Projects in genres: Woman Director

Synopsis

Filmed over seven years in England and the United States, Dance of Identity is an intimate, powerful portrait of love, resilience, and family against the backdrop of a global culture war. The documentary follows Sophie, a British trans woman and amateur ballet dancer, and her partner Sandi, as they build a life together. From Sophie’s triumphant public ballet performances to the couple’s fairytale wedding and the high-stakes birth of their child, their personal joys constantly clash with a shifting political landscape. As politicians and media headlines weaponise trans existence, the couple faces rising hostility, social media attacks, and legal threats to Sophie’s fundamental rights. Yet, through nine years of waiting for gender-affirming healthcare and navigating bureaucratic hurdles, theirs is a story of defiant hope. Dance of Identity reveals the profound impact of political rhetoric on the private sanctuary of a family, ultimately celebrating the triumph of love over systemic adversity.

Synopsis

“You are a sky of autumn, pale and rose; But sadness in me rises like the sea" The Eyes of Beauty, Charles Baudelaire, The Flowers of Evil In Greenwich Park, London two lovers stroll and talk about love, their relationship and the making of a film in Venice. The Venice film is shot on 16mm. Venice at dawn is empty and a protagonist sits at the empty San Marco Piazza, is seen walking in a detached manner from the grand sights and facades and interiors of Palazzos into the backstreets. In gilded interiors and painted ceilings, as the winter afternoon light weakens in a soporific atmosphere, she lays in dark interiors with frescoes of Antiquity. Like the Risen, at twilight she walks the alleyways and into the Like the Risen, at twilight she walks the alleyways and into the dark to meet the Devil at dawn. Featuring the actor Pietro Fanelli – the Devil makes a fleeting but impactful appearance, the protagonist offers herself to his gaze and touch. The film follows a path via the remnants of Romanticism and Charles Baudelaire’s The Flowers of Evil in search of beauty, opulence, exotic pleasure and lovers, exemplified by Venice.

Synopsis

Anna is a single mother balancing work with raising her nine-year-old daughter, Thea, a bright, sensitive child experiencing severe school- related distress and stuck on a three-year waiting list for an autism assessment. At home, Thea is creative, affectionate and deeply vulnerable. At school, her psychological distress is mistaken for truancy, fabrication or bad parenting. As Anna fights for support, she faces mounting scrutiny from the school and local authority. She is blamed for Thea’s behaviour, instructed to attend parenting courses and ultimately served financial fines for repeated “unauthorised absence”. Her daughter’s needs remain unrecognised, the morning routine is reduced to a battle of increasing violence, and Anna is pushed to breaking point. Threatened with criminal prosecution, on the brink of losing her job and now in a state of complete exhaustion, Anna attempts a final school drop- off. Thea, in a state of sensory overwhelm, takes desperate measures to avoid a public meltdown which ends in unspeakable tragedy. Yet, the calls from the school continue: a relentless reminder that, to the system, Anna's young daughter remains little more than another “unauthorised absence”.

Synopsis

The final part of a documentary trilogy that began with 'Further Beyond' and 'TheFuture Tense', 'ACT 3' completes Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor’s exploration of ideas around identity, place and memory. Here, they delve in to their past work and creative collaboration across 40 years to explore the possibility of their future identities; and how they choose to imagine the final third of their life. Mining the intimate relationship of artists Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore – who are the subject of their current feature film – and taking their typically droll, existentially-inflected, meta approach, the documentary ultimately becomes a moving meditation on the meaning of life, art and love. Official Selection Telluride Film Festival 2026 Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2026

Synopsis

Loyal butler Jonathan is sent to rescue the failing Blueberry Inn, unaware his blinkered Lord plots to leave it to him and three chaotic staff as a social experiment. When the Lord dies suddenly, Jonathan discovers he's a co-owner of the Inn and has just one month to save it. Battling sabotage from furious heirs, the mismatched team (and a pig!) rally their communities, securing the Inn's future against all odds.

Synopsis

Mary and Scott entwine themselves during a woodland rave

Synopsis

Wren is interviewed for a job at Brixham Fish Market. Gary shows her around and tells her to come back tomorrow, for the night shift. A few hours into the shift and Wren is flagging, she enjoys a moment of calm whilst smoking outside - until she is confronted with Cali, who wants a lighter and a chat. The next few nights, sleepless days and awkward interactions blur into each other until Cali greets Wren with a coffee and cigarette for the usual 2am slump. Wren is disgusted when realising Cali has spiked her coffee with brandy. Steph shows Wren how to fillet. Cali rushes to help, standing behind Wren, he places his hands on hers.Wren shrinks down, motionless, allowing Cali to puppeteer her, forcing his groin into her from behind. Wren empties her locker, she’s not coming back. She leaves, only to find Cali waiting for her, unbuckling his belt. Wren waits until his trousers are down, walks over to him, without breaking eye contact and guts Cali like a fish. She makes use of the “Monster Industrial Chum Grinder”, to dismember Cali’s body, discarding the chum into the sea at sunrise. She gracefully enters the sea herself, cleansed.

Synopsis

As Mike is leaving his London life behind, an old friend reappears to say goodbye. Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2026

Synopsis

Using ideas from Carl Jung - exploring and accepting the inner world, Carolyn Abbate - analysis of dissonance to find the narrative voice - and Hilde Lindemann Nelson - using narrative to repair damaged identity, I filmed my process of creating puppets and recorded some of the thoughts that arose as I made them. I utilised emergent practice in the filmmaking, which meant letting go of preconceived ideas to let narrative arise in the moment. I wanted my puppets to unite, rather than fight in the traditional Punch and Judy manner.

Synopsis

Prima Facie - A legal claim with sufficient evidence to proceed to trial. Tessa (Cynthia Erivo) is a brilliant British defence barrister dominating London’s ruthless courtrooms. Fierce, witty, and self-made, she defends men accused of sexual assault - until she is assaulted herself by a colleague from a powerful legal dynasty. Suddenly, the system she trusted turns against her. As she faces the same tactics she once used in court, Tessa’s faith in justice unravels. Once in control, now exposed and disbelieved, she must fight to reclaim her voice and sense of self. A gripping and deeply human story about power, truth, and survival in a patriarchal world, PRIMA FACIE reveals the quiet strength of one woman’s pursuit of justice - and the beauty in confronting the truth. Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2026 Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2026

Synopsis

Envy, a young Chinese woman searches for love while working at a bakery. When she secretly bakes a cake for her crush, her ideal fantasies of love are confronted by reality. Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2026

Synopsis

A famous Black actor accepts a role in a lucrative government film, but when he learns he’s starring in a welcome video for a British Internment camp, he is confronted by the devastating cost of his political indifference.