Projects in genres: Woman Director

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Fazaila is a Shia-Muslim teenager from East London whose mum thinks she's becoming 'too English'. This first film by her cousin Heena explores Fazaila's need to find her own way.

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The village of Beshencevo in Central Russia lying beside Nizhni Novogorod and the Volga entertains a camera crew in the home of the Chiline family who have lived in the village. The family have lived through the Soviet past and are reluctantly entering the new prosperity of Russia. They argue and talk, live out their personal dramas and determinedly continue with their ancient way of life through the coldest months of Winter.

Synopsis

Set against the breathtaking backdrop of the Himalayas, Blindsight follows the gripping adventure of six Tibetan teenagers on a climbing expedition up the 23,000 foot Lhakpa Ri, on the northside of Mt. Everest. A dangerous journey soon becomes a seemingly impossible challenge made all the more remarkable by the fact that the teenagers are blind. Believed to be possessed by evil demons, the children are feared by their parents, scorned by their villages and rejected by their Buddhist religion. Rescued by Sabriye Tenberken — a blind educator and adventuress who established the first school for the blind in Lhasa — the students invite the famous blind mountain climber Erik Weihenmayer to visit their school after learning about his conquest of Everest. Erik arrives in Lhasa and inspires Sabriye and her students to let him lead them higher than they have ever been before. The result is nothing anyone could have predicted.  

Synopsis

Based on the prize-winning novel by Monica Ali, Brick Lane is the story of a beautiful young Bangladeshi woman who arrives in 1980s London, leaving behind her beloved sister and home, for an arranged marriage and a new life. Nazneen's mother always told her she was a survivor, but trapped within the four walls of her flat in East London, and in a loveless marriage with the middle aged Chanu, she fears her soul is quietly dying. Her sister Hasina, meanwhile, continues to live a carefree life back in Bangladesh, stumbling from one adventure to the next. Nazneen struggles to accept her lot, and keeps her head down in spite of life's blows. But she soon discovers that life cannot be avoided - and is forced to confront it the day that the hotheaded young Karim comes knocking at her door. Set against the changing backdrop of multicultural Britain, Brick Lane is a truly contemporary story of love, of cultural difference, and ultimately, the strength of the human spirit.

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Bro 9 a quietly disturbing film unveiling a portrait of an inner city black urban male struggling to understand the emotional consequences of the childhood loss of his father. Bro 9 explores the complex psychology of Scally as his personality disorder takes a startling grip on his reality and perception of the world.

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A quirky black comedy about people who need to be heard. Annie bungles a message on Pete's voice mail and then has to deal with the consequences.

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A story of love, death, and resurrection... The dead car - discarded, dumped and crushed - is toxic waste manifested in burning tyre mountains and landfill until the European Union takes action. The spirit of the car lives on.

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Deep mystery still surrounds the apparent ritual suicide of a group of students at a London theology college six years ago. Today, five friends, scouting the ultimate party venue, break into an abandoned halls of residence to discover they are in the same place where the students took their lives. Each of the friends has heard conflicting accounts of what happened that fateful night, so they attempt to communicate with their souls to find out the truth. But the answer comes not from the ghosts, but from whatever it was that drove them to their deaths. And now it knows they're here, it's not going to let them leave.  

Synopsis

Destricted is the first compliation of its kind, a series of short films created by seven of the world's most provocative artists and filmmakers - Matthew Barney, Larry Clark, Richard Prince, Sam Taylor-Wood, Marina Abramovic, Marco Brambilla and Gaspar Noé.   Revealing the diverse attitudes by which we represent ourselves sexually, Destricted explores the intersection of art and pornography. By highlighting controversial issues about the representation of sexuality in art, the seven filmmakers question whether art can be disguised as pornography, and pornography as art or as something else altogether.   The result is a collection of explicit, stimulating, challenging, provocative, strange and sometimes humorous scenarios that leave it up to the viewer to decide. As compelling and contentious within the art world, as in the film industry, Destricted was among Artforum magazine's 'Best of 2005', an official selection for the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and the 45th International Critics' Week at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.  Destricted's first public screening will be at Tate Modern, London in September 2006 to mark its release on DVD and digital platform viewing.

Synopsis

Edie, an abused, off-centre transsexual, uses her video camera like a personal CCTV, recording the crimes and abuse perpetrated against her but it soon becomes a drug that only helps her avoid reality - so when someone tries to take it from her, there are tragic consequences. Can Edie ever stop pretending her life is all a movie?

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What happens when you use a cursed credit card? You buy, you die! A teenage loser uses an unlimited credit card to gain popularity. But the card is cursed and the interest will have to be paid back, in blood!  

Synopsis

Stacey is a young mother trapped in a violent marriage who wants to see her daughter as Cinderella in the school play but must first escape the nightmare of her own Prince Charming.