Projects in categories: Documentary

Synopsis

A filmmaker investigates who tried f*cking up her friends' lives a decade ago. It's 2015 in the quiet suburbs of London, and some anonymous loser attempts to frame a group of teens for smoking weed at school. Luckily, one of the group has now become a promising emerging documentary director ( me :D ), and will stop at nothing to find answers in this short comedy-drama-tragedy documentary, The Following People DO NOT Smoke Weed. Executive produced by Julie Cohen (RBG), Tim Wardle (3 Identical Strangers) and Susan Simnett (Brides), this is a coming-of-age fable that brings to life the skewed priorities, conspiracies and dubious confrontations with power that define our youth...

Synopsis

A personal meditation on the intimate ways our lives are shaped by ongoing colonial histories, how we make sense of this knowing and finding joy. Official Selection CPH:DOX 2026 Centered around the filmmakers’ local park, this film is a celebration of London and the resilience of migrant communities that have shaped the city from its beginnings. It’s about the British Empire Exhibition of 1924-25 and a line which stretches all the way from then to today. It’s about Palestine, which sits along this colonial continuum, and a park full of dancing, BBQs, birthday parties and joy. Through a hybrid form that combines documentary, archival footage, and direct animation this film meditates on the colonial remnants lodged in our lives and asks what it means to celebrate, play, and belong amid the rubble of empire. Official Selection CPH:DOX 2026

Synopsis

Sue died suddenly in 1983, leaving behind three young children. Her son, filmmaker Eamon Bourke, was three and has no memories of his mother. When his father, John, decides to sell their remote cottage in Cumbria, Eamon doesn’t want to let it go, so returns to capture it on film. In the process of clearing the house, Eamon discovers a series of extraordinary cassette tapes recorded by Sue. These cassettes hold the memories Eamon has longed for. Sue’s voice lights up the film. But within the recordings are some devastating moments, including Sue falling ill with hepatitis. The last thing she recorded was her and Eamon singing together. Then another tape is discovered, broken and with a severed reel. Eamon repairs this cassette, revealing a heartbreaking recording that transports him back to the epicentre of the tragedy. Through interviews with his family members, alongside land art, animation and music, THE SOLWAY explores the trauma of losing a parent in early childhood and how the ripples of this grief linger into later life. Set amongst the cinematic beauty of the Lake District, this film has a rare magic to it and offers audiences a space to contemplate their own grief.

Synopsis

A year after 7 October 2023, a British American Jew sets out to find out why 75% of Jewish Israelis support the way the war is being fought in Gaza. The story is told using a combination of discussions and street interviews, AI-generated animation, archive and real-time actuality as the investigation builds towards its disturbing conclusion.

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The coming of age story of 18 year old Charlie Johnson as he navigates neurodivergence, familial mental health challenges and dreams of escaping his ‘small town life’, set against a backdrop of roller discos in the seaside town of St Leonards-on-Sea.

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An intimate observation of Rainbow Mbuangi, a key player for Merseyside Blind Football Club. The film embeds itself within Mbuangi's daily life, documenting the structured routines, intensive training, and social world that orbit his athletic pursuits. Through a rigorous focus on sound - both the necessities of his off-field navigational aids and the specialized, rattling 'soundball' used in the game - the documentary explores the complex relationship between dependence and autonomy. On the pitch, where he is fully reliant on auditory cues, Mbuangi challenges conventional notions of athletic space and visual interpretation.

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Told from the point of view of the 'Second', TALE OF TAPE presents the story of authentic blue-collar Fighters sacrificing everything for that one shot at glory, by any means necessary.

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Looking back over his career, Oscar-winning animator Bob Godfrey describes his start in Animation and the losses he felt as one era ended and his excitement as a new one dawned. This hand-drawn comic documentary is narrated by Bob himself from an interview recorded at the great man's studio.

Synopsis

Structured as a series of classes in cultural organising, this film reconstructs the life of a woman whose literary works and film collaborations became a catalysing force in 20th century political movements. Toni Morrison, Nikky Finney and filmmaker Haile Gerima are among those who testify to Bambara's humour, fierce commitment to collective action and gift for galvanising artists into community work. Official Selection DOC NYC 2025 - World premiere Official SelectionTrue/False Film Festival 2026 Official Selection Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival 2026 Official Selection Sheffield DocFest 2026 - European premiere

Synopsis

Israeli peace activists hold silent vigils in Tel Aviv, displaying photos of Gaza's young victims. Despite facing public backlash, their wordless demonstrations powerfully highlight war's human cost. Official Selection DOC NYC 2025 Academy Awards 2026 - Best Documentary Short Film - Nomination

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A feature documentary journeying into the depths of the COP climate conference in Dubai. Are these enormous get-togethers all about false promises that hinder change? Or are they the only hope we've got for world-saving unity? With his innocuous selfie-stick, filmmaker Josh Appignanesi moves unnoticed through Dubai's seductive slickness to reveal the talks, meetings and backroom parties behind the strange mixture of global cry for help and political jostling that is a COP. Lost in translation, he comes face to face with the irony of an oil baron hosting this last-chance climate saloon in a techno-utopian leisure city -- that, er, happens to be built in a burning desert. But then the business-as-usual is ruptured by a searing encounter with indigenous voices from the frontline of climate injustice…

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Every day, thousands of dairy calves are separated from their mothers at birth. A DAIRY STORY follows Wilma and David Finlay as they risk everything to find a way to keep dairy cows and their calves together. Filmed over two years, we see Wilma and David’s determination to reinvent dairy farming; challenging industry norms by putting nature and animal welfare first. Their path wasn’t easy. They faced criticism and ridicule from their intensive dairy neighbours and almost went bankrupt proving it could work. When Wilma receives a terminal cancer diagnosis, their mission to encourage wider industry adoption of their cow-with-calf system takes on new urgency. This documentary addresses themes of connection and mortality, and topics of animal sentience, the environment and system change. Following calves from birth to weaning, we see the herd's profound capacity for maternal care. A DAIRY STORY shows how changing a farming system changes everything; from the lives of the animals to the wellbeing of the farmers, and perhaps even the future of dairy farming itself. Official Selection IndieCork 2025 - World premiere Official Selection Central Scotland Documentary Festival 2025 - UK premiere