Projects in categories: Documentary

Synopsis

Jason Barker’s debut feature documentary A DEAL WITH THE UNIVERSE is a very personal chronicle of becoming a parent. Drawing on the filmed diaries made over the last ten years that document both Jason’s transgender journey as well has his parental journey. This film is groundbreaking in terms of it’s intimate insights into gender identity and new parenthood.

Synopsis

A tale of one North Korean's struggle to leave behind the homeland, this stylised documentary with exclusive access unveils the depths of loss, longing and legacy amongst a community of North Korean defectors who have escaped their homeland to live in the leafy London suburb of New Malden. Official Selection CPH:DOX 2018 - In Competition Next: Wave Award - World premiere Official Selection Sheffield Doc/Fest 2018 - UK premiere

Synopsis

Tekoa is a trendy hipster colony for Israeli settlers on the West Bank, where none of the controversial residents want to speak to the media. From the moment filmmaker Iris Zaki arrives, tension fills the air. She sets up a small pop-up film studio in the middle of the small town, and stays put for over one month in order to meet the young settlers face to face. A simple intervention, which creates a complex chain of reactions from those who eventually agree to talk to her. From a woman who in the middle of an interview admits to being a fascist, to another who has survived a knife attack by a young Palestinian – and has forgiven him. 'Unsettling' is made by Iris Zaki alone as a social experiment that highlights the contrasts and contradictions of the settlers' self-perception, but which does so in something as rare as an active conversation with them. A conceptual ploy that places Zaki's film in the field between artistic practice and political activism, and which reaches beyond blind criticism. (CPH:DOX brochure) Official Selection CPH:DOX 2018 - World premiere

Synopsis

Examining the relationship between ourselves and the other species we share the planet with has opened up new ways to understand our place in the world. This film offers an attempt to give some of these new ways of thinking a cinematic form. An essay based on a field trip to Wyoming's wild nature, in the company of the bio-philosopher David Abram and the two visionary filmmakers Emma Davie and Peter Mettler. And with an abundance of bison, moose and birds. Both form and thought are unchained in a film that ends up moving (far) beyond man's self-centred view of nature, and into a state of almost psychedelic receptiveness. As Mettler asks in a diaristic note: Are language and modern technology a barrier or an open door between ourselves and the world that surrounds us? And what about the medium of film itself? Official Selection CPH:DOX 2018 - World premiere

Synopsis

The story of TED Prize-winner Sugata Mitra’s attempt to pioneer a new form of education, seen through the eyes of children in an Indian village and in a northern British town, whose lives are being transformed by his ideas. The film poses the question "What kind of education do children need in the networked world?" Official Selection CPH:DOX 2018 - World premiere

Synopsis

A sombre and intimate portrait of notorious villain Freddie Foreman, now aged 85 and seeking a catharsis from his sins. The former London gangster Freddie Foreman is the only one of his generation who survived the English underworld long enough to be able to tell the tale. And this is exactly what he does in 'Fred': Tells his story. Today, he is 85 years old and lives alone in a nursing home, allegedly with several murders to his name and with his memories intact. A long and critical interview with the East End boy who grew up in the turbulent era of the war and became one of London's most notorious gangsters in the 1960s and 1970s, when he hung out with pop stars and football players, is the thread running through Paul van Carter's self-reflective portrait of the criminal mastermind. A film that balances between true crime, deep journalism and colourful cock-and-bull tales from another era with Swinging London as its backdrop. The conversation with the charismatic Foreman unfolds against a richly detailed (pop-)cultural and historical background, where myth and truth meet – not least when he visits the set of the Tom Hardy film 'Legend'. Dark psychology and captivating storytelling in a masterful film. (CPH:DOX brochure) Official Selection CPH:DOX 2018 - World premiere

Synopsis

A short documentary about the only helpline in the UK for gay farmers. Through a series of recorded telephone conversations and reconstructive visuals, the film uses the helpline as a lens through which to view the experiences of LGBTQ people in the British farming community. In a world that prizes traditional masculinity and in which ideas of ancestry are fundamental, being gay can be isolating. Candid, intimate and shocking, the film offers a snapshot of a group of people bound together by circumstance, but so often disconnected from each other. Official Selection CPH:DOX 2018 - International premiere

Synopsis

The official documentary about maverick Manchester comedian Frank Sidebottom, and the life and art of his hidden creator Chris Sievey. Frank Sidebottom, remembered fondly as the man with the papier-mâché head, was the court jester of the Manchester music and comedy scene for over 25 years, but only a privileged few knew the man inside. BEING FRANK tells a twisted tale of split personalities – a suburban superhero with a fanatical desire to preserve the myth he created, and eventually having to battle against being consumed by his alter ego. Drawing on unique archive footage of Chris and Frank, sourced from Sievey's own extensive archive of Super 8 film, VHS tapes and DVDs, a heartbreaking and hilarious look at what it takes to be a true artist. Official Selection SXSW Film Festival 2018 - World premiere

Synopsis

Documenting Ghanaian housing activist Dora Boatemah and the Angell Town community in Brixton, London fighting for better housing conditions. Central to Boatemah's work was the right of tenants to vote on the future of their own estates. Dora died in 2001 at the age of 43. Official Selection Rotterdam International Film Festival 2018 - World premiere

Synopsis

Three young women reflect on adolescence as a period marked by loss of ‘voice’ and the struggle between competing desires for autonomy and connection.

Synopsis

Exploring the ever-changing face of South Korea since the Sewol ferry disaster that tragically killed 304 people, mainly high school children, in April 2014. The film takes us on a journey through Korean modern history exploring the changes the country has gone through since April 16th 2014 It encompasses emotional re-enactment narrations from survivors, interviews with family members, activists, historians and the general public, as we go in search of how Korea came to yet another crossroad in its history.

Synopsis

An inside look into the world of conspiracies; following Darren Nesbit (aka Daz Nez), a singer song writer and activist who wants to convince you that the earth, is in fact, flat.