Projects in genres: Woman Director

Synopsis

One day top stylist Pim comes face to face with her past when Debbie walks into her salon and back into her memory. Pim's in turmoil as she remembers the summer day when they were ten and her then best friend rejected her. Pim's crime: her Asian hair was black, not blonde. Now Pim has Debbie's head in her hands. Pim has her chance for revenge.

Synopsis

Liverpool, England. A Chinese Grocery. Three women sit making dumplings. Conversation turns to traditions, relationships and men and we discover that although distinctly Chinese, their subjects are universal concerns. A gentle informal picture of the women's everyday struggles framed by the distinctive Liverpool skyline and infused with a warm humour.

Synopsis

This is a love story, not Helen and Joe, but the whole family. Helen (late 30s) is wife, mother and daughter and, on the morning we meet her, is killed in a road accident. But Helen doesn't know she is dead, and neither does her husband, Joe, who is a truck driver travelling home to London from war-torn Eastern Europe. The film charts the four-day odyssey of the family until Joe's return: the children and Grandpa at home struggling with what has happened, Joe over scary and unpredictable terrain and Helen through limbo to the moment when she and Joe finally reconcile their love and she is free to leave in peace. In the tragedy comes the seed of hope for the future.

Synopsis

It's nine o'clock on Monday morning when one bored commuter's distracted by the beautiful blonde sitting next to him. But she's less than impressed by his leching. And she knows how to make her point.

Synopsis

Safar is a tale of the Asian Diaspora told primarily through Super 8 'cine-letters' sent between India and England over a period of almost 40 years. It is one man's meditation, in old age, of how he came to lose his home.

Synopsis

Armagh Woman's Prison 1980. Based on true events this is the extraordinary story of an unshakeable bond between two very different women. A young girl, a wild child, Aine, is arrested in Belfast and convicted of joyriding. She is, to her horror, placed in the wing of Armagh jail containing protesting political prisoners. In addition to this she is housed in a cell with the leader of the protesters, Eileen. At first, their differences all to obviously come to the fore; the two women can find no common ground and are at war with each other. However, as time progresses Eileen takes pity on Aine, for whom this is a terrifying experience, and helps her come to terms with this new and frightening environment thus saving Aine's sanity. In turn, as their friendship grows and as the protest escalates, Aine risks all to save Eileen's life. Despite their obvious differences, an unlikely friendship emerges. Shot on location in Kilmainham jail, Silent Grace features an exceptional cast, including IFTA Best Actress nominee, Orla Brady (A Love Divided), Cathleen Bradley (About Adam), and with a special appearance by Patrick Bergin (Sleeping with the Enemy).

Synopsis

A bed and breakfast hotel in London with 100 bedrooms and a sign on the front door: 'No Vacancies'. Two words enough to identify it as a hotel for 'council people' - euphenism for refugees, homeless, mentally disturbed and others who have their accommodation paid and arranged by the local Council when they do not have a permanent place to live.

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A disturbing portrait of a young woman pushing against the boundaries of love and lust. Billy's passionate relationship with her friend Maria ignites her father's forbidden desire.   Winner of Best New Director at 2004 Brooklyn International Film Festival.

Synopsis

Based on a true story, The Blue Butterfly tells the tale of a terminally ill 10-year-old boy. His one last dream is to catch the most beautiful butterfly on Earth, the mythic and elusive Blue Morpho, found only in the tropical rain forests of Central and South America. His mother persuades a renowned entomologist to take them on a trip up to the jungle to search for the butterfly, leading to an adventure that will transform their lives.

Synopsis

This film takes you into different Kenyan communities and explores the tradition of circumcision and also love, marriage, families, rebellion and change. We discover girls struggling with their culture and their loyalty to their parents. Will they be strong enough to break with tradition? And if they do, will they be accepted back into their communities, or will they become outcasts? Fardhosa, a woman doctor, takes us into the Somali community where she attempts to open people's minds to try safer and more humane medical practices. Simalo, a young Masai girl, goes home to confront her mother for having married her off to an old man against her will. And finally, sixteen young girls challenge their parents and take the painful decision to take them to court to stop them circumcising them. This has historic implications for their whole culture. The film shows ancient traditions beginning to be questioned by a new generation that doesn't want to suffer as their mothers have done.

Synopsis

Set in the 1940s the film is based on a poem by Brenda Cook, an artist with learning difficulties. The film explores Brenda's early experiences and relationships. Brenda creates a fantasy world and refuses to allow her individuality to be dimmed.

Synopsis

Spike and Heaton are the unlikeliest pair. Taciturn, competent, unreadable, Heaton is someone we are instinctively afraid of. In contrast, his side-kick Spike is manic, child-like, unstoppable: someone we are instinctively afraid for. But when Spike commits a terrible crime, Heaton stands by him. There begins a chase across a vast Northern landscape of moors, rivers and dark woods, the increasingly exhausted fugitives being hunted not by the police but by a posse of farmers intent on revenge. No ordinary chase film, This is Not a Love Song is a love story trapped inside the body of a thriller.