Projects in categories: Documentary

Synopsis

Vanessa and Maurice, an African-American couple with five kids, leave Alaska for Las Vegas in search of a better life. Filmed over four years, it is a story of love and family set against the turbulent backdrop of economic boom and bust.

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Irene, a feisty 92 year old with Alzheimer’s, doesn’t want to be put into a home for the elderly. A personal film about three generations of women coming to terms with a difficult decision.

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A short documentary about a man whose struggle to overcome daily obstacles has produced an astonishing universe of outsider science fiction.  

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In 2008 an independent production company set out to make the micro-budget feature film Just For The Record. Armed with a stellar cast of top TV actors, the world’s most advanced digital camera and a quirky location to die for - what could possibly go wrong? A lot, as it happens. A year after the film has been abandoned, the cast and crew reunite for a series of interviews about the ill-fated production. It’s a constant round of accusations, recriminations and humorous anecdotes as everyone tries to answer the central burning question: Why did the film fail and whose fault was it?

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At the start of the bitter Winter War the Soviet Red Army invaded Finnish-Karelia forcing thousands of civilians deep into Finland. Teenagers Annikki, Inkeri and Hilkka left their families to drive cattle through deep snow and hostile lands. A lifetime later they look back on their adventures.  

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Le Donk is an improvised comedy, shot over five days by Shane Meadows and starring Paddy Considine. It is based on a character Paddy has created called Donk: a failed drummer and now a roadie.  Fifteen years ago Donk seemed to have it all, but now his life is shit. His ex-partner is pregnant with his child and much to his dislike living with her new boyfriend. He is taking UK rapper Scor-zay-zee with him on a road trip that he hopes will change their lives.

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The myth of Ernest Hemingway frames this journey from a rifle club in Britain to the savannah of southern Africa. Filmmaker Joseph Matthews has never fired a gun before, but makes a surprising discovery about his own attitude to shooting that leads him into the disturbing world of big game trophy hunting. From Hemingway to present day the film examines whether there is anything we can learn about masculinity from these men who seek their thrills from the power a gun gives to its bearer.

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Little Matador  is a feature length documentary about children bullfighters in Mexico. Kids as young as eight are trained to kill bulls ten times their weight. The film follows three children who are fighting not just the bull but their own demons; Michelito is ten. The adored child of a matador Dad, Michelito has killed over two hundred bulls. ‘Picasso was born to paint, Mozart to make music – and Michelito to be a matador,’ says Dad. Can Michelito fulfil his father’s dream to become the youngest matador in history? Joel is nine. Neglected by his mum and step-father, he finds paternal love in the ring. Matador Ismael becomes Joel’s surrogate father and guardian angel. But if Ismael moves to Spain for his own career, what will happen to Joel? Andrea is twelve. She started bullfighting when her father moved to America. Andrea has disowned her dad – who has found a new woman - and vows to save her mum from poverty by becoming a superstar bullfighter. But will Andrea ever get over her terrible nerves every time she enters the ring? Little Matador is an extraordinary testimony to the lengths these kids will go to realise their dream.

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Abiyot runs for money, every weekend at a different race. He left Ethiopia to try and relaunch his running career in the US. With every aspect of his daily routine centered on his training, his footsteps not only dictate the rhythm of his life, but also become the pervasive rhythm of the film.

Synopsis

Margaret Mellis’s career has encompassed some of the major movements of 20th Century British art. St. Ives neighbours Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo saw her talent and potential but history has relegated her to the sidelines.   A dedicated abstract painter and superb colourist Margaret produced a unique body of work during her later life in Suffolk. Her true legacy has yet to be fully realised.   Using recordings from Artists’ Lives (British Library Sound Archive) the film is told entirely in Margaret’s own words, with her writings and diary entries read by Susannah York.   Margaret Mellis a life in colour puts Margaret’s work centre place, a visual feast of texture, shape and colour.   Margaret Mellis 1914-2009

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Michael Stern was injured at birth and is subsequently severely disabled. Despite his difficulties, and over fifty years of institutional care, Michael shines as a dignified and positive character. Michael's brother provides an articulate and poignant backbone for Michael's story and investigating his state of happiness and quality of life.

Synopsis

Coming off the Robbie Williams tour, musical director eighties brit pop star Stephen 'Tin Tin' Duffy is fed up and completely disillusioned with the corporate music machine and decides to check out permanently and pursue his folk-political roots in the countryside. Along the journey he reunites his critically acclaimed band The Lilac Time to play the Green Man Festival in Wales, and rediscovers what it was originally about. 'We used to do it for the love, didn't we. People have forgotten that.' Duffy wanders as far as Cornwall before rediscovering meaningful poetic life. Sculptor Jon Edgar makes an appearance as he forms a terra cotta head of Duffy, who he believes will remain one of the key figures in arts and culture for future generations. It's a classic story of art versus commerce, disillusionment and rebirth told through one of the UK's most prolific recording artists, with archival super 8, stills, and historical footage from the 1960s through to the present. Much of the film is narrated by Duffy himself, the director Douglas Arrowsmith has poured over the archives and Duffy's own memoir to assemble an inspiring piece for any fan of music, poetry, and life's greater meaning.