Projects in genres: Literary Adaptation

Synopsis

Barney Thomson, an awkward, diffident, Glasgow barber, lives a life of desperate mediocrity. His uninteresting life is about to go from 0 to 60 in five seconds, as he accidentally enters the grotesque and comically absurd world of the serial killer. Barney's mother Cemolina isn't much help either, she has a dark secret of her own to keep hidden. And what about police inspector Holdall who's started to sniff around the case? Edinburgh International Film Festival 2015 - World premiere

Synopsis

A bouncer finds out that guarding modern art is just as hazardous as controlling the ropes at a nightclub.

Synopsis

'Macbeth' is the story of a fearless warrior and inspiring leader brought low by ambition and desire. A thrilling interpretation of the dramatic realities of the times and a reimagining of what wartime must have been like for one of Shakespeare’s most famous and compelling characters, a story of all-consuming passion and ambition, set in a war torn Scottish landscape. Official Selection Cannes 2015 - In Competition

Synopsis

By Our Selves documents a four-day walk made by the English Poet John Clare. Toby Jones, Iain Sinclair and a Straw Bear follow in his footsteps exactly 150 years after his death. En route they bump into Macgillivray, Dr Simon Kovesi and the wizard Alan Moore. Meantime the journey is narrated by Toby’s father Freddie, a maverick actor who featured in numerous David Lynch films. John Clare's escape from Epping Forest; an epic march through hunger and madness, is an English journey to set beside 'A Pilgrim's Progress'. Andrew Kötting, hyperkinetic camper-van captain of Gallivant, sets out in hot pursuit, dressed as a Straw Bear. Father and son, Freddie and Toby Jones, are possessed by the spirit of Clare, and locked in Beckettian embrace: one all-voice and one all-mute. The writer Iain Sinclair watches from the shadows, Alan Moore waits like a bearded figure of fate, in Northampton and Dr Simon Kovesi hands out the medicine. Captured in lustrous black and white photography, they discover the only truth of the road; whatever our hopes and delusions, we are always By Our Selves. Inspired by Iain Sinclair’s Edge of the Orison and John Clare’s Journey out of Essex.

Synopsis

Set in 1950s New York, two women from very different backgrounds find themselves in the throes of love in 'Carol'. As conventional norms of the time challenge their undeniable attraction, an honest story emerges to reveal the resilience of the heart in the face of change. A young woman in her 20s, Therese Belivet is a clerk working in a Manhattan department store and dreaming of a more fulfilling life when she meets Carol, an alluring woman trapped in a loveless, convenient marriage. As an immediate connection sparks between them, the innocence of their first encounter dims and their connection deepens. Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2015 - Gala Screening

Synopsis

Inspired by D.F. Wallace's first short story, visualising mental discomfort as living on another planet to Earth, the film splits the character of May in two halves: one struggling in London in the past, the other one trying to recover in a youth clinic in the present -until the two storylines collide.

Synopsis

Based on an early 17th century collection of fairy tales by Neopolitan author Giambattista Basile, the film weaves realistic and fantastical elements together in a dark exploration of classic tales. From the bitter quest of a jealous Queen, to an Ogre thwarting the love of a young princess, to a mysterious woman provoking the passion of a King, these stories weave the beautiful with the grotesque, creating a stunning and unique work of gothic imagination. Official Selection Cannes 2015 - In Competition

Synopsis

The story of independent and headstrong Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan), who attracts three very different suitors: Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts), a sheep farmer; Frank Troy (Tom Sturridge), a reckless Sergeant; and William Boldwood (Michael Sheen), a prosperous and mature bachelor. UK Release April 2015

Synopsis

Psychologist David Rosenhan PhD, "If sanity and insanity exist, how shall we know them?"

Synopsis

Based on celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain's novel 'Bone in the Throat', with the action re-located from Manhattan to London. A gritty fast paced story about a young ambitious chef who, while trying to focus on getting ahead in his career, gets pulled into the East End London mob by his uncle, who expects him to step up and join him. He now has to work quickly to undo his uncle’s mess, while staying alive and out of jail. SXSW 2015 - World premiere

Synopsis

Inspired by the iconic, 1916 Herbert James Gunn painting 'The Eve of the Battle of the Somme' 'The Big Push' combines original verse by renowned Scottish Poet John Glenday with evocative paint-on-glass animation to create an integrated, mixed-media triptych aimed at commemorating the Centenary of the Battle of the Somme through art, verse and animation.

Synopsis

The comic misadventures of a young marmalade-loving Peruvian bear with a passion for all things British, who travels to London in search of a home. He is discovered at Paddington Station by the kindly Brown family, who read the label around his neck "Please look after this bear. Thank you." Sofia International Film Festival 2015 - International premiere