Machines are rising up and taking over the world. Except this time they're not cool cyborgs, they're everyday household domestic gadgets, like Brevilles and Dysons. One family from a South Wales housing estate, who have filled their home with needless electronic appliances, are forced to defend themselves once their gadgets go bad.
In the jungles of Borneo, an Iban father on the cusp of old age begins a river journey to seek medical help for his sick child. Along the way, the boy is troubled by recurring visions of a strange figure who appears on the river bank. As the journey progresses, father and son are drawn inexorably to a final encounter with the mythical 'transformed' shaman who dwells deep inside the jungle.
Semangat was made by working closely with one Iban longhouse community from Sarawak, Malaysia with whom the story was devised and filmed. Set in the jungles of Borneo, the basis of the film explores the conflict that exists between ancient animist beliefs and modern approaches to illness. The main protagonists of the film are a real father and son, and a retired shaman from this community.
Semangat is a micro-budget hybrid docu-fiction film funded by The Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation, The UK Film Council/CTBF John Brabourne Award and Screen South. It has been produced under the creative guidance of award winning filmmaker, Pawel Pawlikowski (Last Resort, My Summer of Love). It has been co-produced with The National Film and Television School.
In a world where the corporation is law and Tie-Enforcement troops roam without mercy, Guy Lance is going to stand against Sertoli, Sertoli, Sertoli, and answer the ultimate question: What is the Second Branch?
When eight year old Marla wakes to find a tooth fairy exchanging her tooth for a shiny new coin a dark and twisted journey begins. In search of treasure and riches Marla begins a frightful journey as she follows the tooth fairy out of the city and into a fairy tale forest. Along Marla's adventure she encounters a host of scary childlike shadow creatures, discovers the tooth fairy fortress and all the treasures it holds and uncovers a startling truth about the real reason the fairies takes our childhood teeth.
A quiet late night lock-in is shattered by the wail of the Civil Defence Alarm. When one of the drinkers suffers a severe asthma attack, it's up to the others to venture out into the unknown to seek help.
Star Games is a visual narrative of a surreal galactic ballet that explains the origins of stars. The inhabitants of a futuristic metropolis train in their hundreds to contest in the Star Games. Patrolling zeppelins select individual gymnasts with a UFO-styled light beam. The gymnasts are pulled up towards the sky to perform a beautifully organic ballet before they dissolve into starlights.
The film’s emotive meaning is that each star symbolizes a past human life. Its message is that human beings are never alone but embedded, just like stars, in a community of others celebrating life with each other.
On a winter's night in 1980, American servicemen stationed at an RAF base, witnessed some 'unexplained lights' in Rendlesham Forest. The incident has since become Britain's most famous UFO mystery with abounding rumours of conspiracies and cover-ups. Some argue that the incident was a hoax whilst others believe that the forest is a doorway to another dimension.
Maintaining a balance between celebration and criticality, this film revisits the forest, thirty years later, in search of similarly 'inexplicable' events.
A young man, accompanied by his mysterious mechanical bear, visits an abandoned observatory to confront memories of his past and follow his Father on a journey into the unknown. A magical journey about relationships and what it is to be human.
The Devil and his Bride arrive at a decrepit hotel to perform unholy matrimony, spending the rest of their lives cosily roasting in hell. But when no guests arrive, it is clear The Devil was late sending out the invitations and will stop at nothing to placate his infuriated Bride.
Karen's mother used to terrify her with tales of a presence on the dark tenement stair - something you should never look at. Years later Karen reluctantly returns to the house she loathed to find her elderly parents, and finds it facing demolition. But her childhood fear still waits within.
