Archie is a small boy with learning difficulties. He doesn't speak, and can't cope with school. His parents are at war, and the social services want to take Archie into care. Most people have written him off, but a chance meeting with an unlikely friend changes everything.
By Our Selves documents a four-day walk made by the English Poet John Clare. Toby Jones, Iain Sinclair and a Straw Bear follow in his footsteps exactly 150 years after his death. En route they bump into Macgillivray, Dr Simon Kovesi and the wizard Alan Moore. Meantime the journey is narrated by Toby’s father Freddie, a maverick actor who featured in numerous David Lynch films.
John Clare's escape from Epping Forest; an epic march through hunger and madness, is an English journey to set beside 'A Pilgrim's Progress'. Andrew Kötting, hyperkinetic camper-van captain of Gallivant, sets out in hot pursuit, dressed as a Straw Bear. Father and son, Freddie and Toby Jones, are possessed by the spirit of Clare, and locked in Beckettian embrace: one all-voice and one all-mute.
The writer Iain Sinclair watches from the shadows, Alan Moore waits like a bearded figure of fate, in Northampton and Dr Simon Kovesi hands out the medicine.
Captured in lustrous black and white photography, they discover the only truth of the road; whatever our hopes and delusions, we are always By Our Selves.
Inspired by Iain Sinclair’s Edge of the Orison and John Clare’s Journey out of Essex.
Set in 1950s New York, two women from very different backgrounds find themselves in the throes of love in 'Carol'. As conventional norms of the time challenge their undeniable attraction, an honest story emerges to reveal the resilience of the heart in the face of change.
A young woman in her 20s, Therese Belivet is a clerk working in a Manhattan department store and dreaming of a more fulfilling life when she meets Carol, an alluring woman trapped in a loveless, convenient marriage. As an immediate connection sparks between them, the innocence of their first encounter dims and their connection deepens.
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2015 - Gala Screening
Somewhere in Florida a mysterious chemical reacts with the chlorine of a hotel swimming pool. Upon discovery, a young guest begins recruiting followers for her strange cult.
Mark, a failed artist estranged from his wife and son, wakes one morning to discover that the doors and windows of his flat have been sealed shut. He assumes it’s a sick joke until he sees an army of ‘Hazmats’ – mysterious figures in protective suits – patrolling the grounds and snatching his fellow residents. When a neighbour smashes through their adjoining wall, Mark joins forces with his new-found ally and others from within the block. Together, they must work to defend themselves from the sinister Hazmats, but when they discover that the real danger is trapped inside the building, tempers fray and fear takes over. Loyalties are tested to their limits as friends and families turn against each other in an adrenaline-fuelled fight for survival.
Moscow, 1959: Katya is young, beautiful – and a spy for the Americans. When she begins spying on Alexander, an idealistic Communist politician, the last thing she expects is to fall in love with him. Her choice between love and duty leads to a nail-biting conclusion that Alexander can only unravel decades later in New York. His journey back to the snowbound streets of Moscow uncovers an unexpected love triangle and betrayals from those he trusted most.
Inspired by D.F. Wallace's first short story, visualising mental discomfort as living on another planet to Earth, the film splits the character of May in two halves: one struggling in London in the past, the other one trying to recover in a youth clinic in the present -until the two storylines collide.
Meet Brian, a Belfast storyteller, for a trip down memory alley and his colourful tales of the highlife, the lowlife and his cat. But in Brian's world things aren’t always what they seem and we soon discover his extraordinary optimism has been shaped by dark events.
Before passing away, an elderly man (Robert Hardy) is given the opportunity to relive one day of his life. Joseph's Reel is a romantic fantasy that deals with love, loss, and memory.
