Projects in categories: Documentary

Synopsis

Archive footage, music and voice combine to explore the choreography of childhood and the possibility of childish autonomy. In a world ruled by adults, how does the child in film resist oppression and control? The childish imagination escapes in flights of fantasy, both brief and absorbing. Energy is directed and contained. "I'm live as a battery. Who am I to you?"

Synopsis

Documenting and celebrating the Black British female roller-skating community, showcasing its long history and fixture within popular culture. Blurring the boundaries between documentary and music video, this experimental film reveals the expansive network of London’s Black skate scene through two key individuals that share their stories and delve into what this space and their skate crews and mentors provide them. This joyous exploration gives visibility to a subculture that to many outsiders is unknown but is made familiar through its nostalgic lens which pays homage to the sports DIY and music-led roots. Official Selection Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival 2025

Synopsis

Acclaimed filmmaker Chris Smith (Wham!, Fyre, 100 Foot Wave, and Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond) captures the gloriously radical spirit that is DEVO – a rare band founded by a philosophy; a Dada experiment of high art meets low, hellbent on infiltrating American popular culture. Through never-before-seen archival and interviews with Mark Mothersbaugh, Bob Mothersbaugh, and Jerry Casale, Devo relishes in the highs, lows, surreal moments and incredible performances of a 50-year career, embracing the spectacle of the band from their lo-fi beginnings to pioneers of the music video in the early days of MTV’s cultural dominance. Band members are open with their memories and archives, charting their origins as Kent State University arts students shaped by the activism of the late 1960s. Following the 1970 massacre on their campus, the band’s concept of cultural “De-Evolution” turned from satirical humor to urgent social commentary, and what began as subversive counterprogramming to KSU’s 1973 arts festival would go on to warn of, comment on, and reflect back the absurdism of the late 20th century. Finding mainstream success at the height of 1980s consumerism, Devo soundtracked the De-Evolution they’d long predicted – and influenced a 21st century they’d have never believed. Official Selection Sundance Film Festival 2024 - Premieres - World premiere

Synopsis

Visionary musician and artist Brian Eno– known for producing David Bowie, U2, Talking Heads, among many others; pioneering the genre of ambient music; and releasing over 40 solo and collaboration albums–reveals his creative processes in this groundbreaking generative documentary: a film that’s different every time it’s shown. Official Selection Sundance Film Festival 2024 - New Frontier - World premiere

Synopsis

Two out of work actors attempt the impossible task of mounting a full production of Hamlet inside the ultra violent world of Grand Theft Auto, shot entirely in game. It’s January 2021. The UK has just entered its 3rd lockdown and all theatres remain closed. For actors Sam and Mark, the future looks bleak. As the pandemic drags on Mark, who lives alone is increasingly socially isolated, while Sam is panicking about how he is going to support his family. They channel their midlife frustrations by immersing their avatars in the horrifically violent yet beautifully rendered virtual world of Grand Theft Auto online. They steal cars and shoot strangers, but also find moments of calm reflection walking through meadows of wildflowers. In one gaming session they stumble across a theatre and have an idea. Why not stage Hamlet inside the game? Well, there are several reasons why not, chiefly that most people in the game are intent on murderous destruction, not polite appreciation of a theatrical production. But wasn’t theatre just as dangerous and rowdy a business in Shakespeare’s time, and isn’t Hamlet, a play about revenge the perfect choice for this place? Official selection SXSW 2024 - Documentary Competition - World premiere Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2024

Synopsis

In 1985, the Irish village of Ballinspittle was the site of a mass visionary experience. Worshippers at the local grotto saw the statue of Mary move. Almost forty years later, a handful of local devotees remain, including the statue’s dutiful caretaker Patrick Joseph Simms. Here, the film documents both the mystical landscape of rural Irish Catholicism and a terrible darkness beneath its surface. The film uses a non-realist form and style in order to depict the transcendent experience of its subjects. In so doing, it attempts to offer a credibility to the experience of the film’s participants, whose voices have been deliberately dismissed by the institution that oversees their faith. Official Selection Uppsala Short Film Festival 2024

Synopsis

Filmmaker Thomas Pickering has never eaten meat. Born in the 1980’s and raised vegetarian, before switching to a vegan diet, Tom’s always believed he’s been doing right by the animals, his own health, and - more recently - the planet. Despite this he still can’t go a day without hearing from others why they could never go vegan. From “where do you get your protein” and “soya is killing the rainforests” to “vegan food is expensive” and “climate change doesn’t exist”, he’s heard it all. With no sign of these arguments against his lifestyle choice going away, Tom sets out on a quest to investigate the many reasons he’s heard over the years, and see if they’re unjustified, or whether his upbringing was one big plant based con. On his journey Tom tracks down several top athletes, witnessing world records, championship successes and an 84-year-old taking part in his sixth ultra-marathon. He speaks to doctors, environmental scientists, psychologists and chefs. He follows investigative journalists and activists as he goes undercover into factory farms, where he learns the A Rating awarded to the UK for its farming practise isn’t what it seems. At the end of it all, Tom tries to piece together this complex picture as he finds a clear link between the way we treat animals, the effect it has on our planet, and our own health.

Synopsis

In this ode to fútbol and Colombia’s Caribbean region, Daniel—a Colombian-British filmmaker—recalls his first memory of the sport he loves: the 1993 championship final between Junior de Barranquilla and América de Cali that he watched on a VHS tape with his father in London. Through conversations between Daniel, his father and two uncles, JUNIOR TU PAPÁ pieces together fragments of waning memory to collectively remember a time in Colombian history when fútbol was a national obsession. A distraction from the relentless violence the country faced while Colombia’s national team was considered one of the best teams in the world. Official Selection Festival Internacional de Cortometrajes Cine a la Calle 2024 Official Selection New York Colombian Film Festival 2024 Official Selection Festival Internacional de Cine de Cartagena de Indias 2024 Official Selection True/False Film Fest 2024

Synopsis

From the deep snow of the Belarusian forest to the heat of the reeds in the French Camargue, Mother Vera is the story of a young Orthodox nun; her turbulent past, and fragile future. Revealed through spellbinding visual language echoing the rigid discipline of monastic life, we enter the enclosed, shadowy spaces of a convent outside Minsk. Sound and silence submerge us in the rhythm of the place. At the monastery farm, two hundred men live in rehabilitation. They are a mirror to Vera’s old life. Faced with a life-changing decision, Vera must confront her past to find the freedom she desires. Official Selection Visions du Réel 2024 Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2024 - Documentary Competition

Synopsis

Phil Thomas was a painter and decorator for over 30 years before deciding to devote his every waking moment and energy to art and become an artist painter full time. As he himself says ‘painter to painter’

Synopsis

Zero opportunity, poverty and crime. Common themes in the housing estates of Sunderland, North East England where POISED is set. A once proud region of industry. Now a wasteland scattered with the relics of the past, as generations of government continue to neglect it. Steven France, community activist and mixed martial arts coach (MMA), haunted by the death of step-father 'Mickey', found MMA as his saviour from the trappings of these very estates. Determined to force change from within. His objective; to do the same with a group of youngsters, each facing their own unique challenges. Be it battles with drugs to unemployment and poverty, the weight of terminal illness or the trials of immigration abandoning family, thousands of miles away. Can MMA save young people from the toughest parts of our society? A universal underdog tale - there is a version of POISED happening in every city, town or village the world over, each with it's own unique twist. This is ours.

Synopsis

The uncanny absurdism of an Israeli theme park built in the Palestinian West Bank becomes a tragic allegory for the delusions that are needed to make sense of Israeli society. Official Selection DOC NYC 2024