Projects in genres: Woman Director

Synopsis

A small boy wishes he could be taller. A modern fairytale that follows a young boy's ingenious way of dealing with his 'height', the end result is not the one he imagined.
 
This is a 'coming of age' tale in which a young boy finds himself and blossoms into adulthood.

Synopsis

When The Bridge of San Luis Rey breaks, five travellers are precipitated into the gulf below. Was it chance or the hand of God that brought these five together at that fatal time in that place? Or were they in some way responsible, themselves, for what happened? These questions are raised with uncynical compassion and answered by Wilder with an indirect affirmation of the power of love.
 
Set in early 18th century Peru at the height of the Spanish Inquisition, this timeless story of delicately interwoven lives traverses worlds as diverse as the theatres, convents, brothels and docks of Lima, Peru to the sea-faring explorations, scientific institutions and courts of Madrid, Spain.
 
'Soon, we too shall die and all memory of those five will have left the earth, and we ourselves shall be loved for a while and forgotten, there is a land of the living and a land of the dead, and the bridge is love,
the only survival, the only meaning.' (Thornton Wilder, 1927)

Synopsis

October 1985. Four young Palestinians - Omar, Mamoud, Rambo and Molqi - are lined up against a wall in an Italian police station. Marilyn Klinghoffer, an American woman, walks into the room and faces the men. She spits into the face of one of them, who glares back at her defiantly.
 
The film is a screen adaptation of John Adams' opera, based around the hijacking in 1985 of a cruise liner by Palestinian gunmen. The narrative is interspersed with flashbacks providing historical background and perspective to the event.

Synopsis

Combining animation and live action, The House tells a story of a group of women with mental health problems. Through their own drawings it highlights aspects of their everyday lives, their dreams and aspirations, who they are and what they have been.

Synopsis

An actors lonely attempt to be seen for a part in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' by William Shakespeare. By sending a series of letters to the casting director we see him slowly become more desperate, irrational and ultimately threatening, while never losing his enthusiasm.

Synopsis

A reclusive man's possessive love for a beautiful song bird has unexpected consequences, proving that true love cannot be caged.

Synopsis

One man's attempt to realise his dreams in the midst of the English countryside. Richard White is determined not to allow parking restrictions, his jealous crippled wife or reclusive neighbours to stand in his way of mounting a fully fledged production of a Mozart opera in his living room.

Synopsis

On a hot day a small girl searches for something to do. Aimlessly she walks into the path of a stranger.
 

Synopsis

Moving from Sydney to an isolated river community to work for impoverished eight generation oyster farmers may not be an obvious career move. If, however, you are a desperate young man with an enterprising streak and a big heart then the Hawkesbury River may well be your salvation. This is a love story about an inept thief who ends up a local hero.

Synopsis

'The Republic of Love' is a warm hearted love story set in a cold city, a paradox that explores all the issues, dilemmas and barriers facing the lucky and unlucky in love in the 21st century.

Synopsis

This film is set in the backwater of southern Louisiana. Michelle thinks that family should be thicker than water. But her mother and Sister have different ideas. She struggles to understand why the family breaks apart, why she feels she's not able to control her life and how she can find meaning in a seemingly meaningless existence. What she discovers is a bond with her Mother and Sister based on acceptance and humour.

Synopsis

Trollywood initially started out as a collection of still photographs. The director, up and coming UK talent Madeleine Farley, was fascinated by the isuue of homelessness in Los Angeles, a city renowned - or at least in popular conception- for its opulence. As a symbol of material divide, Madeleine decided to focus on the humble shopping carts littered around LA as a central theme- ie. as both consumer tool to some whilst being a portable home to others.
 
Through her time spent photographing the homeless and the numerous conversations that ensued, Madeleine soon realised that there was a vast untapped wealth of personal testimony and that only a documentary could do the subject justice. This view was further cemented when a news story broke about an LA legal case involving the making and profiteering from a video called 'Bumfights' in which homeless people, often under the influence of alcohol, were filmed inflicting harm on themselves. The makers of the film, whilst making in the region of $6m dollars, were let off with 250hrs of community service.
 
Trollywood will focus on interviews with the homeless, Government officials, Charitable foundation workers, Mental health organisations etc. in a moving, well rounded look at a serious issue. More than anything, the programme will aim to be educational and uplifting, presenting homelessness with a human face and also providing an awareness of various remedial organisations. Essentially, Madeleine's intent is to show that amongst great material deprivation there exists a unique culture with its own sense of spiritual wealth.