Projects in categories: Documentary

Synopsis

In this wryly observed piece, the filmmaker and his cranky father finally head to the neglected home where his grandparents once lived. Like the chalet itself, the men’s relationship is long untended. Sorting through the dusty relics proves to be an emotional task.

Synopsis

My grandmother was a T'ung-yang-hsi. It is a tradition of pre-arranged marriage, selling a young girl to another family to be raised as a future daughter-in-law. The audiences may glimpse the past, imagine women's situation in our times, and look forward to striving for real gender equality in the future. Official Selection Hot Docs Festival 2021 - World premiere

Synopsis

Virtual reality project by Human Studio seeking to demonstrate the ‘personality of a place’, via a combination of original 360° filming, archive imagery and audio interviews. Official Selection Immersive Futures Lab, BEYOND 2022 (Cardiff)

Synopsis

SPEAKING IN SILENCE gently explores the experience of Selective Mutism from within. Selective Mutism is an anxiety disorder, through which the sufferer is unable to speak in many social settings. Extending far beyond shyness, the silence becomes an insurmountable wall to the outside world. A wall built on fear. Told from the filmmaker’s perspective the documentary forms a time traveling poem-come-warning of the challenge to agency faced in the condition. The story is addressed to Saarah, a young Londoner struggling with the shifting challenges of mutism as she moves into adolescence.  A fellow voiceless soul that the filmmaker encountered just in time. 

Synopsis

A filmmaker delves into the world of online sex workers by becoming one herself using a false persona on OnlyFans. Realising it's not as straightforward as she first thought, she begins pushing her own boundaries to attract followers. But will it ever be enough?

Synopsis

THE EARTH ASLEEP discovers hidden truths and forgotten histories about the 2011 Great East Thoku earthquake and tsunami, the most powerful disaster ever recorded in Japan. The documentary includes invaluable archive research, testimonies, ceremonial rites, spiritual beliefs, bringing a sensitive understanding of loss and trauma. Image, poetry and music intertwine in an evocative rhythmic montage of archive and original visual elements, with a score beautifully rendered and inspired by Japanese instruments, and a poem on-screen highlighting the role of the metaphor, to mark the 10th year commemoration of the lost and missing people. The Earth Asleep is commissioned by HOME, Arts Council England and The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation. Supported by University of Salford.

Synopsis

A personal, visual essay about gender transition - focusing on the social context and exploring how the world is different living as female compared to being perceived as male. Jack tells his story by using and reframing gender focused tropes and imagery from popular culture, mythology, history and art.

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At the edge of the Moroccan Sahara a man contemplates his nomadic past and the turn his life has taken, whilst scientists in a German lab analyse deep-sea mud cores to unravel the Earth’s history.

Synopsis

From its DIY collaborative origins in London council estates and pirate radio, via its intricate musical influences, to a complicated emergence into the mainstream, this immersive and exciting documentary tracks the evolution of Grime music. With extraordinary access to the key originators, producers and musicians from the subculture, as well as behind the scenes footage and a wealth of archive, the film combines a nuanced overview of the genre with a vivid sense of its socio-political context and impact across three decades of rocky UK history and reactionary politics. Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2021 - Create - World premiere

Synopsis

Guided by his grandmother’s haunting Sumerian lament, we follow 9-year-old mute Ali as he takes his favourite sheep for sacrifice. Over this perilous journey they bear witness to the beauty and unravel the ills of Iraq but can they cure them with a sacrifice? A lyrical coming-of-age story. Official Selection Sheffield Doc Fest 2021 - UK Competition - World premiere

Synopsis

The film investigates the 20 December 1995 tragic loss of American Airlines flight 965 from Miami to Cali, Colombia. The plane crashed whilst on approach, killing 159 people onboard. Only four passengers and a dog survived the crash. The accident investigators of the time concluded the Boeing 757 accident was primarily caused by pilot error. Why two of American Airlines most experienced pilots actually made the errors they did that night, that question, was never been fully investigated until now. AMERICAN 965 looks at evidence the investigators never considered and flight safety critical evidence the aviation industry knew but was not brought to the investigators attention. Through extensive research and interviews with family members, survivors, air accident investigators and other experts, as well as a never seen before complete 3D recreation of the accident, Loraine offers a plausible new possible cause for why this tragic accident occurred. The film leaves us asking why did the aviation industry never reveal to investigators key information they knew. Information every passenger should know. Directed and produced by Captain Tristan Loraine, a former British Airways Boeing 757 Captain and union Health & Safety representative, the film comes after nearly 20 years of research by the director.

Synopsis

An experiment based on the "E.S.T." process and therapy. "E.S.T." is an experiment where someone is locked inside a room in complete obscurity for a month or longer in order to cure any ailment.