Partially blinded by an unknown illness aged 4 and sent out to work on the tough streets of Kano in Nigeria aged 9, Aisha Sani Abdullahi's life chances were not great. However, a chance meeting sent Aisha's life in a completely different direction. Aisha's Song is an energetic and beautifully shot 16mm documentary that uses the sounds of street life in Kano in order to create a vibrant and organic soundscape. Musically lush and uplifting, the film is a positive story of female empowerment from a part of the world where women are all too often overlooked.
This short film tells the story of Ash, a mixed-race girl from Old Trafford, Manchester, UK. On a youth referral scheme, we see Ash travel to the iconic Salford Lads Club where she takes up boxing as a way of dealing with her troubled past. By portraying Ash’s experience of the sport, the film highlights how the boxing ring can be a neutral space where race and neighborhood politics are left outside.
The film looks at not only Ash’s own experience of racism, but also the preconceptions she and others hold about other people and places.
Clench demonstrates how boxing can become the ultimate visual tool for communication between generations, highlighting that every person has a story to tell regardless of how they look.
Every year, around 3000 lone children come to the UK from war-zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan, with few documents or evidence but full of expectation.
Hamedullah was protected by the UK Children's Act... but when he turned 18, he's jailed pending deportation. Hamedullah is the story of what happened next.
On a cold snowy winter day, Musa's parents arrive to persuade him to take him back to his home country. However Musa does not want to go, as he does not want to do military service, which is compulsory.
After Dingil Huseyin's asylum application was rejected, he stayed on as an illegal immigrant. Once he was deported to France, but found his way back to the UK. On his friend's advice he attempts a fake marriage but is cheated and loses the little money he has.
Musa and Huseyin decide to go to Canada for a fresh start. Musa, Huseyin and their friend, Haco - a compulsive storyteller - meet in an old building in a London suburb on a hot summer day. Mehmet, who arranged fake passports for them, rehearses them in answering the basic questions they will be asked at control points.
Early in the morning, Musa, Huseyin and Haco leave the UK for their journey towards a new future.
For some the world is not as simple as being pink or blue.
Paul is the proud father of Charlie. But when he discovers that Charlie is secretly struggling with Gender Dysphoria (born the wrong gender) he begins his own struggle to discover what being a father really means.
A simple soccer ball sparks an unusual friendship between two young boys on opposite sides of the Israeli and Palestinian separation wall. Can this wordless and gaze free relationship over come the seemingly inevitable escalation of conflict, manifested by the wall’s towering presence?
The director discovers in late 50`s family archive a Belgium where citizens seem to be in an state of cultural and ethnic harmony.
This road movie reveals the present-day Flemish-Walloon tension, swinging between linguistic exclusivity and nationalistic exhibiton, in the midst of a globalisation process that makes identity clarification difficult.
Madhabilata is a personal film, a journey to touch the wave of silence between me and my biological mother. An intricate embroidery of desire, suffering, denial and ‘looking back’. A painful hide 'n' seek game between me and my mother, between 'real' and 'unreal','self' and 'other' .
Palestine and Israel. Conflicting narratives and a world of preconceptions. Can we see this world differently?
The House of Tomorrow takes a new approach to an old conflict inspired by the forward vision of extraordinary women who are changing their own worlds a step at a time - not by overlooking the conflict but by seeing what people can do despite it.
Shot on location, the film takes us from the high rise tech buildings of Tel Aviv to the holy sites and bustling markets of Jerusalem, from the cobbled lanes of Bethlehem to the expanding streets of Ramallah, capturing the energy and tension of a world defined by it’s clashing viewpoints.
A contemporary and fast-paced documentary, The House of Tomorrow focuses on the future and the idea that people can have a hand in their own destinies, however unlikely and whatever the odds.
The film follows Alice and Jerusha, two young, beautiful, spirited Kenyan girls preparing to leave the children’s centre they have grown up in. An exploration of femininity, adolescence and a portrait of young women 'coming of age' in Africa.
When you change where you are do you change who you are? Set in modern day Tehran, and the UK, I Am Nasrine follows the paths of Nasrine and Ali, sister and brother in a comfortable, middle class Iranian home. When Nasrine has a run-in with the police, the punishment is more than she bargained for. Nasrine and Ali set out for the UK, torn about leaving behind their home and all that they know, embarking on a reluctant exile. Still, for Nasrine, there is undeniable excitement about the prospect of starting a new life in the West.
Nasrine is quick to settle into her new life, making friends, forming bonds, including Nichole from the gypsy/travelers community. All the while her brother Ali struggles with the realities of life in the UK and his awakening sexuality. Then comes 9/11. Things spiral further out of control when an unimaginable tragedy occurs. Nasrine must discover incredible courage within her to accept what fate has dealt her; discovering that the end of her journey is really just the beginning.
Can hope, simple untainted hope, overcome the darkest of tragedies? I Am Nasrine explores these questions and more, and offers answers that are sure to surprise.
