Projects in categories: Documentary

Synopsis

A year in the life of heroic farmer Steve, scene stealing Ida (queen of the herd), and a supporting cast of 55 cows. When Ida falls ill, Steve’s optimism is challenged and their whole way of life is at stake.

Synopsis

A person’s culture is something that is often described as fixed or defined and rooted in a particular region, nation, or state. Stuart Hall, one of the most preeminent intellectuals on the Left in Britain, updates this definition as he eloquently theorizes that cultural identity is fluid—always morphing and stretching toward possibility but also constantly experiencing nostalgia for a past that can never be revisited.

Filmmaker John Akomfrah uses the rich and complex mood created by Miles Davis’s trumpet to root a masterful tapestry of newly filmed material, archival imagery, excerpts from television programs, home movies, and family photographs to create this lyrical and emotionally powerful portrait of the life and philosophy of this influential theorist. Like a fine scotch, The Stuart Hall Project is smooth, complicated, and euphorically pleasing. It taps into a singular intelligence to extract the tools we need to make sense of our lives in the modern world (Sundance).

Synopsis

An unseen woman witnesses the ordinary oppression and fear of the early years of National Socialism. She describes the sound of screaming she regularly hears on passing a military barracks whilst walking from her house to the station. Images of the barracks recur throughout the film, suggesting the routine tyranny that precipitates the woman's increasing fear and eventual journey into exile. The film's structure of repetition and retelling foregrounds the way in which her life is stunted by increasing marginalisation and terror. "I’m only just eighteen but sometimes I already feel so old that I think of dying," she writes in a letter to her would-be lover. The View from Our House is based in part on the memories, unsent letters and notebooks of a young photographer who lived in Berlin-Tempelhof. Aspects of her life are mapped out within this small area of Berlin through a succession of haunted images and sounds that imbue place with a sense of memory and history.

Synopsis

TRANS is an intimate moving image portrait focusing on Kali. Exploring themes of transformation and identity, the film constructs various scenes based on her thoughts, feelings and imaginings as she reflects on the pain of her metamorphosis.

Synopsis

It might be the age of Facebook and Twitter, but a group of Leeds teenagers have chosen to define themselves through one of the most ancient forms of culture out there: the spoken poem. But these aren’t any old poems but anguished, witty full-throated diatribes, voicing the concerns of a generation of multi-ethnic British teenagers. Brave New Voices, the most prestigious poetry slam competition in America, has chosen Leeds Young Authors to represent the UK at their upcoming competition in Washington DC. Sheffield-based filmmakers Alex Ramseyer-Bache and Daniel Lucchesi follow the group as they prepare for a transformational journey of a lifetime. With a mix of cinematically crafted lyrical sequences with raw, intimate actuality documentary, 'We Are Poets' challenges our understanding of youth by giving them the stage, allowing them the chance to speak for themselves. Anyone tempted to dismiss today’s teenagers as politically apathetic layabout’s better pay heed: here is electrifying evidence to the contrary.

Synopsis

Inspired by a visit to Zabriskie Point – this film re-visits and contemporises Antonioni’s 1970 film of the same name. Aligning with Antonioni's stated intentions – to produce a work as "an idea in landscape" – the film undertakes a programme of visual and social research for the earlier film.

Synopsis

In 1994 a 13-year-old boy disappeared without a trace from his home in San Antonio, Texas. Three and a half years later he is found alive thousands of miles away in a village in southern Spain with a horrifying story of kidnap and torture. His family is overjoyed to bring him home. But all is not quite as it seems. The boy bears many of the same distinguishing marks he always did, but why does he now have a strange accent? Why does he look so different? And why doesn't the family seem to notice these glaring inconsistencies? It's only when an investigator starts asking questions that this strange tale takes an even stranger turn.
Documentary meets Film Noir in this astonishing true story which has all the twists and turns of a great thriller. Just as the truth begins to dawn on you, another truth begins to emerge leaving you even more on edge.

Synopsis

An emotionally charged yet quiet film about an old couple going their separate ways. After a 50 year roller-coaster relationship fuelled by love, hate, and accusations of infidelity, now magnified by the filmmaker’s Grandmother’s obsession with the past, his Grandfather has reluctantly decided he can no longer cope with the continual verbal abuse and constant attention she requires. They will part: Taki leaving for Cyprus, whilst Tina is being prepared for a nursing home. One More Kiss is a film about a pivotal point of decision in the lives of two colourfully rich characters and explores the substance of love and the overriding consequences of age, migration and illness. It delves into the existential realities of the tragic nature of all relations and ultimately love. A minimalist and intensely moving look at old age - filled with moments of beauty, sadness and humour.

Synopsis

'The Summit' is a feature length documentary about the deadliest day in modern mountain climbing history. In August of 2008, 22 climbers from several international expeditions converged on High Camp of K2, the last stop before the summit of the most dangerous mountain on Earth. 48 hours later, eleven had been killed or simply vanished into thin air. Like a horror movie come-to-life, it was as if the mountain began stealing lives, one climber at a time. At the feet of the heavens – ‘the death zone’ - the body literally dies with each passing second and the mind can play tricks. Morality above 8,000 metres is skewed 180 degrees from the rest of life. When a climber falls or wanders off the trail, the unwritten code of the sport is to leave them for dead. Survival depends on self- preservation at all costs.

Synopsis

The film tells the story of the golden age of grand prix motor racing when the cars were sleek, fast and dangerous; a time when the drivers became rock stars and money poured into the sport from television and sponsoring deals. 1960s through the 1970s Formula One witnessed a staggering number of deaths on the track as the circuit became a playground for daredevils and playboys. Those who survived began a revolution that saved countless lives and fought for innovation in safety and engineering that launched Formula One in the modern era.

Synopsis

A nature documentary centered on a family of chimps living in the Ivory Coast and Ugandan rain forests.

Synopsis

Every evening during exam season, as the sun sets over Conakry, Guinea, hundreds of school children begin a nightly pilgrimage to the airport, petrol stations and wealthy parts of the city, searching for light to study.