Projects in categories: Documentary

Synopsis

On 18 June 1984, at the height of the 1984-85 Miners’ Strike, Orgreave Coking Plant in South Yorkshire became the site of the bloodiest day of the longest and most violent industrial dispute in British history. The media subsequently appeared to lay blame for the violence at the feet of the strikers. Daniel Gordon’s comprehensive documentary doesn’t just overturn this fabrication, it portrays what took place as planned action on the part of the Thatcher government, with the Prime Minister determined to seek redress for the National Miners’ Union’s victory over the Conservative government in the early 1970s and to forever break the union’s role at the heart of British working class society. Released on the 40th anniversary of the battle, and featuring first-hand accounts and archive footage, this is a searing portrait of that tragic event. (Sheffield DocFest Programme) Official Selection Sheffield DocFest 2024 - World premiere

Synopsis

Filmed over the course of five years, this award-winning film follows Borja, a young boy growing up in Castellon, a small town in Spain, where the tradition of bullfighting weighs heavily on his shoulders. His grandad, Matias, pins his own unfulfilled dreams of becoming a professional bullfighter onto his grandchild with the hopes that it will get the family out of poverty. Like most underprivileged kids feeling trapped in a life with few choices and opportunities, Borja doesn’t see a future beyond orange fields, fishing and bullfighting. Official Selection Sheffield DocFest 2024 International First Feature Competition - World premiere Sheffield DocFest 2024 - Winner - Grand Jury Award for the International First Feature Competition

Synopsis

A new feature-length documentary depicting the extraordinary and emotional return of blur, captured across a year in which the band made a surprise return with their first record in 8 years, the critically acclaimed #1 album ‘The Ballad of Darren’. The film follows the unique relationship of four friends and band mates of over three decades - Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree - as they come together to record 10 new songs ahead of their sold-out, first ever shows at London’s Wembley Stadium in 2023. Official selection Sheffield DocFest 2024 - World premiere

Synopsis

After the death of their parents, four siblings revisit their childhood home in Oxfordshire to tidy up before the house is sold. The old house creaks as the heirs rummage through every room. The house itself looks like a cross between the sets of Downton Abbey, Harry Potter and a BBC documentary on English gardening – charming, enchanting, a little creepy and maybe even cursed. Esoteric collections, antique furniture, paintings and, not least, a shared past, spill out of the cabinet of curiosities. Here, reality and fantasy have lived side by side. With each treasure they pack away, a new page in the story of an eccentric family are revealed. The mother, a passionate scientist, and the father, a dragon-obsessed art historian, filled their children with a mixture of made-up science and fabulous adventures. As the summer progresses and the old house is emptied, the four adult siblings must revisit the distant land of childhood together. Official Selection Sheffield DocFest 2024 - World premiere Official Selection CPH:DOX 2025

Synopsis

KLITSCHKO: MORE THAN A FIGHT offers viewers unprecedented access to former heavyweight boxing world champion Vitali Klitschko, along with his brother Wladimir, who together dominated the sport for more than a decade. Now the longest serving Mayor of Kyiv, this feature-length documentary charts Vitali’s journey from the ring to political office, ultimately leading the defence of the capital when it was attacked by Russian forces in February 2022. While Wladimir uses his celebrity status and popularity to help raise funds and military support for the defence of Ukraine, the heart of the story is the remarkable transformation of Vitali from sporting hero to political figurehead. From the face of the opposition in the 2014 Maidan Revolution to the mayor running on an anti-corruption card, Vitali tests his leadership capabilities as he’s put in charge of the safety of millions of Kyiv citizens, with the eyes of the world watching. Official selection Sheffield DocFest 2024 International Competition - World Premiere

Synopsis

What if every thought was a movement, and every movement a thought? What is intelligence and when is it artificial? Can robots dance? Can they help our children learn how to be? How are we learning, and do we ever stop? What are the values and skills that we pass on as societies through games, crafts, stories and cinema? Connecting scenes of pedagogy, work and play in four global sites, THE HEXAGONAL HIVE AND A MOUSE IN A MAZE invites viewers to consider the mechanics of learning. We search in the cabinets of a supercomputer, in the curve of a chalked letter, in the weaving of a basket. We jump down the rabbit hole and seek counsel from researchers and public intellectuals. Curiosity and the affordances of the essay form send us grazing, observing, and thinking through film with an open heart. We wonder afresh what the human spirit might yet dream up as new and improved programming for our species. Official selection Sheffield DocFest 2024 International Competition - World premiere

Synopsis

FRAMERATE: Rhythms Around Us bears witness to the flux of life on earth. Surrounded by shifting pointcloud landscapes, submerged in sound, we scale our perspective. Together we see the beautiful, creative, and destructive forces of nature and humanity. We are a part of this rhythm, we contribute to the cacophony, we are in sync, and we catastrophically collide with the beating pulse of our planet. Official Selection Tribeca Film Festival 2024 - Tribeca Immersive - World premiere

Synopsis

A deeply immersed and urgent film that reveals the cost of standing up to Vladimir Putin and telling the truth about modern Russia. It follows a whistleblower from inside Russia's poison programme as he attempts to escape, a prominent political activist who is poisoned twice and now stands trial for treason, and the man exposing Putin's murder machine as he is forced to go on the run himself. Official Selection Tribeca Film Festival 2024 - Documentary Competition - World premiere Official Selection Rome Film Festival 2024 - European premiere Official Selection Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2024 Official Selection CPH:DOX 2025 Official Selection Hot Docs International Film Festival 2025

Synopsis

At once a portrait of techno producer Carl Craig and a love letter to his city of Detroit, Desire: The Carl Craig Story lays out the vast backdrop of artists and venues who played a part in the rise of Craig’s massive, genre-defying career Official Selection Tribeca Film Festival 2024 - World premiere

Synopsis

When a massive Chinese factory complex attempts a high-stakes expansion in rural Ethiopia, three women in search of prosperity have their faith in industrialisation tested to the limit. Official Selection Tribeca Film Festival 2024 - Documentary Competition - World premiere Tribeca Film Festival 2024 - Documentary Competition - Jury Special Mention Warsaw Film Festival 2024 - Documentary Competition - Jury Special Mention

Synopsis

Country music is changing - or maybe it’s returning to its roots. This musical documentary traces the troubled history and inclusive future of the genre with performances from today’s most talented iconoclasts, including Blanco Brown, Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, and BRELAND. Official Selection Tribeca Film Festival 2024 - World premiere

Synopsis

The story of Catholic nun and leading death penalty abolitionist, Sister Helen Prejean, whose story was first captured in the 1995 film DEAD MAN WALKING. Now, almost 30 years later, filmmaker Dominic Sivyer takes a look at six decades of the life and work of Sister Helen as she continues to be an inspirational force for justice. Official Selection Tribeca Film Festival 2024 - World premiere