Projects in categories: Documentary

Synopsis

In Alexandra, South Africa, where two thirds of the women are survivors of abuse, a group of mothers are on a mission to change the fate of their neighbourhood, right from the beginning.
Through a series of intimate, and at times uncomfortable, conversations, 1001 DAYS takes the audience on a journey. Through the chaotic and narrow streets of Alexandra, we follow the fearless and charismatic health-workers Zanele, Thandiwe and Khosi. They are three mothers from the heart of the community, who doggedly support hundreds of new mothers, during some of their happiest–and lowest–moments. Their aim: to help new mothers during the first 1001 days of their babies' lives, which are the most critical in any human’s life.
Official Selection Sheffield DocFest 2023 - World premiere
Official Selection IDFA 2023 - Luminous - International premiere

Synopsis

Calum Storrie is an artist, writer and designer. He has designed exhibitions for, among others, the Royal Academy, Wellcome Collection and the Museum of London (most recently ‘London Calling’). His book the 'Delirious Museum' is published by Bloomsbury.
This documentary captures Storrie making art, collaborating with musicians and artists of different creative disciplines, from soundscapes, music scores, painting and walking the city. Filmed over six months in and around Hackney London, with a visit to Dundee, Scotland in the middle.

Synopsis

Developed out of workshops with staff at the biosciences research facility National Horizons Centre, this film explores the wider impact of routine machine processes on human and non-human recipients. Shot on 16mm colour film on location at Teesmouth National Nature Reserve, it focuses on the seal population of Seal Sands.
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2024

Synopsis

REGENERATION tells the story of how the mining industry came to an end, including discussion around the miners' strike of 1984-1985. The film also includes archive footage, interviews, and a picture of what life is like now in the Dearne Valley.

Synopsis

Embark on a cinematic experience where art, music, and environmental advocacy seamlessly converge.
An immersive documentary film about the extraordinary journey aboard the 70-ton sailing ship, Arka Kinari, ingeniously transformed into a cultural platform to amplify the urgent call for action on the climate crisis.
Delve into the inspiring voyage across oceans of musicians Filastine & Nova, connecting distant shores through the unifying language of music and art to raise awarenessabout climate resilience on a global scale.

Synopsis

An intimate film portrait of British punk singer-songwriter and Libertines’ legendary front man, Pete Doherty, as he plunges into the depths of addiction at the very height of his popularity. Over a period of 10 years, Doherty was intimately filmed by director-musician Katia deVidas. We experience, in the artist’s own words, Doherty’s moving and emotionally charged fight to overcome his demons and emerge from darkness back into the light.
Official Selection Zurich Film Festival 2023 - World premiere

Synopsis

Cinema Has Been My True Love: The Work and Times of Lynda Myles

In Mark Cousins’ meditative documentary, Lynda Myles, an influential connoisseur of cinema, reflects on her adventures in the film culture she helped establish. From 1973 to 1980, as the first female director of any festival, Myles transformed the Edinburgh Film Festival into a vibrant, iconoclastic mecca of discovery, championing the work of overlooked auteurs including Hitchcock, Sirk and Sam Fuller.
Official selection Telluride Film Festival 2023 - World premiere

Synopsis

Told by the pioneering women who participated, this is the extraordinary story of the unofficial 1971 Women's World Cup, a football tournament witnessed by record crowds that has been written out of sporting history - until now.
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2023 - World premiere
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2023

Synopsis

The heroic story of young orphaned girls whose music school was closed after the Taliban took over Afghanistan, as they escape to Portugal to try and rebuild their fractured lives and begin to play music again.
Official Selection Telluride Film Festival 2023 - World premiere

Synopsis

A live cinema performance about a world where global cultures are nearing extinction. The protagonists are led by Meenakshi, a ‘cultural cyborg’ built to preserve Indian heritage and create harmony through Indian performative traditions. The immersive visuals consist of 3D video games, AI art and motion captured dance, while presenting an anthology of stories from India in 2079 AD, following a motley crew who playfully connect heritage, science and society through the lens of emergent Indian electro-classical dance music.
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2023

Synopsis

GHOSTS OF SOLID AIR is an experiential Augmented Reality (AR) story that you do on your phone - Voices guide you on a journey from Trafalgar Square to the Houses of Parliament. As you move, you encounter a ghost world layered right on top of us all the time - shadows who shimmer in and out vision, haunting the streets and whispering messages into the air. These are people from across time who were radicalised through personal experience and forced into disobedient action.
Obey those in charge at your peril, they say. Speak up! And you will be heard. Through an encounter with those who have been pushed beyond their tipping point - this experience asks: where does disobedience come from? And is it for love or rage that we break peace with the conditions of now? Walk with the ghosts - and decide for yourself.
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2023

Synopsis

Political engagement spawned the wildest of wonderlands for Hong Kong’s creativity – but as a new law annihilates freedom of expression overnight, artists and creatives find themselves targets and their works disappeared. We race to preserve the creative uprising amid China’s crackdown.
In June 2020, the day after the National Security Law was imposed, the government started listing words, images, books, slogans, songs that were now deemed illegal - making so much that was ‘normal', forbidden.
Hong Kong Mixtape weaves in the personal story of San the director, as we immerse with these underground artists, including some of Asia’s most famous and iconic creators - rappers, dancers, performers, illustrators, stunt collectives - as they navigate this authoritarian new normal. We also follow San having to ask herself the same questions as the other artists; are you willing to risk a life sentence for your art? And if this the last time we can be home - what do we make now?
Official Selection Glasgow Film Festival 2023 - European Premiere