Projects in genres: Woman Director

Synopsis

Untitled is a metaphor for a sleeping woman in a state of dream or of psychological disintegration. She gradually reassembles, suggesting either a movement from deep dream-like sleep or more likely a pull back from the decision to die. The human capacity to survive terrible terror, whether on an individual level or as a collective persecuted group, sometimes seems to defy understanding. Bruno Bettelheim, a child psychoanalyst, survived Dachau and Buchenwald but in peacetime, at a mature age, decided to end his own life. It is this choice: the choice, and the possibility, of escaping psychological terror, that enables humans to reconstruct themselves from even extreme disintegration. To paraphrase Nietzche - the thought of suicide gets one through many a long night.

Synopsis

Slim O'Rafferty, the tired old cowboy, needs to pass his compulsory annual eye-test in order to continue riding his horse. The chief optician's deputy has other ideas.

Synopsis

Across the Waters is a poetic, reflective journey between two cultures. Fifty years ago, a young girl arrived on the island of Lewis from a village in Pakistan. Now, her granddaughter is going to leave the island. Three generations of Pakistani women and a Gaelic islander give a personal perspective on the island's history, and the sense of belonging and exile that has defined their existence.

Synopsis

Billy Hull was a prison officer in The Maze/Long Kesh. Against prison policy Billy collected items from various individuals, incidents and occurrences. On his retirement Billy organised a display of the objects. The public has never seen this collection.

Synopsis

Everything Was Life is an animated documentary looking at the practice of female genital mutilation.

Synopsis

This documentary presents the architectural concept of 'Cargo Fleet', which juxtaposes materials from the shipbuilding yards of the North East of England into the urban landscape of Islington. The house is revealed through the reflections of a group of people - actors, dancers, musicians, and artists. Their experience of the place unfolds like a tapestry to which the muses themselves then add their voice. The director plays with contrasting forms and styles, weaving music and language together. She reveals the interior and exterior in shifts of mood and ambience, presenting the viewer with an aural and visual feast. With poetry by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Shakespeare, San Juan de la Cruz and Alexander Pope. Music by Andrew Peggie and Raiomond Mirza.

Synopsis

A collective film made with the London Bisexual Women's Group. It explores the idea of women and bisexuality through use of live action, animation and sound. A nine-minute experimental piece of work, which uses objects as a starting point in exploring bisexual identity.

Synopsis

Filmed in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, LOOKING FOR ABRAHAM is a four-minute excerpt from a stand up routine captured during happy hour in a European hostel. The comic cultivates a relationship between the audience and himself that unnervingly veers between public performance and private confession. In an environment where this self-effacing routine could be his genuine act, the audience sits uncomfortably as they try to draw the line between fiction and reality. LOOKING FOR ABRAHAM was selected for New Contemporaries 2005

Synopsis

2Be is an original, dynamic, musical-documentary about human rights.   Filmed over a period of five months, 2Be follows students from Abbeydale Grange School in Sheffield, UK - a school where over 51 different languages are spoken - as they develop a series of musical sequences about human rights.   The contrast between their revealing personal stories and triumphant performances creates an intimate and inspiring documentary.

Synopsis

Afterlife is a film about love and filial responsibility. It's the story of two siblings, Kenny and Roberta Brogan. Kenny is an ambitious young journalist, standing on the brink of a fantastic career opportunity in New York. Roberta has Down's syndrome and still lives at home with their mother, May. Two very different siblings. Two very different lives. But everything is about to change when tragedy strikes and they are forced to reassess their future.

Synopsis

America is a young Bolivian girl living in London. It is ten in the morning and a collect call from Bolivia will change the course of her day drastically. Her mother has died. She was killed while protesting against the USA's radical antidrug policy in the country. America promises her sister she will take the first plane to La Paz leaving today to be present at the burial tomorrow.   When she hangs up she embarks on a journey full of obstacles that she will have to overcome. She has two problems; the ticket costs £500 but she only has £100, and the plane leaves at 11:30 am. That is in 90 minutes. Her determination to get the money and see her mother for the last time in her life will be stronger than the antagonist elements oppressing her. To board the plane to La Paz will become her American dream. At the end of her journey, America will be determined to follow in her mother’s footsteps and show the USA that their repressive policy against the coca leaf is unjustified, even more so when respect for human rights and social welfare is at stake. Coca is not cocaine.

Synopsis

Two young men, desperate to escape the politically volatile Ivory Coast, embark upon a European journey seeking their fortune. They dream of one day returning as triumphant heroes. However, one is deported and returns empty-handed, cast aside by his family and friends. The other, running from the authorities, makes it to London where he hooks up with a young, white bisexual woman. Captivated, he follows her on to Paris amidst the throng of an underground music revolution. Ultimately this takes him home to Africa, his dream fulfilled - but at a price far greater than he ever could have expected.