Projects in categories: Documentary

Synopsis

In this short film, specially commissioned as part of the Royal Society’s 350th anniversary celebrations in 2010, Professor Uta Frith FRS and her young companion, Amalie Heath-Born, find out just what goes on inside our brains when we view the treasures on display at London’s world-famous Victoria and Albert Museum.

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Three days after 9/11 and the beginning of a five year odyssey by a young English teacher travelling through ten Muslim countries at the height of the century's new conflict - a journey across borders, beyond stereotypes and onto a trail of empty bottles leading into the bizarre world of Westerners living right at the heart of conservative Islam. The story charts a peculiar polar equation - the world of Islam versus the McWorld of external dependency at a time when being a teacher could get you killed.

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The Ferryman is a dreamlike portrayal of a ferry crossing on a river in Devon. Drifting slowly through chance encounters along the river and its shores, the film reveals the unexpected history of the ferryman, evoking a distinct feeling of character and place. (Official Selection Sheffield DocFest 2009).

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The story of the real root causes of the financial crash. Directed by award winning David Sington, with a cast of bankers, brokers, borrowers and international economists, this film shows what happens when the rich get richer, creating an unsustainable credit bubble.

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The personalities of two women pensioners come into focus as they team up for a challenge: Rowing the most difficult boat ever devised: The Pair.

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Peter Edwards is one of Britain's most promising jazz arrangers. His dream is to perform Duke Ellington's Queen's Suite (which was written in 1959 for the current British Monarch) to the Queen at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. We follow Peter as he puts together his band, rehearses them and negotiates with Buckingham Palace. The film provides a unique and intimate insight into the background and career of an exceptional musician.

Synopsis

The War You Don't See traces the history of 'embedded' and independent reporting from the carnage of World War I to the destruction of Hiroshima, and from the invasion of Vietnam to the current war in Afghanistan. As weapons and propaganda are ever more sophisticated, the very nature of war has developed into an 'electronic battlefield'. But who is the real enemy today?

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Wayne McGregor never looks behind. This British choreographer multiplies experiences that are sources of infinite experimentation and improvement. Illustrated by fantastic and even extreme choreographic clips, this documentary makes us discover this passionate artist and contagious creativity. Since dancers from his company are also his research material, he feeds them: during a workshop led by a doctor in neurology or during his residence in a small British town’shigh school, dancers turn out to be researchers themselves.

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WELCOME TO THE WORLDS is the remarkable story of the 40th Irish Dancing World Championships, held in March 2010 in Glasgow. Three thousand dancers, their families and teachers from around the globe descend upon Glasgow for one drama filled week. Clad in wigs, make up, fake tan, diamantes and dresses costing thousands of pounds to compete for the coveted world titles. A year of incredibly hard work for just a few tense minutes on stage. This feature length documentary was given access for the very first time to the little known world of competitive Irish Dancing. With financial backing from BBC Scotland, BBC and Scottish Screen award-winning filmmaker Sue Bourne went behind the normally closed doors of Irish Dancing and found a remarkable world. Wonderful characters of all ages from Ireland, Holland, Britain, America and Russia. Discover a world of dedication, hard work, obsession, passion. Success and failure. And astonishing talents pushed to their limits in the quest for perfection.

Synopsis

A historic gathering of over 50 African heads of state in Beijing reverberates in Zambia where the lives of three characters unfold. Mr Liu is about to buy his fourth farm; Manager Li is upgrading one of the country's longest roads and the Zambian Trade Minister is on route to China to secure millions of dollars of investment. Through the intimate portrayal of these characters, a global shift in power from west to east is laid bare.

Synopsis

This is a film about family: a young Chinese couple strive to live a free life in the face of the harsh reality of life filled with restrictions. Jun and Long are two lovers, who decide to get married after Jun becomes pregnant in order to avoid any stigma in a traditional Chinese society. Struggling to take care of the newborn baby on their own, Jun's parents arrive to help, which strains the relationship between the couple. As lecturers while studying for their PHD diplomas, Long is particularly torn between his dream of freedom and the reality of a powerful traditional culture and Jun is torn between the bond she eventually forms with her child and her need to excel in her career and possibly take an extended work trip to Australia. This is the incredible story of a simple tale; the battle between love, life and tradition in modern China.

Synopsis

Asylum seekers in indefinite detention around the UK leave messages in vain on an abandoned answerphone in the basement of a government ministry.   They are invisible to the outside world; yet exist under a regime of constant surveillance. Their past traumas return in their dreams and erupt in hallucinations that fill them with panic and fear.   With the threat of deportation ever present, they describe their own psychological deterioration as they pass the days in an unlimited confinement that strips their lives of all certainty. Their words trigger dark, visceral images inside the static and void of the phone line.