Projects in categories: Documentary

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?

Synopsis

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.

Synopsis

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.

Synopsis

The descendants of the victims of the Soviet's secret nuclear test-site in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, know having a healthy child is not guaranteed. Deformed children are often abandoned in orphanages. Doctors and scientists blame inherited genetic effects from the radiation down the generations. Now the state response is a proposed scheme to 'clean out' those with bad genes' by preventing them from getting pregnant. The film follows the city maternity doctor as he enthusiastically pilots the 'genetic passport' scheme. In doing so, two 'patients' who live on the test-site (one has facial deformities) are determined to exercise their right to have a child despite the city medical establishment's grim genetic prognosis for their unborn child's future.

Synopsis

'I don't know if you've ever heard a goat eating carrots? It's almost too much, it's so lovely'. The fascinating visually complex internal world of audio-visual synaesthesia is discussed, argued over, scientifically dissected and celebrated in this beautifully sensitive animated documentary.

Synopsis

Black Swan Story follows Joel Pott, singer with Athlete, retracing his grandfathers footsteps in Arnhem. Joel’s Grandfather, Major John Pott was a British Paratrooper who fought in the Battle Of Arnhem in 1944.

Synopsis

A cautionary tale of three characters whose DIY projects have got out of hand. Each has bought a landlocked craft in varying degrees of dilapidation. Will they break out of the boat 'graveyard' or remain on land, their vessels an alternative shed; a place for dreaming with no destination necessary?

Synopsis

Brit Muslim: a community profile is an exclusive insight to the contemporary life of two million British Muslims, challenging the very important issues of identity and Britishness, and contribution of Muslims to British society. The film shows a realistic portrait of the present situation of Muslims in Britain from different historical, political, economic, social, religious, artistic and scientific perspectives. Many scholars, academics, scientists, senior politicians, entrepreneurs, artists and journalists have been participated in this film. By presenting facts and realities and putting forward key questions to evoke discussions on Muslims in Britain from different points of view, this informative, educative and thought provoking film distinguishes itself from other similar works.

Synopsis

From October 2008 - April 2010, Leighton House Museum closed for extensive restoration and refurbishment. This was an important moment in the history of the house, reinstating the historic interiors to as close as they would have appeared before Frederic Lord Leighton's death in 1896. The film-maker and photographer Frederique Cifuentes Morgan was commissioned to record the project from beginning to end. This film tells the story of this significant project and celebrates the work of the outstanding craft specialists who brought the work to completion.