Projects in genres: Asian

Synopsis

In a secret world a family's code of honour is under threat, and an ancient way of life is knocked off it's axis by one small boys act of grace. A young Dezzie befriends Yasin, a Chinese boy who has recently arrived from Hong Kong, little does he know his life will take an unexpected turn that ultimately shape his future. They become firm and loyal friends until Yasin is taken away suddenly by his godfather, Kai. Ten years pass until Yasin returns and offers Dezzie an envious position at his side within the family firm. But this is a firm with a difference: Dezzie, the only white man to do so this side of the Atlantic is to be a triad member and run the family business in Manchester.

Synopsis

Suicide of the dolphins because of the sea pollution.

Synopsis

Three students drift through the genres of their favourite Asian flicks. Their arguments take them into an array of comic fantasy scenarios, from Bollywood song-and-dance spectaculars through to blood-soaked bulletfests and creepy nighttime terrors in this entertaining comment on modern British filmmaking.

Synopsis

Diana takes place the day after the Princess of Wales’ death and follows Mohit, an Indian pre-op transsexual on an emotional journey set against the backdrop of a day that shocked a nation and will change his life forever. Rejected by his family in India and working as a prostitute in London to pay for his hormone therapy, Mohit’s past continues to scar his life and he strongly relates to the isolation and loneliness suffered by the Princess. It is this connection that binds Mohit so closely to this iconic figure and ultimately acts as a catalyst in helping Mohit set himself free.   Winner of the Screen Academy Wales Best UK Short - Iris Prize 2009 Winner of the Jury Award for Best Short Film -  Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival 2009.

Synopsis

A journalist whose family was killed by the Khmer Rouge spends a decade making friends with the men and women who directed and perpetrated the Killing Fields. He obtains ground-breaking accounts from the notorious Brother Number Two and the grassroots killers and gains a new and terrifying perspective on the genocide. But the truth he discovers comes at a price.

Synopsis

When Hanesh, a young British Indian boy, discovers he has a special gift, he soon finds himself in a dark place. Worried about acceptance and scared by the unknown he withdraws into his own shell, disconnecting from the world around him. Bullied at school, and mocked by his sister, Hanesh’s troubles soon become evident to his mother, who arranges for him to visit his Uncle Vinod, a kind and understanding man in the hope he will help Hanesh. When faced with what seems like a miracle his uncle retracts and leaves Hanesh even more scared and confused. Hanesh witnesses his father collapse and although he desperately tries to help he is kept away with devastating consequences. He resolves to let his gift fly and with it his powerful secret is revealed to the wider world.

Synopsis

Award-winning director Gurinder Chadha (Bend it Like Beckham) is back with a new heart-warming comedy about a hysterical Indian mum whose match-making efforts turn deadly when she tries to marry off her frumpy daughter.

Synopsis

Nazir Ali Khan is an immigrant Indian professor at a university in Birmingham who lives with his wife and two children Saira, 17 and Asif, 14. Nazir shares a great relationship with his children and indulges their love for all things English, but has taken great pains to keep the link to home strong. When his beloved daughter is found in an illicit relationship, Nazir is suddenly on the brink of a tough decision to make. Should he save face? Or save his daughter?

Synopsis

Set in today's London, in a modern Indian-Bengali doctors family. Manju's sudden death, throws Sanjay into rediscovering his relationship and the lives of his daughters. Grappling with devastating loss, missing the mediating role of his wife, Sanjay faces new crisis with the modern lives of each daughter, specially with Dia the youngest declaring her love for a Muslim boy - Imtiaz. Sanjay recollects his childhood and the trauma of Hindu Muslim riots during partition of Bengal. Finally he gets to know that his elder daughter is not his own. He reconciles as he realises nothing is perfect. The shadow of Shakespeare's King Lear bears on this contemporary, free adaptation and works as a sub-text with Sanjay and Dia within the contours of Lear and Cordelia.

Synopsis

In the jungles of Borneo, an Iban father on the cusp of old age begins a river journey to seek medical help for his sick child. Along the way, the boy is troubled by recurring visions of a strange figure who appears on the river bank. As the journey progresses, father and son are drawn inexorably to a final encounter with the mythical 'transformed' shaman who dwells deep inside the jungle. Semangat was made by working closely with one Iban longhouse community from Sarawak, Malaysia with whom the story was devised and filmed. Set in the jungles of Borneo, the basis of the film explores the conflict that exists between ancient animist beliefs and modern approaches to illness. The main protagonists of the film are a real father and son, and a retired shaman from this community. Semangat is a micro-budget hybrid docu-fiction film funded by The Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation, The UK Film Council/CTBF John Brabourne Award and Screen South. It has been produced under the creative guidance of award winning filmmaker, Pawel Pawlikowski (Last Resort, My Summer of Love). It has been co-produced with The National Film and Television School.

Synopsis

A fast-paced documentary populated by a charismatic and often surreal cast of characters, Shot in Bombay goes beyond the tinselly glamour of 'Bollywood' to explore the industry's darker sides. With unprecedented access to a star-studded Bombay gangster movie, the film reveals an edgy metropolis, where fiction regularly blurs into reality.

Synopsis

Shunyata is a short political film that may appear to explore the duplicity in our democratic system but in spirit hints at the struggle faced by minorities in just about any country. It is set in Mumbai and doesn't make any direct reference to a particular individual or event but rather every single similar event since the partition of two countries due to politically fueled religious issues which have had and will continue to have severe repercussions. The story revolves around a Muslim girl Saeeda whose husband is picked up for questioning by the police and mysteriously disappears. It's been two years but she won't give up until she knows the truth. She forms a special father-daughter relationship with a police inspector who thinks he's helping her in her quest but doesn't realize that he will ultimately destroy her by leading her to the very people who brutally murdered her husband.