Projects in categories: Documentary

Synopsis

Our planet is full of life. From vast oceans to wide-open skies, the diversity of life here seems infinite. But one of those here on earth has been changing the balance for all of its residents. Yet this is a story of hope. Meet the people and communities who are making a difference and showing us the way to a brighter, wilder future. Restoring our natural world and restoring our faith in humankind across Britain's WILD ISLES.

Synopsis

The astonishing true story of Scotland's most notorious imposter. Top of the class, acing exams, taking the lead in the school musical. He’s the model pupil, until he's unmasked… In 1993, 16-year-old Brandon Lee enrolled at Bearsden Academy, a secondary school in a well-to-do suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. What followed over the next two years became the stuff of legend. Brandon had been privately tutored in Canada while he accompanied his mother, an opera diva, on tour before her tragic death. The preternaturally bright student surprised teachers by blazing toward his goal of entering medical school, displaying a wealth of knowledge beyond his years. Brandon found friends despite his initial awkwardness. He took bullied students under his wing, introduced classmates to seminal retro bands, and even starred in the school's production of South Pacific. But then his unbelievable secret was revealed. Filmmaker Jono McLeod returns to his old school for a nostalgic look at the strange but true story of his former classmate, Brandon Lee. Utilising playful, period-specific animation, a pitch-perfect soundtrack, the memories of students and teachers, and the talents of Alan Cumming to bring the tale to life, My Old School offers more than one surprise along the way. Official Selection Sundance Film Festival 2022 - World premiere

Synopsis

The career of Israeli photo reporter Micha Bar-Am, born in Berlin in 1930, thus becomes an assembly of iconic snapshots, enlargements and contact sheets which serve as the score for two voices. Official Selection Berlin International Film Festival 2022 - World premiere

Synopsis

Focusing on the Haskell Free Library and Opera House – a unique municipal site that straddles the jurisdictions of Canada and the United States – the work continually recasts the border as at once powerful yet facile, absurd yet lethal. Filmed on location to activate the legal and symbolic potential of the site, 45th PARALLEL unfolds as a monologue in five acts, performed by acclaimed filmmaker Mahdi Fleifel. The story centres on Hernández vs. Mesa, a judicial case covering the fatal shooting in 2010 of an unarmed fifteen-year-old Mexican national by a US Border Patrol agent. At the supreme court Mesa’s bullet, which crossed the US/Mexico border, began to implicate missiles fired in Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Somalia and Libya. If this murder could be tried in the US, so too could 91,340 drone strikes. Official Selection New York Film Festival 2022 - World premiere Official Selection International Film Festival Rotterdam 2023

Synopsis

As the Environmental Officer for Saint Helena’s doomed airport, Annina witnessed the unearthing of a terrible secret - a mass burial ground of 8,000 formerly enslaved Africans. Haunted by this injustice - and echoes of her childhood in Apartheid Namibia - she now fights for memorialisation of these forgotten victims. Official Selection Tribeca Film Festival 2022 - Documentary Competition - World premiere

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A reflection on how the weight of the past walks with us and the indifference of the ever-present, observant sea. Official Selection International Short Film Festival Oberhausen 2022

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Machines are checking and sorting nature in an industrial greenhouse. Human hands only intervene to straighten anything that is crooked, plant delicate items, or clean the mechanics to ensure things continue to run smoothly. Official Selection Berlin International Film Festival 2022 - World premiere

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Brothers Saud and Nadeem were raised looking at a sky speckled with black kites, watching as relatives tossed meat up to these birds of prey. Muslim belief held that feeding the kites would expel troubles. Now, birds are falling from the polluted, opaque skies of New Delhi and the two brothers have made it their life’s work to care for the injured black kites. Official Selection Sundance Film Festival 2022 - World Cinema Documentary Competition - World premiere

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Professional wrestler Gia Adam and teacher Gabrielle Brown slowly unite and face their biggest challenge to date.

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We follow the constantly shifting Thames downstream, in all its infinite richness, acknowledging how human intervention has shaped it, but also how the river continues to influence the lives of those who live around it, from source to mouth.

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DUST & METAL (CAT BUI & KIM LOAI) brings together for the first time a live cinema documentary featuring past and present stories of freedom in Vietnam. With a population of 97 million, and 45 million registered motorbikes (the highest in South East Asia) that’s almost one bike for every two people. The urban roads and ‘hem’ alleys are only accessible by two-wheels. These roads are awash with the transportation of goods of all types and sizes on the back of motorbikes, including washing machines, entire families, and chickens. The sounds of engines and horns create a symphony of Vietnamese life. In a unique partnership with the Vietnam Film Institute, archive film is edited alongside contemporary footage and a live score composed/performed by Vietnamese artist Xo Xinh. Official Selection Sheffield DocFest 2022 - Rhythms - World premiere

Synopsis

Although she is regularly featured in Vogue, designer Amy Powney of it-girl brand Mother of Pearl is an outsider, raised off the grid in rural England. Increasingly troubled by her role in fashion’s environmental impact, Amy makes a decision – transform her business model and make it sustainable or leave fashion entirely. Amy embarks on her quest, sparking a movement along the way. Official Selection Tribeca Film Festival 2022 - Spotlight Documentary - World premiere