Projects in categories: Documentary

Synopsis

In 1928 at the age of eleven, Harry Birrell was given his first cine camera. ‘The greatest toy a child could ever receive’ he would say. His obsession with making movies would span the rest of the 20th century, despite the onset of blindness. In love, war and other adventures Harry recorded everything with a wonderfully cinematic eye on thousands upon thousands of feet of high quality 16mm film. From commanding a battalion of Ghurkas in the Indian army at the start of the WWII, to dangerous sorties deep behind enemy lines in Burma at its end; from the ballroom dances of his youth in the 1930s to teaching his children to twist in the 1960s: Harry’s entertaining and errant adventures are filmed with the intimacy of home movies but on the scale of 'Lawrence of Arabia'. Today, his granddaughter Carina, uncovers a lifetime of memories all spliced together in over 400 films, personal diaries (narrated by Richard Madden) and countless photographs that have previously lain undiscovered, along with the many cans of cine film, in rusting metal trunks in a garden shed. It’s one man’s cinematic vision of the 20th Century and his own personal journey through it.

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Writer and musician PJ Harvey and award-winning photographer Seamus Murphy hatched a collaboration - seeking first-hand experience of the countries she wanted to write about, Harvey accompanied Murphy on some of his worldwide reporting trips, joining him in Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Washington DC. Harvey collected words, Murphy collected images. Back home, the words become poems, songs, then an album, which is recorded in an unprecedented art experiment in Somerset House, London. In a specially constructed room behind one-way glass, the public - all cameras surrendered - are invited to watch the five week process as a live sound-sculpture. Murphy exclusively documents the experiment with the same forensic vision and private access as their travels. By capturing the immediacy of their encounters with the people and places they visited, Murphy shows the humanity at the heart of the work, tracing the sources of the songs, their special metamorphosis into recorded music, and ultimately, cinema. Official Selection Berlinale 2019 - Panorama Dokumente - World premiere

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The Syrian war has raged on for over seven years, leaving hundreds of thousands of children traumatised - many of them living in refugee camps having fled the country. Professor and musician Nigel Osborne has been working in such situations since 1992, when he discovered the positive effects music therapy was having on children in Bosnia affected by such trauma. Since then Nigel’s techniques have been developed and are now utilised as part of a creative arts programme delivered to children traumatised by war - but how do these methods work, and do they really make a difference to the lives of children who have experienced unspeakable horrors and pain at such a young age? Official Selection Tribeca Film Festival 2019

Synopsis

A movie shot over a weekend at the Durban International Film Festival, South Africa, in July 2018 by the underground South African collective Medu African Film Ensemble (aka Medu AF). With a sense of mischief and minimal resources pooled together by its contributors, the film tells the story of Fanon - a Black female filmmaker - beset by her demons ten floors up in an oceanside hotel, gazing out over African shores during the hermetically-sealed weirdness that is the world of a film festival. Using elements of fiction and documentary, the film follows Fanon as she wrestles with what the film industry expects her to be, and not to be, as she readies herself to pitch her first film. Fanon navigates this uncharted territory, while a supporting cast of real-world, “leading, industry professionals”, seated in her hotel room but never seeming to address her directly, dish out advice straight to camera - are they apparitions or voices in her head? Behind-the-scenes shifts to front-of-scene and back again, theory blends with praxis, as it becomes less and less clear who has the reins, unsettling the foundations of the so-called proper way of doing things. Official Selection Berlinale 2019 - Forum Expanded - World premiere

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An intimate window into how virtual reality (VR) app VRChat is affecting people's social lives for the better. This whimsical documentary tells the story of a couple that fall in love inside tangible VR, as well as two friends meeting up in real life for the first time.

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A short documentary about the life of a middle aged man, suffering from schizophrenia and chronic depression.

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BEYOND 'THERE'S ALWAYS A BLACK ISSUE DEAR' captures a vital historical period shedding new light on British LGBTQ history, circa 1970s and 80s. Creating their own identities in a time when, ‘if you were black you could be either Reggae or Soul’ the cast vividly recall daring to be different.

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A reporter interviews a rough sleeper.

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Between 2011 and 2015 UK adventurer Sarah Outen traversed the globe. For her expedition London2London: Via The World, Sarah was the engine, travelling by bike, kayak and rowing boat across Europe and Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America and finally the Atlantic. Sarah’s incredible four-year odyssey saw her travel over 20,000 miles. As she migrated between cultures, climates and landscapes under her own power, Sarah’s inspirational voyage was followed by thousands, hooked on her infectious humour and love of life. But travelling mostly solo, the trip took its toll, and the punishing elements, ticking clock and months of solitude pushed Sarah to the physical and mental brink. Woven out of hundreds of hours of footage from the expedition, Home intimately and unflinchingly captures Sarah’s journey: the kindness of strangers, the wonders of the wild, the savagery of the elements, the near-death experiences, the demons of her emotional trauma and PTSD, and her discovery of love for a farmer called Lucy. Home is a story of heart and soul, of hardship and joy, and one woman’s trek towards true emotional acceptance.

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A real life "superhero", a YouTuber and a camgirl explain why they choose to share -or hide- their chronic illnesses online. When you're too ill for IRL, where do you turn?

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An elderly couple search for Ausfahrt; a place they have only seen on signposts.

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11-year-old Andre and his story about his inspiration to pursue a ballet career in a one long take short film.