Projects in categories: Documentary

Synopsis

When Marvin Hamlisch passed away in August 2012 the worlds of music, theatre and cinema lost a talent the likes of which we may never see again. Seemingly destined for greatness, Hamlisch was accepted into New York’s Juilliard School as a 6-year-old musical prodigy and rapidly developed into a phenomenon. With instantly classic hits ‘The Way We Were’ and ‘Nobody Does It Better’ and scores for Hollywood films such as The Swimmer, The Sting and Sophie’s Choice and the Broadway juggernaut A Chorus Line; Hamlisch became the go-to composer for film and Broadway producers and a prominent presence on the international Concert Hall circuit. His streak was staggering, vast, unprecedented and glorious, by the age of 31 Hamlisch had won 4 Grammys, an Emmy, 3 Oscars, a Tony and a Pulitzer prize: success that burned so bright, it proved impossible to match. With exclusive access to Hamlisch’s rich personal archive and interviews with his A-list collaborators and friends, Dori Berinstein’s film is a deeply personal portrait of an iconic artistic genius.

Synopsis

Filmmaker Mark Cousins goes to Albania for five days, and films what he sees. He discovers that the movie prints in the country's film archive are decaying. In investigating this, Cousins begins to encounter bigger questions about the history and memory of a place. Perhaps a country whose 20th Century, dominated by its authoritarian ruler Enver Hoxha, was so traumatic, should allow its film heritage to fade away? Perhaps a national forgetting should be welcomed? Influenced by the films of Chris Marker, Cousins' film broadens to consider the architecture of dictators and the great icon paintings of Onufri. In the past, when cartographers knew little about a country, they wrote on it Here be Dragons. Albania was, for decades, one of the least well know countries in the world. Cousins' road movie meditation takes the advice of Goethe: "If you would understand the poet, you must go to the poet's land."

Synopsis

The Do Gooders is a documentary that explores the impact of decades of foreign aid on Palestinians and asks whether the West's acts of altruism are in fact helping to maintain the injustices of the status quo.

Synopsis

Introduced by a Warhol-esque newsreader, Late at Night presents the voices of a number of Londoners - working class people, street gang members, beggars, bankers and others, most of them excluded from the area they live in, the newly gentrified London East End.
Their words build a network of responses to the hyper capitalist world we live in.
As George Orwell said: “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever.”  
Focusing on Britain’s relentlessly mean streets and its dwellers, each fighting their ground in their own way, this film essay uses words, writing and images to construct an image of today’s Britain and leads us to question our future under the institutional madness of global capitalism.

Synopsis

As a child in the 1950s, Ron Cockroft drew a chalk line from his school in Oldham to his home in Chadderton. Chalk Trace commemorates and reanimates his graffiti journey through a now much-changed network of streets. The film was photographed in the original streets of Oldham as they stand today – over 60 years after Ron’s original graffiti.

Synopsis

To escape from the realities of bereavement, two friends travel across Yorkshire to look for David Hockney. Grief toys with their senses and heightens their need for adventure. The style references the work of Hockney.

Synopsis

This unique feature documentary follows two actors, Giles Terera and Dan Poole, as they travel the world to find out everything they can about tackling the greatest writer of them all. Together they have directed and produced an inspiring film that aims to demystify and illuminate Shakespeare’s work for everyone: from actors, directors and students of all disciplines, right through to the? man on the street?

Synopsis

Discovering the day-to-day lives of old women through auntie Ganga, about their struggle to blend in with the society in spite of cultural and language barriers.

Synopsis

As part of the 150th anniversary of the London Underground the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and Transport for London commissioned Wind & Foster to produce Engineering the London Underground. A film celebrating the illustrious 150 year history of London's Tube network and the vital role that civil engineers played in delivering one of the world's first and busiest transport networks.

The film takes viewers on an animated journey through the Tube's history including its period of reconstruction following the Second World War, the introduction of the world's first computer controlled underground railway on the Victoria Line, the construction of the Jubilee line and looks to the Tube's future.

The film, produced in collaboration with the London Transport Museum and Transport for London, is narrated by Eddie Butler and features animated photographs and footage from the Institution of Civil Engineers, British Film Institute, Crossrail, National Media Museum and TfL collections.

Synopsis

Justine doesn't speak. She communicates through looking, gesture and the body language of her movement and interactions. This short documentary creates a portrait of Justine’s experience, observing the close rhythms of her days in the run-up to her milestone birthday and new challenges of life in a changing welfare system.

Synopsis

In 2010, Abu Eyad and other young Palestinian men from the Ain el-Helweh refugee camp in Lebanon travelled through Syria and Turkey into Greece. Like so many other migrants, they came looking for a way into Europe but found themselves trapped in a country undergoing economic, political and social collapse.

Synopsis

International Inspiration (IN) increases life chances for marginalised groups across the world. Growing up, Mercy Anne`s family could not afford school fees. She was thrown out of home after getting pregnant. Hear how IN helps young people like her to build confidence and learn through the inspirational power of sport.