Projects in genres: Human Rights

Synopsis

In August 1990 Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, triggering a war that would reshape the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East. This documentary charts the extraordinary story of the passengers and crew on BA flight 149 who landed in the warzone on the morning of the invasion, becoming Saddam’s hostages in a rapidly escalating international crisis. For decades the British government denied they knew the invasion had begun before the plane landed. Then in 2023, an MI6 officer broke his silence contradicting this official account. The hostages are now launching a legal case against the British Government and British Airways in their search for the truth about why the plane landed in the first place. Official Selection SXSW Film & TV Festival 2025 - World premiere

Synopsis

"I choose not to bring this into our home.” “Well it is in our home, isn’t it?” Newlyweds Jeremy and Norah have recently moved to Ashford, Kent, where they’re trying to start a family, guided by their friendly and punctual fertility app, Try-cycle. Norah, a teacher in a local school, is deeply immersed in the news and social media landscapes, finding validation and purpose through her online interactions. Meanwhile Jeremy, a doctor in a London hospital, yearns for a life less impacted by the plight of others, seeking technology to numb himself from modern day life through the dopamine hits of swipes and likes. As both local and international events take place with direct implications for the couple, Jeremy prefers not to know what is happening, choosing not to read the news at all. But Norah does, a lot. As Norah consumes more and more news, eventually, will it consume her? In a world more globally linked than ever, this thrilling psychological drama explores the role of empathy, where the couple's social media consumptions, communities and world views, differ drastically. A heartfelt exploration of love, loneliness and humanity, when we can't switch off in an “always-on” digital age.

Synopsis

Exploring how war becomes spectacle in the age of endless scrolling. Following a group of young Ukrainians as they watch their country’s destruction unfold online, the film blends vérité intimacy with experimental absurdity to reveal how social media is reshaping our relationship to trauma, detachment, and the limits of empathy.

Synopsis

As thousands of people travel to see the total solar eclipse in Texas, one woman drives from Dallas to New Mexico, in search of a legal abortion. Concurrently, people in a town off the Interstate she is driving along decide whether to crack down on 'abortion traffickers' like her. Official Selection Odense Film Festival 2025 Official Selection Telluride Film Festival 2025

Synopsis

In Chinese, ‘golden-age’ and ‘mirage’ share the same sound. On the 2024 Winter Solstice in Yiwu, China’s largest trading hub, single mother Yu considers closing her accessory shop and returning to her old opera job amid the 2024 economic decoupling. It’s a story of my mum, one day of her life. An experimental cross-cultural moving-image work exploring memory, labour and urban transformation through long-take narrative and hybrid documentary aesthetics. Official Selection 36th JCC Carthage Film Festival - World premiere Official Selection Premiers Plans Film Festival Angers 2026

Synopsis

APPLE GATHERERS explores the loneliness and dissatisfaction in a labour-intensive world of two main characters and the brief reprieve they have in moments of real human connection. The moment is fleeting, yet powerful - at the same time, it can be interpreted as the single strand that binds them to their drudgery. Set at the bottom of a hierarchical apple cider factory where every aspect of apple production is meticulously controlled, the Peeler and the Shoveller wrestle with management to hold onto their humanity. Official Selection PÖFF Shorts - Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2025 Official Selection AFI Fest 2025 Official Selection LIAF - London International Animation Festival 2025

Synopsis

In 2024, 82 people lost their lives crossing the English Channel while seeking safety in the UK - the deadliest year on record. In the wake of grief, a poignant journey along the English coast unveils the darker undercurrents beneath the surface. Archiving the sites and textures of the border architecture in the port town of Dover, the film invites viewers to inhabit the tactile imprints of border violence, in a deeply moving contemplation of how borders shape our relationship to place.

Synopsis

An illegal immigrant tries to convince the authorities to permit him to stay in the UK.

Synopsis

Two teenage girls have to confront what they've left behind, before they can come to terms with where they're going. 15-year-olds Doe and Muna are going on a trip. Two girls from a dead-end seaside town, they board the train to the airport excitedly. Quiet, watchful Doe hasn’t gone anywhere since arriving in the UK the age of 3 as a refugee at from Somalia. Badass Muna, of Pakistani heritage, is the dominant force... These girls are not going on holiday, but to Istanbul, to be met by a chaperone who will take them to the Syrian border to start a new life. Disaster strikes in Istanbul when their chaperone doesn’t show. Out of their depth, they formulate a new plan to continue their journey alone. Experiencing different slices of life in the city, their resolve, faith and friendship are tested. Official Selection Sundance Film Festival 2025 - World premiere Official Selection Edinburgh International Film Festival 2025

Synopsis

The story of two full-of-life, lonely and desperate strangers. One has risked his life to come to the UK to seek asylum; the other is a bold, vivacious woman clinging on to life, looking bleakly to her future whilst not quite being able to let go of her chaotic past. Jostling between comedy and heart-breaking moments of vulnerability, our story treads the fine line between pathos and humour, where human nature and tragedy are just a part of everyday life. Cindie is jobless, childless, and her life has been spiralling - addicted to her love of a party, vaping and drink. A working-class woman about to turn 40 and at her lowest ebb, she’s offered a lifeline via a sham marriage by fixer Amel - to a political refugee, Tariq, 27. In 2025, the number of people crossing the Dover Straits to the UK to seek asylum has doubled to around 60,000; this number continues to rise. A story about drag, immigration, class and true friendship. And so much more than that - it’s a love story, a modern fairy tale, and love is something we can all relate to regardless of sex, race, or religion – love is universal.

Synopsis

Five lives, one city, the fate of a nation at war. A civil servant, a tea lady, a motorbike medic and two street boys, five stories weave together in search of freedom through dreams, revolution, and civil war from the metropolis of Khartoum Sudan to escape in East Africa. In 2022 four Sudanese filmmakers, in collaboration with a British director/writer, began documenting the lives and dreams of five citizens in Khartoum. After a military coup brought down the civilian government, a war broke out between the army and the RSF militia that displaced over ten million people. Filmmakers and subjects escaped to East Africa and determined to continue the film another way. This film is a lyrical and cinematic window for global audiences to emotionally connect into the lives and dreams of the everyday people of Khartoum at a pivotal moment in African history. Official Selection Sundance Film Festival 2025 - World premiere Official Selection Berlin Film Festival 2025 - European premiere Berlin Film Festival 2025 - Berlin Film Festival 2025 - Winner - Peace Film Prize Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2025

Synopsis

This personal documentary invites viewers into the life of 76-year-old Romani grandmother Margaret Smith, a former nomadic potato picker who travelled each summer to a small coastal village in south Wales. Filmmaker Lisa Smith, Margaret’s granddaughter, delves into the Romani collective cultural memory, uncovering the deeper significance of the potato harvest and its connection to an undocumented network of stopping places for her family.