Projects in categories: Documentary

Synopsis

An experimental documentary which has at its heart a poignant character study of a 17 year-old lesbian living in Newcastle, England, Closer innovatively explores the process of documentary filmmaking and boldly challenges traditional forms of storytelling.

Produced without a script and in close collaboration with the subject, Annelise Rodger, the filmmaker presents a hypnotizing array of montages and fictive sequences to introduce the day-to-day happenings of this extraordinary person. From the streets of Newcastle - where we find Annelise speaking frankly to the camera about her experiences as a young lesbian - to the emotionally charged reenactment of hercoming out to her mother, this highly original film provides a rare auto-portrait wherefiction and documentary collide. In the end what emerges is not only a remarkable encounter with a young woman, but also a story that has broader implications about being young, being at the cusp of adulthood, and finding one's identity.

Synopsis

In the holiest city Benares or Varanasi on the sacred River Ganges a 3000 year old way of life is threatened by sewage. One man is uniquely placed to fight back. Veer Bhadra Mishra is a Mahant or Hindu Temple Leader at the heart of this traditional culture but also a skilled engineer and now figurehead in this struggle for survival.

Synopsis

A set of variations, in picture and sound. 14 interpretations of a keyboard prelude by J S Bach accompany images taken from a train leaving a station.

Synopsis

Harold and Marian are elderly friends living in Grantham, Lincolnshire. They reveal their very different journeys through the twentieth century, the special ways they have preserved their memories and the secrets of their contentment.

Synopsis

F.A.B.! is a funpacked whiz bang of a documentary. It centres around the making of the popular sixties series Thunderbirds. It is narrated by 'Brains' following a series of interviews with the people who worked on the series, including Gerry Anderson. It also includes film clips and the ever popular music.

Synopsis

Firestation documents the transformation of a derelict fire station into studios and living space for artists. This tightly structured film poem confronts the present with the past: the building's war-time role is recalled in archive images and by women who served in it as Auxiliary Fire Service Officers.

Synopsis

A thirty-minute documentary in which five daughters of different ages, races and backgrounds talk honestly and passionately about their experiences of growing up with absent fathers due to divorce, being sent abroad as a child, adultery, premature death and illegitimacy.

Synopsis

Goldie, the Godfather of Drum and Bass, takes us on a roller coaster ride through his frenetic life. A journey that takes us from Wolverhampton to Tokyo, Miami to Hong Kong; through his years in council care and his life as a musician and international pop star. Along the way we meet his family, his collaborators and his celebrated friends, David Bowie and Noel Gallagher.

Synopsis

A documentary including 2 and 3D which examines the sonic landscape occupied by a boy from Siberia, pre and post perestroika. From the strident anthems of the young pioneers to the dissonance of punk rock. With divas and throat singers.

Synopsis

This documentary examines the new work of Tim Macmillan, one of Britain's most exciting and contemporary photographers, who produces still and moving tableaux that capture time and space, known as 'time-slice', Tim's own technical and conceptual innovation. His most recent project on Lundy Island is the backdrop to understanding Tim's work, and the process of filming in a hostile environment is interwoven with the time-slice material.

Synopsis

Ivan moved to London in the late 60's, and one day decided not to add to the rubbish in London by keeping it all.

Synopsis

Making Mimi is a documentary about one of Britain's foremost exponents of Arabic dance. Half English and half Sicilian, Wendy Buonaventura has pioneered the development of Arabic dance as a theatre art in the West through her writing, choreography and performance. This documentary follows Wendy as she rehearses a new show with her company of all female dancers. It also travels with her to the Arab quarter of Granada in southern Spain to reveal the Islamic art from which she draws her inspiration and to explore the history of this profoundly bewitching dance form.