Projects in genres: Dance

Synopsis

A perfection-obsessed dancer traps herself in an endless rehearsal, pushing her body past its limits for a moment of applause.

Synopsis

An experimental documentary that unfolds as a ceremony of queer belonging, inheritance, and sound. At its heart is a dialogue with Afro-Cuban priestess and musician Amelia Pedroso, whose legacy is invoked through archival traces, letters, and performance. Narrated as a letter to an ancestor, the film situates the search for connection within an interior, oceanic dreamscape where water, memory, and ritual become both setting and subject. Cinematically, MODUPE moves between a stylised ensemble rehearsal and a sacred library-archive. The ensemble of voice, drum, and dance provides the film’s pulse, collapsing rehearsal and ritual into one. Deep blue light, reflective surfaces, and submerged imagery create a sensorial architecture that is both intimate and expansive, with water presence throughout evoking both flood and transformation. Formally, the film resists linear storytelling, privileging atmosphere, rhythm, and sonic immersion. Objects, archives, and sacred materials hold the same cinematic weight as bodies in performance, reframing the archive as altar and sound as shrine. Narrative unfolds through resonance rather than resolution, drawing the viewer into a space of listening and reflection. MODUPE proposes cinema as a vessel for inheritance, where identity is fluid, memory is alive and liberation is lived through sound.

Synopsis

A disciplined dancer, consumed by the pursuit of perfection, traps herself in an endless rehearsal. With each repetition, her body is pushed beyond its limits, until pain becomes part of the choreography. As her reality fractures, she continues to perform. When she finally collapses mid-routine, she is met with overwhelming applause from an unseen audience. In that moment, destruction and fulfilment become one.

Synopsis

A poetic and visceral drama set against the colour-drenched backdrop of Liverpool’s queer nightlife, that dives headfirst into the chaos where drugs, romance, and self-destruction intertwine. Told through fragmented timelines, spoken word poetry, and an immersive soundtrack, the film offers a subjective journey into the mind of Wolfy, who is caught in cycles of addiction and toxic love. Nights blur into days and back into nights again, each one a distorted reflection of the last. Wolfy’s familiar rhythm of euphoria, comedowns and self-loathing is mellowed by Snooze, a charismatic, carefree lover, desperate to bring Wolfy out of his shell. Their connection burns bright but is dangerously fuelled by escapism and the promise of a freedom that always dissolves with the sunrise. As drugs and desire merge, the line between comfort and destruction becomes harder to see, until Wolfy must confront the reality that he’s been drowning out in the noise. Exploring the tension between escapism and awareness - the struggle of knowing the damage being done, but feeling powerless to stop it. Official Selection BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival 2026 - World premiere

Synopsis

Situated at the physical-virtual threshold, loss·y memorializes corporeal passing and digital rebirth. The work intertwines animated sculptural “dances” with interactive spatial audio, inviting audiences to navigate invisible thresholds as they move. loss·y presents three split-seconds of a motion-captured female-female pas de deux: each moment is suspended in a vignette that overlaps projection and 3D prints encapsulating the dance in sculpture, with spoken-word poetry and spatial sound design. The installation’s audioscapes blend cold technical facts, accounts of digital dysmorphia and surveillance, and computer-generated sampling, creating an elegy to the vital body that is at once human and digital. On its surface a critique of today’s techno-society, loss·y collusively takes up digital reduction and surveillance as creative media, revealing reverence for the uncanny wonder that pulls us forward into our new, hybridized world. Official Selection SXSW 2026

Synopsis

Following the journey of Tobi, a Nigerian migrant and filmmaker and Lily, a talented dancer, as they come together to create a dance music video aimed at promoting unity and peace in a time of rising racial tensions in the UK. As protests against immigrants sweep across the country, the town of Middlesbrough becomes a flashpoint of unrest. However, the growing tension culminates in tragedy when Tobi is brutally attacked by Mikey, a childhood friend of Lily’s who has been consumed by racism and anger. Tobi’s death leaves the group shattered, but Lily refuses to let his vision die with him. Determined to honor Tobi’s memory, she rallies the dancers to complete the video, turning their grief into a powerful statement of defiance and hope. The dance video is live-streamed, attracting global attention as messages of support pour in. Despite the loss they’ve suffered, the project becomes a beacon of hope, demonstrating that love, unity, and art have the power to heal even in the darkest of times.

Synopsis

Robert Schumann wrote a declaration of love for Clara in his early music. SCHUMANN A LOVE STORY is a 30 minute dance film about this declaration set to one of his most famous works, Fantasiestücke Op.12. The three dancers and the pianist tell the story of how Schumann's two alter egos, Eusebius-the mild, and Florestan-the wild fight for Clara's attention. Which of Schumann's two passionate sides will she choose?

Synopsis

A rising pop sensation navigates the complexities of fame and industry pressures while preparing for her arena tour debut, revealing the transformation of underground culture into mainstream success. Official Selection Sundance Film Festival 2026 - World premiere Official Selection Berlin International Film Festival 2026 - Panorama - International premiere

Synopsis

A fulldome dance film set amidst the rich and varied landscapes of Zimbabwe, where performers express the tension, resilience and interconnectedness between people and the natural world under the pressures of climate change. With their movements, the dancers explore the consequences of environmental disruption and the profound ways in which people and nature are intertwined. Through abstract choreography, symbolic imagery and an atmospheric score, the work reflects the planet’s vulnerability, the challenges posed by environmental shifts and the transformative potential of collective effort. As the dancers navigate these ever-changing locations, their movements evoke the escalating consequences of a warming world, capturing both its fragility and the urgent call for action.

Synopsis

In this South Asian team sport, players repeating ‘kabaddi’ frantically cross boundaries on the court, tagging their opponents before returning. Ka ba Ddi is a high-energy team sport originating in South Asia played between two teams of seven players on a divided court. Players respond to boundaries, bodies think in relation to each other: lines of the court, focal points for players movements. Stretching back into their own territory; a vocabulary of movement that make connections with what is happening in the wider world, in domestic UK politics but also internationally. Territory has never felt so terrifying or so contested. The rules based order of Kabaddi stipulates that one team sends a single "raider" into the opposing team's territory, the aim is to tag/touch as many players as possible from the opposing side before retreating back into your own territory. Rules govern our bodies, we live in a series of ever increasing courts both materially and ideologically. Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2025 - Short Film Competition

Synopsis

The true story of two Scottish lads from Dundee conned the music industry by pretending to be an established Californian rap duo, appearing on MTV and bagging a record deal until their scam unravelled. Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2025 - World premiere Official Selection Glasgow Film Festival 2026

Synopsis

In a British-Ghanaian household bound by tradition and religion, a young girl lives under the oppressive control of her abusive father. At the family dinner table, heated arguments reveal the deep rift between them as they confront the scars of their shared history.