Projects in categories: Documentary

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.

Synopsis

'Folie a Deux - Madness Made of Two' is a quintessentially English tale with a universal message. The story is prophetic, refreshingly humorous, and driven by Helen, a ‘love her, hate her, but you can’t ignore her’ character. Helen, a single mother of seven whom along with her new lover, risks bankruptcy and homelessness to fulfill a dream. Shot over five years and set in the oldest house in England. This film is an intimate portrayal of a large, bohemian family with all the ups and downs of daily life, an intriguing insight into England's history, and current obsessions. It’s a nail-biting journey through the economic crash and life's biggest gamble. However, unlike ‘The Queen of Versailles’, this is not a story of the conspicuous consumerism of billionaires; rather this is ‘our’ story, this is the human cost of the banking crisis.

Synopsis

Shot in England and Nigeria this evocative film builds on the lives of African women living in the UK separated from their families. The stories are based on news reports and Joy's own life, including voicemails left on her answer-machine by the legendary singer Nina Simone, her self proclaimed ‘Spiritual Mother’.

Synopsis

Infamous club promoter, actor and singer, ROBERT PERENO who describes himself as a bi-polar, loquacious narcissist, ROBERT PERENO is a seductive, charming and brutally honest man. The Promoter follows a year in his life…. Robert gives an overview of his past from a privileged up-bringing in ex-pat Calcutta during the 60s, to his foray into music, acting and club land, where he promoted many top London nightclubs such as The Camden Palace, The Wag, Crazy Larry's and SW1 to name a few. Never lost for words, always with a quote and a handy aphorism, we see Robert ecstatic as he promotes his new Film Club and Singer Old Fashioned Daisy Tallulah Johnson. Then, conversely in the pits of despair, when his addictive proclivities get the better of him, to capsize his projects, his marriage and his life. With help from a colourful ensemble of co-stars from Adam Ant, DJ Rusty Egan, actress & singer Eve Ferret, DJ Gaz Mayall to help illuminate his life, Robert manages to find hope through his friends for a new kind of future...

Synopsis

The Runner is a film about endurance. It is the story of Salah Ameidan, a champion runner from Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara, whose journey transformed him from an athlete into the symbol of a national liberation movement.  Forced to join Morocco's Junior Athletics team at 14, he was soon an international champion. But while he won gold medals for Morocco, he and his family were being arrested, detained and tortured in prison by Morocco for their independence activism. In 2003, as he won a crucial race in France, he pulled out the Sahrawi flag - illegal in Morocco. He immediately became both a refugee and a hero to his people. Even in France, he suffers attacks, and his family are harassed, detained, tortured and even killed by the Moroccan regime. The Runner follows Salah over three critical years in his life. As he turns 30, the Arab Spring is born in a protest camp in Western Sahara. The film looks at the burden of being a hero and asks "How long, before you stop running"?

Synopsis

Toxic Camera, inspired by the film Chernobyl: A Chronicle of Difficult Weeks by Soviet filmmaker Vladimir Shevchenko, reflects on the material nature of the film and the human impact of disasters like Chernobyl.

Synopsis

Dad’s Stick features three objects that my father showed me shortly before he died. Two of these were so well-used that their original forms and functions were almost completely obscured. The third object seemed to be instantly recognizable, but it turned out to be something else entirely.

Synopsis

World-renowned, shamanistic artist Barry Flanagan was one of the world's foremost figurative sculptors, with his work exhibited in streetscapes such as Park Avenue in New York, the Champs Elysées in Paris and O'Connell Street in Dublin. His trademark hare sculptures marked him out as an innovator and he once described himself as an English-speaking itinerant European sculptor. In this documentary, one-man filmmaker Peter Bach embarks on a personal journey by making a vow to Flanagan, who at the time is wrestling with motor neurone disease on the island of Ibiza, that he will travel the world and bring back footage of strangers by his public works and film the artist watching them as he wrestles with his disease. This journey of discovery takes us across Europe and the United States and is a celebration and homage to Flanagan's work.

Synopsis

When the Song Dies is a poetic documentary that weaves stories, songs and memories from across Scotland, and places their testament in counterpoint to the richly evocative landscape of Galloway. Exploring the theme of change, the film brings the audience under the captive spell of the old ways.

Synopsis

Ever since Venus and Serena Williams started playing in tennis tournaments, they've provoked strong reactions - from awe and admiration to suspicion and resentment. They've been winning championships for over a decade, pushing the limits of longevity in such a demanding sport. How long can they last? In Venus & Serena, we gain unprecedented access into their lives during the most intimidating year of their career. Over the course of 2011, Venus grappled with an energy-sapping autoimmune disease while Serena battled back from a life-threatening pulmonary embolism. Neither Venus nor Serena let their adversities hold them back. They drew their greatest strength from each other.

Synopsis

A Tale Of Two Syrias is a snapshot of life before Syria’s uprising began, seen through the eyes of two people: Salem, an Iraqi refugee and fashion designer in Damascus and Botrus, a monk in the remote hillside monastery of Mar Musa. This film is about their dreams, discussions, and questions around freedom and choice in the year before Syria descended into serious conflict.

Synopsis

Feature documentary. A detailed, true to life, extraction, filmed over four months, of the day to day events... ups, downs and tribulations of a young reggae singer striving to break into the music industry in the U.K. Filmmaker Mark Brown wraps the audience up into the artists emotions revealing the excitement and disappointment that unfold through different stages of Bayo's attempts to make his music heard in the right circles.