Projects in categories: Documentary

Synopsis

Filmmaker Sean McAllister return to his hometown of Hull as creative director of the opening ceremony of the City of Culture celebrations, where he reflects on the changes to a city hit by cuts in public spending and divided by Brexit. The film follows local resident Steve Arnott, a struggling warehouse worker by day and hip-hop performer by night, who harbours his own creative dream. “Back home in Hull, where I began, I have been filming Steve and wondering whether he can, against the odds, unlock the opportunities to build a better life? Is social mobility possible in cities like Hull? What role does culture have to play in this? How long can he hold onto his dreams for?” (Sean McAllister) Official Selection Sheffield Doc/Fest 2018 - Opening Night Film

Synopsis

Amá is the Navajo word for Mother. This powerful and shocking documentary from Lorna Tucker exposes the forced sterilisation of thousands of Native American women by the USA Government. Made alongside a group of incredible Native producers, consultants and the survivors themselves, Tucker travels across some of the loneliest parts of the USA meeting the brave survivors, doctors, politicians and whistle-blowers who have brought to light this horrifying scandal. Uncovering the grotesque abuses of power in modern American history. The film’s release has encouraged women to come forward to share their stories of being subjected to the violence of forced sterilisation suggesting that this abuse continues to persist in the USA and around the world, posing the question: when will this suffering end?

Synopsis

Following eleven modern-day Jewish bikers on an epic journey from Tel-Aviv to Berlin, crossing nine European countries and 4,500km in twenty-four days. Their mission, to deliver the Maccabi torch to Hitler’s infamous 1936 Olympic stadium, for the opening ceremony of the 2015 European Maccabiah Games. These riders follow in the tracks of the early 1930s’ bikers who set out from Tel Aviv to all corners of Europe. Their mission, to seek out athletes to compete in the first Maccabiah Games. En route, each country holds a chilling resonance for our motor-cycling Holocaust survivors, descendants of survivors and the grandson of a 1930’s Maccabiah Rider. Stories of defiance and survival are revealed, as well as those of horrifying tragedy. The juxtaposition of the present and past is the underlying thread of this Biker-Flick meets Holocaust film mixing archival footage with the 2015 journey. As resurgent populism and anti-Semitism once again rear their ugly heads, this film brings an important message through the voice of those who have been personally affected by one of the darkest pages in human history. This isn’t simply a “Jewish” story. It is the story of people overcoming the worst from fellow man to restate our common humanity.

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Dr Lynda Boothroyd of the University of Durham is asked to take a deeper look at the cultural and scientific reason for growing a beard. Her interview is accompanied by a series of intimate portraits of those with beards and their stories.

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The story of a group of children born in the High Himalayas of Nepal - a remote area of great natural beauty but where life is extremely tough. From just four years old, some children are sent by their parents to the capital city, Kathmandu, to a school run by a Buddhist monk in the hope that education will give them a better chance in life. For ten years or more they do not see or speak to their parents, due to the remoteness of their villages. Now, upon graduation, aged 16, the children are making the trek home: an arduous and lengthy journey across mountains that takes them to the highest inhabited place on the planet; a faraway, off-grid land where the way of life has not changed for thousands of years, and where their parents are waiting to see children brought up in a world of mobile phones, social media and most modern conveniences. And then the earthquake strikes. This film documents the children and their families' scary, moving, funny and humbling stories.

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Through the interspecies gaze we observe one of the most ancient and highly honoured dog breeds, the Saluki. Guiding us in love, preparing us in death and transforming us in life. Official Selection Hot Docs 2019 - International premiere

Synopsis

'Fleshback: Queer Raving in Manchester’s Twilight Zone’ celebrates the long and vivid history of alternative queer raving in the North of England, placing Manchester at the forefront of progressive queer rave culture.

Synopsis

From BAFTA winning director Ben Anthony and BAFTA winning Executive producer Morgan Matthews, this ambitious feature documentary brings together multiple stories from the Grenfell Tower fire – the most devastating tower block fire in European history. On June 14th 2017, fire ripped through Grenfell Tower - one of the poorest tower blocks situated in London’s richest borough, Kensington and Chelsea, where the average price of a home is £1.4 million. The fire claimed the lives of 72 people - many of them social housing tenants. This tragedy left a community distraught, with many asking questions about how this could happen in contemporary British society. Filmed over the course of the year following the fire, this meticulously crafted documentary draws from hundreds of hours of observational footage, archive and social media content and features the largest collection of interviews with those connected to the tragedy to be gathered together on film. In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, the filmmakers were embedded with people who were displaced by the fire, as well as with those who had lost love ones. ‘Grenfell’ tells the story from within the community, including residents from the tower such as Edward Daffarn who predicted the fire in a blog two years earlier when he raised serious concerns about the safety of the building. The film also shows how, during a recent refurbishment of the building in 2014, dangerously flammable cladding was applied to the exterior – one of the factors that is now understood to have exacerbated the fire, allowing it to spread so quickly. Ultimately ‘Grenfell’ captures the incredible human spirit of a community who turned their grief into action and began an irrepressible fight for justice.

Synopsis

Kath is an artist of the everyday. Inspired by the world around her, Kath's creations are keenly observed, and a far cry from the genteel pieces her contemporaries produce. A proud Yorkshire-woman, Kath reflects on her life and art as she carves her place in the precious world of miniatures. Official Selection Sheffield Doc/Fest 2018 - World premiere Official Selection Sundance Film Festival 2019 - International premiere Official Selection SXSW 2019 - Festival Favorites Official Selection Hot Docs 2019 - World Showcase

Synopsis

This documentary explores the stage version of Trevor Griffiths' seminal 1982 television play, 'Oi For England', for the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs. Looking back to an extensive tour of Inner London community centres before a sell-out run at the Court, it asks: Can theatre or the arts make a difference?

Synopsis

Each moment millions of people are living their lives in completely different ways. In the Western world, the right to study, to get a job, to get married to the person we love, is considered ‘normal’; while these things are happening everywhere in the world they are felt as completely different experiences. This documentary follows four young girls for one day, each living in a different country but awoken by the same dawn in the same meridian: South Sudan, Romania, Palestine, Finland. Our girls are so different from one another and yet so similar in their behaviours, intentions, desires and dreams. With their innocence and spontaneity, children can show us our differences and similarities, portraying their inner beauty and sometimes their tragedy. They teach us to be more sympathetic with “others” and give us a better understanding of our world.

Synopsis

When his 65th birthday approaches, Desmond Gentle, an eccentric piano tuner from London, decides to undertake the most difficult and perilous piano delivery of his career. The challenge entails travelling to the heart of the Indian Himalayas with a 100-year old upright piano, carried across high mountain passes using only yaks and ponies. Destination: a primary school in Lingshed, one of the most isolated settlements in the world, situated 14,000 feet above sea. If Desmond is successful, this will be the highest piano delivery in history, and the crown achievement of his 40-year long career. Official Selection Edinburgh International Film Festival 2018 - World premiere