Projects in genres: Science

Synopsis

A film about psychosis and surveillance. A composite of fact and fiction, the film draws upon real-life accounts of a schizophrenic disorder: the belief that ones thoughts are being transmitted and heard by others. Set against the proliferation of mobile phone masts in the urban and rural landscape, the film reveals a fragmented inner world of paranoid delusions and acute anxiety, off-set by revelations of mass surveillance and data gathering by government security agencies. Filming locations include a psychiatric video recording studio, an abandoned broadcast television station and a military base used for mass communications monitoring and interception. Part clinical observation, part psychological horror, the film is driven by a tense and dark electronic score by Lord Mongo, and interweaves the flickering detritus of analogue tape, monitors and studio cameras with layers of sampled archive voices; forming a picture of a psychotic state of mind, entangled in an interconnected world. Official Selection Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival 2017 - World premiere

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Based on the 1940 South African trial of a traditional herbalist accused of 'untraditional behaviour, the film explores the ideological and commercial confrontation between two different yet intertwining medicinal traditions and their uses of plants, with slippages across gender and race.

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Inspired by true events, the story of the first American women who tested for space travel. Their psychological and physical endurance broke records. They were pioneers and adventurers who battled the inequalities of their time, whose exploits remained a state secret for some time. Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2016 - Journey Strand - World premiere

Synopsis

A feature length film exploring themes of identity, culture and the construction of history. Shot on 35mm film in various Californian deserts that provide a stage in which to re-enact the negotiations of an archaeologist from Cairo with a members of tribe who guard ancient culture hidden in tombs lost in the desert. The scenario for the film was adapted from the 1969 Egyptian film 'A Night of Counting the Years' directed by Shadi Abdel Salam, creating a layered story that echoes from ancient Egypt to the diversity of desert ecology and recent archaeological digs for lost Hollywood film sets. Working in collaboration with the musician and composer Tom Challenger a new choral composition was created and recorded for the film, drawing on traditional and modern acoustic techniques to reflect the shifting sands of the desert landscapes.

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Transcending a portrait of place, the quiet, eternal rhythms of the small fishing cove Penberth are caught, landed and served up in this stark and gentle handcrafted celluloid poem.

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An exploration into the material agency of images and of forms. Shot on the volcanic island of Lanzarote, the film’s images are eruptions willed into existence by the creative act of the molten rock, the amorphous landscape dissolving subjectivity into itself.

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The divisive and clandestine world of Crop Circles comes under threat when an ambitious TV Journalist investigating their creation plans to expose the truth. To call Honeystreet a village is generous but this tiny canal side hamlet not far from Stonehenge is Crop Circle Grand Central Station. Frustrated Brazilian TV Journalist Lara has been sent on a "nonsense mission" to the heart of the English countryside with Yossi, a war-torn Cameraman, to discover the truth about these mysterious formations. There they meet long-term investigator, the elusive and broken Hatter, desperate to reconnect with his son Dean. Only the local barmaid Aideen seems to know the truth about this clandestine world, but if she does she's in no hurry to tell. As they explore the various formations that appear overnight they are drawn deeper into the enigma of hovering lights, Celtic mythology, ancient monuments, irate landowners, UFO enthusiasts and researchers of these unexplained events to discover both the beauty and the danger in the truth they seek. 5 lost souls - each hoping to solve the unexplained phenomenon whilst resolving their own darker issues. The answers are written into the ground...

Synopsis

When volcanoes exploded in the past, they helped shape us as a species. From our earliest ancestors to travellers battling with the effects of ash clouds on airline flights, our evolutionary destiny has been played out in the shadow of volcanoes. One day in the future there will be another super-eruption like the one that triggered the last ice age. In this global odyssey Werner Herzog explores why, where and how our lives are inextricably linked with the most destructive and creative force on Earth. Teaming up with the world’s leading volcanologist, Clive Oppenheimer, to bring the story of the relationship between volcanoes, our planet and human society. Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2016 - TIFF Docs

Synopsis

The idea for the film originated from the eight objects that were traditionally given in England to welcome a new child into the world; Egg, Coal, Evergreen, Salt, Candle, Bread, Coin and Silver Ring. Each symbolic gift has been the theme of a public event, created by artist Clare Whistler, in collaboration with leading artists, musicians, poets and documented from 2005-2015 by established filmmakers. 'Gifts' is an interpretation of the eight events, directed by Nichola Bruce. The film brings together English traditions of ritual and landscape. Financed by the gift economy movement and Arts Council England.

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A Peacemaker who rejects his final mission to save an endangered planet is believed to be cursed when a solar storm hits his spaceship.

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A lyrical visual poem about the new season arriving along the River Thames in West London.

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Set in a former Cold War era civil defence bunker turned data centre buried 30 metres underground in Stockholm. Part Bond villain lair, part retro-futuristic spaceship, the film explores the temporal nature of data space and geology. Once housing servers for WikiLeaks, issues of privacy, surveillance and digital sovereignty emanate.