Projects in genres: Disabilities

Synopsis

An experimental film that recreates the experiences of dementia through spoken word, documentary, dramatic reconstruction, and never-before-seen deteriorated archival footage: 16mm films from the 1930s to the 1960s, featuring major historical events and world travel. THE MEMORY BOOM is framed from inside the mind of Pops, a hospitalised grandfather with severe dementia. The decayed footage serves as a visual exploration of Pops' memories. Pops' grandson narrates from his bedside, attempting to preserve Pops' memories while struggling to comprehend memory loss. Pops' confused thoughts rise to the surface, and he shares them with his grandson as if it were 'storytime' leading him down rivulets of muddled tales and garbled memories spanning his lifetime. Pops' Filipina nurse supports the grandson, sharing her inability to care for her own dementia-affected father in the Philippines. The film charts the trio's journeys through emotional turmoil, leading to a deeper understanding of the nuances of memory. THE MEMORY BOOM was created with documentary participants from community groups across rural England and features anonymously donated archival materials, courtesy of Exeter Phoenix. The film was made in memory of the filmmakers’ relatives who lived with dementia, and explores memory preservation and photographic consent. Official Selection PÖFF - Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2024 - World premiere

Synopsis

Genre-busting tale of how unemployed amateur cyclist, Bryan Allen, and heavily in debt father-of-three, Paul MacCready, together with a rag-tag team of neuro-diverse outliers, set out on a death-defying and madcap quest to untangle the mystery of human powered flight and in doing so win the most coveted prize in aviation. Built from a remarkable trove of recently discovered 16mm footage along with an arsenal of innovative techniques, this uplifting story of ingenuity, courage and determination, challenges us to question the assumptions we make about about society’s outliers and reminds us of how the stories we tell can help us to understand and perhaps change the world.

Synopsis

TRANS CAMERA ACTION uses digital and analogue filmmaking methods for a meaningful exploration of the construction and impact of trans and non-binary representations through conversation with trans and non-binary film workers. The film also includes experimental and allegorical views of trans representations in 16mm and 8mm film.

Synopsis

In this dark comedy, sixth-former Rae is chronically ill and stuck at home with her glorious imagination and seething rage for company. Official Selection Superfest Disability Film Festival 2024

Synopsis

Different forms of communication are explored when a filmmaker attempts to find the name of a dead person they discovered behind their flat in Glasgow.

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A group of facilitators, apprentices, volunteers, people living with dementia, and their supporters gather in a community hall. Together, they re-enact a wedding, discovering how the past can affect the present.

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Impersonating the style of an NHS training films from 1960s-70s and shot on 16mm, the film is an exercise in queering the healthcare information film. Using a collated archive of healthcare experiences recorded with Birmingham's trans+ community the film explores the critical state of trans healthcare in the UK through ‘medical drag’ re-enactments. Official Selection Frameline San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival 2025

Synopsis

On a bright January morning in 2020, 38 year old Clemmie suffered a catastrophic brain haemorrhage. Just a few hours earlier, she’d been a star on the rise - acclaimed broadcaster, writer and musician. Against the odds she emerged from a 17 day coma but, unable to speak or walk, she was now faced with having to rebuild her life. With compelling recordings of her early attempts to speak and walk, we follow Clemmie as she tries to return to work, to finish the book she’d started before her brain injury, and to play her beloved violin again with her son. The film interweaves verité filming with touching home movies and lyrical sequences of Clemmie struggling amidst the cacophony of New York’s streets. Counterpointed throughout are majestic pieces of music from her book. She’s defiant and refuses self-pity, but is haunted by the knowledge that her brain could bleed again at any moment. A film about resilience, rediscovery and identity.

Synopsis

THE CALLERS tells the stories of people who have called England’s oldest LGBTQ+ phone helpline for over 50 years, seeking guidance on everything from where to find the nearest leather bar to how to come out, navigate an open relationship, impress a new lover or mend a broken heart.

Synopsis

An intimate portrait of Tony Hudgell; a charismatic, complex nine-year-old double amputee. Abused as a baby by his biological parents, Tony faces daily physical and emotional challenges, but his tenacity and character have made him something of a national treasure thanks to his incredible fundraising achievements.

Synopsis

A cinematic and interactive journey through our shifting sense of reality, challenging our sense of the here and now, and blending the boundary between a music video and video game with a unique movement mechanic that rewards the curious, and AI driven randomisation... told from the future, looking back at how technology has impacted our experience of reality and the journey of humankind, this piece explores the way our sense of reality is in constant flux. This is the standalone version of a live music VR experience created for the Glasgow Disability Alliance. Official Selection SXSW Film Festival 2020 - XR Experience Competition - World premiere

Synopsis

Jeremy is a young man living with Autism and wants to find love for the first time. He is online dating and negotiating that landscape. He is navigating a world revolving on an axis different to his in pursuit to find love.