Projects in categories: Documentary

Synopsis

Maryam d'Abo suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage in 2007 and is lucky to be alive. Her experience inspired this film and leads the viewer on a personal journey of recovery, giving a sense of hope to those who are isolated by their condition that is not seen therefore often misunderstood. Many first hand stories celebrate man's life force and his will to survive. The film concerns all human beings, dealing with the fragility of the extraordinary brain of which we know surprisingly little.

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Never believe you’ve played your last hand. Jean Marc Calvet lived a dark and violent life. Then aged 38, via a terrifying trip to hell and back, he was given a second chance. On the run in Central America and haunted by his past, he shut himself in a house and decided that death was his only way out. For 9 months he suffered a terrifying metamorphosis and was saved only by a can of industrial paint. Now a successful artist with solo exhibitions in New York, his work sells for 1000s. But on a quest for redemption, he must return to France and find the 6 year old son he abandoned 12 years ago without a word.

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From traditional wife and mother of three to jet-setting ‘Baby Dyke’, share Jan’s story as she travels the globe searching for Sapphic insights, flirting and dating tips… Jan Walker was married for 23 years but whilst her hubby watched the football, she discovered The L Word, little knowing her life would soon be transformed. Her subsequent divorce, paved the way for her late adoption of lesbian life, catapulting her into a new world of cruises, entertainers, dining clubs, ramblers, conventions and global gay pride events, encouraged by her bemused but supportive children. Meeting lesbian ambassadors, entertainers, entrepreneurs and pioneers along the way, she welcomes tips and anecdotes from established lesbians, ‘Gold Star’ lesbians, young and old lesbians, couples and singles to women like herself who are ‘dykes in training’ honing their ‘Gaydar’ skills. In her quest to make up for lost time Jan seeks answers to help establish her new found identity. Is she an Alpha or a Beta? Femme, Butch or Kiki? A Pillow Queen or Stone Butch? Does she have to be any? And what exactly do they mean? How does a fifty year old Baby Dyke find love? And exactly how do you switch on your Gaydar?

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Award-winning director Weijun Chen’s new series Law of the Dragon leaves China's cities and heads to the country to examine the impact of the massive changes in China's politics, economy and society on the judicial system in action. This series takes a fresh look at this vast and culturally rich country, examining how justice is served in rural areas so remote and isolated that the villagers have almost no contact with, and are deeply mistrustful of, the central government. Principally following the austere Judge Chen as he travels around the rural and sparsely populated Xuan-en province, resolving the grievances of the residents and dispensing nuggets of Confucian-Communist wisdom, the series will immerse itself in what matters most to the people who make up much of China’s billion strong population. This is an insightful, refreshing but not rose-tinted look at how justice is being served at grass roots level in this vast and beautiful region.

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"A polyphonic meditation on time and urban space" (Sukhdev Sandhu, BFI 2012). "If you let it, a street will grow" says a voice in this film-poem which offers a lyrical, painterly defence of the everyday and a celebration of multiculturalism, even as it poses questions about the process of regeneration. Shot on location in the London Borough of Hackney, the film interweaves rarely seen archive, super 16mm and super 8mm photography. Slow, still shots of streets, parks, cemeteries and markets are juxtaposed with the East London paintings of Leon Kossoff, Jock McFadyen and James MacKinnon. With a script based on poet, Michael Rosen's play for voices, a heightened soundscape mixes documentary with poetry, music, song and location recordings. As we slip between past and present, real and imagined, famous and unknown "the world comes to Hackney": From Shakespeare in Shoreditch, to a Jamaican builder, from an 18th Century feminist abolitionist to a Turkish barber, from Anna Sewell's "Black Beauty" to the Jewish 43 Group taking on Oswald Mosley in Dalston, the audience is invited to apprehend the city as fragmentary and multi-layered, "past in the present, present in the past."

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A tribute to the late German choreographer, Pina Bausch, as her dancers perform her most famous creations.

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In a small apartment in Buenos Aires, an old woman eagerly awaits the birth of her grandchild and all the joys of becoming a grandmother. However, horrific circumstances means she will be forced to wait over 30 years. Using real-life testimonials this animated-documentary raises issues of memory, repression and loss.

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A film about people, preconceptions and 1960’s concrete. Hi High Rise is the first short film by photographic partnership TAPE and is shot entirely on a digital SLR. This documentary aims to challenge preconceptions associated with tower block living in the UK and celebrates the successful community of Hornchurch Court.

Synopsis

Ever since Noah was a child he’s wanted to work with his father building canoes in Maine's north woods. But because of a well hidden secret this dream has always eluded him. This is the story of Noah’s transformation as he uncovers the truth that has kept him from his lifelong ambition.

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A euphoric blend of drama and documentary, Tempest is both a celebration of contemporary urban youth culture, and a 21st Century re-imagining of Shakespeare's last great play. 17 young actors from South London struggle to put on a production. Their story unfolds alongside Prospero's as The Oval is transformed into Shakespeare’s magical island and the outcast Duke casts his magic spells.

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A documentary about the Central Post-Office and its employees in Kinshasa, DR Congo. This relic of the colonial past has trapped its employees in a frozen timewarp from which they are planning their escape. From past to present, through the cracks in the walls, we glimpse present-day Congo.