Projects in genres: Sport

Synopsis

Set in 1984, Theatre of Dreams is a funny and touching fictional tale about the legendary Manchester United football manager Sir Matt Busby, who helps a wayward boy fulfill his dream. An act of petty crime by 11 year-old Georgie becomes a collision of fate as Sir Matt tracks him down, only to discover that the boy is an extraordinarily gifted footballer and captain of a team of unruly talents. Having lived with football all his life and survived the tragic 1958 Munich plane disaster, in which eight of his young players were killed, Sir Matt is still committed to continue his work of 'training lads for life'. So begins a thrilling adventure as Sir Matt comes out of retirement to transform a young group of scallywags into a dream team.

Synopsis

The film tells the story of the golden age of grand prix motor racing when the cars were sleek, fast and dangerous; a time when the drivers became rock stars and money poured into the sport from television and sponsoring deals. 1960s through the 1970s Formula One witnessed a staggering number of deaths on the track as the circuit became a playground for daredevils and playboys. Those who survived began a revolution that saved countless lives and fought for innovation in safety and engineering that launched Formula One in the modern era.

Synopsis

Pouters Is a modern day story of undying commitment, rivalry, family and friendship all interwoven by an underground and idiosyncratic Scottish sport. Rab and Danny, rivals for over 25 years and with pride being the stakes, battle it out on the wing to become the Cranhill reigning Doo Fleein champion.

Synopsis

In Search of Silent Landscapes follows Britain’s top female ultra-distance runner, Sharon Gayter. We learn of her troubled childhood, desire for escape and the hours of pain and solitude that redeemed her. The film is a portrait of a complex and remarkable woman and a meditation on time, devotion and silence.

Synopsis

Filmed over four years, Personal Best follows up-and-coming British sprinters on their journey from the grassroots of athletics to the international stage. The film is both a gripping portrait of the athletes in training and competition, and a deeply personal account of their lives unfolding – revealing victory, defeat, agony, ecstasy and the simple trials of growing up. On the eve of the 2012 Olympics, this film tells the stories of Britain’s young sprinters as they strive towards their dreams. This is an inspiring but genuine portrait of Britain’s youth and a penetrating study of the art of sprinting, peeling back the layers so we can finally understand everything it means to them as they are on the start-line waiting for the gun to fire.

Synopsis

Desperate not to be like his father, a young boxer must fight everything he knows to stop history repeating. Clayton Murdoch carries a terrible darkness inside him: as a boy he was exposed by his brutal father to violence, domestic abuse, gang culture and ultimately murder. Years later and with his father now in prison, Clayton struggles to overcome his past. In a city where every day there is a constant threat of violence and death, he keeps his sanity by channelling his aggression into boxing, the one part of his life where he feels powerful, in control, contained. However, when the violence that surrounds him starts to destroy his own family, Clayton’s inner darkness is unleashed. And now, to gain vengeance against those who have taken his loved ones, he must ask the one man he fears the most for help: his father. With everything around him falling apart and the full shocking fury in him let loose, Clayton must look death in the face and find out who is the man inside.

Synopsis

Pensioners from across the planet compete in the over-80s World Table Tennis Championships in Inner Mongolia. The film weaves a competition narrative with candid portraits of life back home that explore the hope, regret and immediacy of growing old. 8 players with 703 years between them guide us through the extraordinary world of Veteran sports. 81-year old Englishman Terry, recovering from life-threatening cancer, battles to retain his gold medal title. At 99, Australian legend Dorothy de Low creates a sensation as the oldest competitor at the Championships. German newcomer Inge, aged 89, has fought her way out of a dementia ward using the power of ping pong. This film is as much about the tenacity of the human spirit as it is a meditation on mortality. Right now 1 in 6 people on the planet are over the age of 60. By 2030 that figure will be 1 in every 4. From the outset the film challenges perceptions of what it is to grow old. With humour and sensitivity it engages with the issues we all face in an ageing global population.

Synopsis

A street smart runner develops an intense rivalry with an equally ambitious wealthy young athlete.

Synopsis

An up-beat comic extravaganza involving the family of a football obsessed grandfather, a women's fitness centre manager and mother, a dodgy car dealer and twin daughters lifeguards.

Synopsis

This short film tells the story of Ash, a mixed-race girl from Old Trafford, Manchester, UK. On a youth referral scheme, we see Ash travel to the iconic Salford Lads Club where she takes up boxing as a way of dealing with her troubled past. By portraying Ash’s experience of the sport, the film highlights how the boxing ring can be a neutral space where race and neighborhood politics are left outside. The film looks at not only Ash’s own experience of racism, but also the preconceptions she and others hold about other people and places. Clench demonstrates how boxing can become the ultimate visual tool for communication between generations, highlighting that every person has a story to tell regardless of how they look.

Synopsis

Towards the end of the second world war Dr Ludwig Guttmann, a brisk refugee from Nazi Germany, arrives at Stoke Mandeville hospital in Buckinghamshire and is appalled to find the partially paralysed spinal patients heavily sedated and left to rot with bed sores. He immediately begins a new regime,disposing of old equipment and sedatives, bringing him into conflict with stern Sister Edwards and pompous consultant Cowan, as well as the patients. However the sister backs him when she realises he is treating her charges as people, not patients, talking to them and involving them in musical entertainments and sporting activity. Soon Whitehall are sending him all their spinal patients and, with visits to the pub and wheelchair sports taught by an army sergeant, he becomes the men's hero. With the war over Ludwig organizes national wheelchair sports competitions which will in turn lead to the establishment of the Paralympic games. An end title informs that in 1966, now a British citizen, Dr Guttmann was deservedly knighted for his part in bringing hope to the hopeless.

Synopsis

A poetic journey through the waterways and along the coastline of the British Isles, following a lone swimmer through lakes, rivers and coves, framed by a soundtrack of seminal British music from Delius to The La's.