Projects in genres: Woman Director

Synopsis

A gothic fairytale following three generations of women coming together in the aftermath of a divorce.
When Alice’s mother, Grace, tells her that her father has become a “beast,” 7-year old Alice begins to question who or what she really is.

Synopsis

Hedi Jouini is the most popular musical star in Tunisian history, known as the “Frank Sinatra of Tunisia”. His songs continue to inspire revolutionaries and conservatives alike, striking at the heart of the post-colonial social and political upheaval of Tunisia and its continuing search for identity in the wake of the Arab Spring. But why did he keep his fame hidden from his family? What dark secrets did he keep from the nation that worshipped him? ‘The Man Behind the Microphone’ reveals the incredible story behind a man and his music, and o ers fascinating insight into Tunisia’s cultural evolution. The film builds a profound portrait of the godfather of Tunisian music – father to a nation yet not to his family.
Official Selection IDFA 2017 - European premiere

Synopsis

Amongst the iconic landmarks of London, a man overwhelmed by despair and burdened by life, stands on Waterloo Bridge contemplating finding peace at the bottom of the Thames. A concerned stranger stops and urges him to reconsider. Will her actions act as a catalyst in his life or death decision?

Synopsis

A woman in a small town in 1959 England decides, against polite but ruthless local opposition, to open a bookshop. A decision that becomes a political minefield. By exposing the locals to cutting-edge literature of the day such as Nabokov’s 'Lolita' and Ray Bradbury’s 'Fahrenheit 451', she sows the seeds of an awakening in the conservative town.
Official Selection Berlinale 2018 - Berlinale Special Gala

Synopsis

One night Majella O'Donnell took her teenage son Philly to be shot in both legs. Majella, Philly and his shooters all live within an extraordinary community in Derry, Northern Ireland. The “Troubles” officially ended in 1998 but they are still at war. They do not accept the government or police.
All this happens within the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom.
How do you bring your son to be shot? What happens afterwards? How does family life continue? How does a community respond? When do wars really end? For five years Sinéad O’Shea has filmed this shocking but darkly humorous portrait of a post conflict society.
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2017 - World premiere

Synopsis

An intimate portrayal of a family's last day together, set against the backdrop of North London.
Official Selection Sundance Film Festival 2018 - International premiere

Synopsis

Walking the liminal space between perception and memory the film charts the emotional recovery of a family as they come to terms with their father's suicide that left them in financial ruin seven years ago. As they piece together fragments of a broken past, questions of memory, identity and love must be faced before the family can embrace the future.
Combining family home video archive with intimate footage captured in the West Midlands over two years, director Lucy Cohen examines how tragedy struggles towards hope.
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2017 - Documentary Competition - World premiere
BAFTA Nomination 2018 - Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer

Synopsis

A poetic study of the life and work of artist Margaret Benyon, pioneer in the artistic use of holography. Giving voice to the unsung legacy of a pioneering woman artist, 'A Blemished Code' is an impassioned meditation on the representation of female artists, the balancing of creative and domestic life, and the inherent tensions of being a woman working with new technology. The inner life of the subject is represented throughout by a brilliant musical score featuring sung script and compositions by Stevie Jones, Mai Mai, and Leigh Ferguson. (LFF brochure)
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2017 - Experimenta Strand - World premiere

Synopsis

Tracing the movements of the New Silk Road, this essay-documentary follows distribution networks which are expanding across vast regions between China and Europe.
Mapped through footage, interviews, field recordings and found WeChat videos; government efforts to speed up the movement of trade collide with more-than-human choreographies of sand, people and goods. 'Paralogisticians' hack infrastructural space through transnational guanxi and long distance friendships. Desert sands made restless by Westerly winds disrupt roads, railways and sometimes engulf whole cities. Through a disorientation of the senses – bodies and landscapes become mobile.
Official Selection Rotterdam International Film Festival 2018 - World premiere

Synopsis

An enduring love story of one man's time in London during the early 1960s. Coming of age as a young homosexual in a society where male gay sex was illegal and prejudice ran deep, Bryan Robert Bale discovered the illicit ways gay men still sought to love freely.
BAFTA Film Awards 2019 - Nominated, Best British Short Film

Synopsis

Moments of lost self-control.

Synopsis

A young man has doubts over his future bride on his wedding day. With external pressure from his family it seems that there is only one path for our groom-to-be.