Projects in genres: Human Rights

Synopsis

Richard Jobson’s new film surrounds 15 testimonies from British servicemen and women who were involved in the Iraq conflict in Basra. They have a ghostly presence as they talk about their experiences in a near documentary style, after each testimony the camera glides into the lives that might have been and the people they left behind. Jobson says ‘Like many people I was angered by the Iraq war and like most people did nothing about it. This is my response to that apathy. In the film although it appears that the speakers are the ghostly presence, it is in fact we the audience who are the Somnambulists, it is we who were sleepwalking in the build-up to the war and its tragic aftermath.’ The story was heavily influenced by the work of photographer Joanna Kane whose exhibition 'The Somnambulists' at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery left Jobson deeply impressed by its haunting vision of the space between life and death.

Synopsis

This cross-media documentary (film, installation and website) explores the life and writings of Daniel Paul Schreber. Now famous as an Outsider Artist, Schreber was a successful lawyer, who in 1893, started to receive messages from God via a ‘Writing Down Machine’ that spanned the cosmos. He spent the next nine years confined to an asylum: this is his story.

Synopsis

Husham works tirelessly to build the hopes, dreams and prospects of the 32 damaged children of war, under his care at a small orphanage in Baghdad’s most dangerous district. When the landlord gives Husham and the boys just two weeks to vacate a desperate search ensues.

Synopsis

Luc Besson takes on the inspiring true story of Burmese pro-democracy activist, leader and political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi (Michelle Yeoh) and the tenacious long-distance bond she maintained with her British husband, Michael Aris (David Thewlis) while under house arrest for over a decade.

Synopsis

Agnes was diagnosed with dementia in her fifties. Five years have passed and she is still struggling with her new identity, and the loss of who she once was. We follow Agnes in her quest for renewal and along the way our notions of what it means to have dementia are challenged and given a fresh perspective.

Synopsis

A minor earthquake shakes London in the night. Tom and Rose’s perfect marriage collides with sexual fantasy and exposes the cracks in their relationship. The aftershocks are more far-reaching than Tom and Rose could have imagined.

Synopsis

The documentary, "Cartografía de la soledad" (Cartography of Loneliness), is akin to a map tracing the emotions and feelings of women who find themselves totally alone on losing their husbands in three countries, India, Nepal and Afghanistan. The choice of these three countries which are so near each other and have significant ethnic and religious differences is not by chance. India is the country with the most widows in the world, totalling over 45 million. In Nepal, half of the female population is widowed or have been abandoned by their husbands: they are called "child widows" or baikaylas. Afghanistan has the highest proportion of widows in the world after 30 years of war. Tradition, society and religion have determined the course of their lives following their husbands' deaths. Many widows are abandoned by their families, or victim of women trafficking, or condemned to social ostracism. War, AIDS and child marriages are the main factors behind these figures. After living with them for 4 months, there have been impressive stories in a very determined historical, social and religious context, and also the medicine, human rights and education are intertwined in their lives.

Synopsis

Brixton has degenerated into a disregarded area inhabited by London's new robot workforce - robots built and designed to carry out all of the tasks which humans are no longer inclined to do. The mechanical population of Brixton has rocketed, resulting in unplanned, cheap and quick additions to the skyline. The film follows the trials and tribulations of young robots surviving at the sharp end of inner city life, living the predictable existence of a populous hemmed in by poverty, disillusionment and mass unemployment. When the Police invade the one space which the robots can call their own, the fierce and strained relationship between the two sides explodes into an outbreak of violence echoing that of 1981.

Synopsis

This film was made collaboratively with three former child soldiers in Nepal. They tell their stories of why they joined the Maoist rebel war and take us back to their homes in the stunning mountains in remote districts of Nepal to meet their families and explain why they feel they had to join.

Synopsis

If you think you know how a General Election is run by watching mainstream media or a shiny floored leaders' debate, then think again. When Labour voter and award-winning filmmaker, John Walsh switched sides and became a Conservative candidate he lifted the lid on the real-life world of political campaigning. With unprecedented access and never-before-seen footage of a candidate’s campaign from the inside. Controversial feature film ToryBoy The Movie made explosive discoveries about the now disgraced former Labour MP Sir Stuart Bell, outed as “Britain’s Laziest MP” but that was just the start…… This acclaimed film received award nominations and great reviews from across the political spectrum when it hit cinemas.

Synopsis

Award-winning director Weijun Chen’s new series Law of the Dragon leaves China's cities and heads to the country to examine the impact of the massive changes in China's politics, economy and society on the judicial system in action. This series takes a fresh look at this vast and culturally rich country, examining how justice is served in rural areas so remote and isolated that the villagers have almost no contact with, and are deeply mistrustful of, the central government. Principally following the austere Judge Chen as he travels around the rural and sparsely populated Xuan-en province, resolving the grievances of the residents and dispensing nuggets of Confucian-Communist wisdom, the series will immerse itself in what matters most to the people who make up much of China’s billion strong population. This is an insightful, refreshing but not rose-tinted look at how justice is being served at grass roots level in this vast and beautiful region.

Synopsis

In a small apartment in Buenos Aires, an old woman eagerly awaits the birth of her grandchild and all the joys of becoming a grandmother. However, horrific circumstances means she will be forced to wait over 30 years. Using real-life testimonials this animated-documentary raises issues of memory, repression and loss.