey Gardens', whilst highlighting the codes of television reportage and remaining in and of itself very special and unique – just like its subject. (LFF brochure)
BFI London Film Festival 2015 - World premiere

Synopsis

When a vintage Nokia mobile phone is recharged, a compelling real life story is revealed, in this mixed media documentary short.
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2015 - Journey Strand - World premiere