Projects in genres: Literary Adaption

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In the harshness of midwinter, a trapper is crossing the Yukon with his dog. Struggling to survive, he attempts to build a simple fire. To Build a Fire is widely recognised as a Jack London masterpiece and is a classic of American literature.

Synopsis

A young English couple bond with an enigmatic Russian businessman after a chance encounter on holiday. What they don’t know is that he is a gangster, seeking to defect to the British secret service before his rivals have a chance to murder him, and he has chosen them as his lifeline. The couple’s recruitment is followed by a deadly chase, which takes them from the souks of Marrakech to London, to the French Open Final in Paris and finally to a thrilling climax in the Swiss Alps. Official Selection San Francisco International Film Festival 2015 - World premiere

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A short film of the poem 'Lights Out' written by Edward Thomas (1878-1917). The poem was a meditation on the possibility that the writer would not survive the First World War... he didn't.

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This feature documentary uses the highly successful stage adaptation of Mark Haddon’s novel, 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time' to frame a cinematic exploration of being on the autistic spectrum. The film uses the story of the play, in which Christopher Boone travels to London to find his mother and solve the mystery of who killed his neighbour’s pet dog, as a spine from which to jump off and explore the journeys of people who are the real life equivalents of the characters in the play. Dakota, a teenager with autism from the Bronx projects, who travels to Manhattan where he inspires and educates the New York cast (in a similar way to Cian Binchy, who advised the original London cast), and who is now training to be a performer himself at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Synopsis

There are lots of sensitive kids in the world but 8 year-old Simon may be the most sensitive. Mysteriously gifted with the ability to hear the thoughts and feelings of those around him. Events are made dark and frightening by Simon's gift. And a tragedy his brave efforts can't prevent...

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Set in the early 20th century, 'Sunset Song' begins with the suicide attempt of a poverty stricken woman in Scotland, broken by repeated childbirths, who kills herself and poisons her twin babies. The story follows one of the woman’s surviving daughters, Chris Guthrie, who must manage the farm after her mother’s death, and, after her father, who has had a stroke, becomes bedridden. But when love comes to Chris, she must send her man off to the Great War and manage the farm in a land about to be changed forever by the onset of technology and war. How can we bear time, or subdue nature? We cannot. We can only endure... Toronto International Film Festival 2015 - World premiere

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Bricks is a short film about the clash between a city broker (Blake Ritson) and the tough builder (Jason Flemyng) he hires to renovate his wine cellar.

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In this delightfully demented homage to the golden days of horror movies, Supervillain (a perfect Terence Harvey) leads us on a thrilling guided tour of the ways of evil. Dare you find out what sort of villain you would be?

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Residents of a fictional Welsh community share stories and poems of their life in their seaside town. An adaptation of Dylan Thomas’ much loved classic of modern British poetry. Edinburgh International Film Festival 2015 - World premiere

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Barney Thomson, an awkward, diffident, Glasgow barber, lives a life of desperate mediocrity. His uninteresting life is about to go from 0 to 60 in five seconds, as he accidentally enters the grotesque and comically absurd world of the serial killer. Barney's mother Cemolina isn't much help either, she has a dark secret of her own to keep hidden. And what about police inspector Holdall who's started to sniff around the case? Edinburgh International Film Festival 2015 - World premiere

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A bouncer finds out that guarding modern art is just as hazardous as controlling the ropes at a nightclub.

Synopsis

'Macbeth' is the story of a fearless warrior and inspiring leader brought low by ambition and desire. A thrilling interpretation of the dramatic realities of the times and a reimagining of what wartime must have been like for one of Shakespeare’s most famous and compelling characters, a story of all-consuming passion and ambition, set in a war torn Scottish landscape. Official Selection Cannes 2015 - In Competition