Projects in genres: History

Synopsis

Sami, a Syrian refugee in the UK, and Bryony, an aimless young librarian, embark on a highly personal quest to preserve a bell from a demolished Christian church. What begins as a civic protest quickly becomes a criminal case when they accidentally near fatally injure a security guard, and find themselves on the run from the police. However, our accidental heroes’ fate is sealed by a kindly police sergeant who is moved by their mission, and our odd-couple achieve their goal of saving the bell and reminding the town they both call home about the importance of remembering its own story.

Synopsis

In the grey rhythms of a 1990s British secondary school, a student begins to sense a discomfort that has no name, just a feeling that the role they’re playing doesn’t quite fit. Through a missing pair of joggers, an unexpected line from Macbeth, and the quiet rituals of uniforms, registers, and school corridors, this film traces the first flickers of identity forming - not through revelation, but recognition.

Synopsis

Set in the South China Sea during the early 19th century, THE PIRATE QUEEN tells the extraordinary true-inspired story of Cheng Shih, a woman who rose from obscurity to command the largest pirate confederation in recorded history. When her husband dies at sea, Cheng Shih inherits a fragile empire on the brink of collapse. Surrounded by rival captains, internal betrayal, and escalating imperial pressure, she must outmanoeuvre enemies on all sides to keep Red Flag Fleet together. Through strategic brilliance and ruthless restraint, she transforms from an underestimated widow into a leader whose authority rivals the world’s greatest navies. This narrative-driven VR experience places audiences inside Cheng Shih’s ascent to power. Developed over five years in collaboration with historians and cultural advisors, the project draws on extensive research into Qing Dynasty China and British–Chinese relations. Official Selection Cannes Film Festival 2026 - Immersive Competition - World premiere

Synopsis

The alien cosmos of microscopy becomes the setting for a posthumous dialogue: an exploration of the unspoken fallout of the pandemic years.

Synopsis

In the days leading up to Christmas 1973 three astronauts enacted the first labour strike in outer space. Reconstructed from transcripts in claustrophobic close-up via CCTV system, THE CASE AGAINST SPACE is a real time investigation, dramatically collapsing embodied historical reenactment and speculative essayistic research - forming a collective testimony on struggle amongst the stars, of fights past, present and those yet to come. Official Selection Open City Documentary Festival 2026 Official Selection Visions du Réel 2026

Synopsis

This film follows the Fukushima disaster as it unfolds - minute by minute, from multiple perspectives. From the plant workers risking their lives to avert catastrophe, to survivors escaping devastation, to government officials racing against time to regain control. Leaked conversations between TEPCO and the plant expose panic, deception, and how close Japan came to irreversible devastation. Archival footage reveals the psychology of a nation- gleaming reactors symbolizing prosperity, propaganda videos, even children’s cartoons like Little Plutonium Boy, eerily juxtaposed with Fukushima’s grim reality. Epic, immersive, and definitive, this film blends raw testimony with breathtaking archive footage. Viewers will live through the disaster, experiencing its claustrophobia and terror. Dramatic recreations merge seamlessly with real footage, amplifying tension like a thriller. A ticking clock and rising radiation levels underscore the desperate efforts to contain the accident, while sound design, music, and haunting imagery convey the horror of nature turning against us—earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear fallout. Official Selection CPH DOX 2026

Synopsis

Structured as a psychogeographic voyage, the film explores place, memory, and sensation through the inner life of a poet whose sense of self gradually dissolves into cinematic reflection. Departing from conventional documentary forms, EVERY MOON IS ATROCIOUS invites audiences into a layered sensory environment where image, sound, and language operate associatively. At its core lies the poetry of the late Niall McDevitt (1967-2022), whose work forms the conceptual and emotional spine of the film, shaping a trance-like rhythm that mirrors the protagonist’s journey towards death and the unknown. Yvonne McDevitt’s filmmaking resists separating form from feeling. Dreamlike visuals, intense durational shots, and richly layered sound design prioritise emotional resonance over linear narrative. Fragmented imagery and superimpositions draw viewers into a meditative mode, presenting the film as a cinematic drift that charts inner terrains as much as physical ones. Movement through cities and coastlines becomes inseparable from movement through memory, grief, and desire. Official Selection Dublin International Film Festival 2026 - World premiere

Synopsis

Tracing the evolution of documentary film across time, including seminal international works and hidden treasures, the film reveals how the form has helped us see and make sense of our world. Official Selection Sundance Film Festival 2026 - World premiere Official Selection Berlin International Film Festival 2026 - Berlinale Special Series - European premiere (episode 1) | World premiere (episodes 2-4) Official Selection Cannes Film Festival 2026 - Cannes Classics - (episode 'The 1970s') Official Selection Sheffield DocFest 2026 (episode '1960s') Official Selection Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2026 (episode '1980s')

Synopsis

The struggle against apartheid is recounted through Nelson Mandela’s own voice, drawn from recordings he made while writing his autobiography 'Long Walk to Freedom'. Official Selection Sundance Film Festival 2026 - World premiere

Synopsis

A short animated documentary about a filmmaker’s search to get to know the uncle she never met, whose death from AIDS led directly to her birth. Part thank-you note and part memorial, DOUG + ME is both a look into a life and a reflection on the enduring ripples of legacies we all leave behind. Official Selection BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival 2026

Synopsis

A personal meditation on the intimate ways our lives are shaped by ongoing colonial histories, how we make sense of this knowing and finding joy. Official Selection CPH:DOX 2026 Centered around the filmmakers’ local park, this film is a celebration of London and the resilience of migrant communities that have shaped the city from its beginnings. It’s about the British Empire Exhibition of 1924-25 and a line which stretches all the way from then to today. It’s about Palestine, which sits along this colonial continuum, and a park full of dancing, BBQs, birthday parties and joy. Through a hybrid form that combines documentary, archival footage, and direct animation this film meditates on the colonial remnants lodged in our lives and asks what it means to celebrate, play, and belong amid the rubble of empire. Official Selection CPH:DOX 2026

Synopsis

Sue died suddenly in 1983, leaving behind three young children. Her son, filmmaker Eamon Bourke, was three and has no memories of his mother. When his father, John, decides to sell their remote cottage in Cumbria, Eamon doesn’t want to let it go, so returns to capture it on film. In the process of clearing the house, Eamon discovers a series of extraordinary cassette tapes recorded by Sue. These cassettes hold the memories Eamon has longed for. Sue’s voice lights up the film. But within the recordings are some devastating moments, including Sue falling ill with hepatitis. The last thing she recorded was her and Eamon singing together. Then another tape is discovered, broken and with a severed reel. Eamon repairs this cassette, revealing a heartbreaking recording that transports him back to the epicentre of the tragedy. Through interviews with his family members, alongside land art, animation and music, THE SOLWAY explores the trauma of losing a parent in early childhood and how the ripples of this grief linger into later life. Set amongst the cinematic beauty of the Lake District, this film has a rare magic to it and offers audiences a space to contemplate their own grief.