Projects in genres: Drama

Synopsis

Helen Fortuno, an Italian living in London, has not heard from her brother Frank for two years. She receives a cryptic postcard from him with enough informaiton for her to track him down to a Buddhist retreat in Scotland. Along for the ride is London girl Sylvia who is using Helen's search for her brother as her chance to leave her psycho husband Gordon.

Arriving at the monastry, they are told by a monk that Frank, failing to fit in, has moved on with tantric student Fiona. At Fiona's cottage they find Fiona has been abandoned by Frank and has a baby daughter by him. Frank has gone to live on the coast but when Helen confronts Frank's ex-beach buddy Joe, she realises that Frank doesn't want to be found. Meanwhile, Sylvia takes a fancy to kilted barman Davie and invites him along. Helen feels Davie is slowing them down and provokes him into parting with them. The two women, now followed by a mysterious Man in Black, continue on their search for Frank and encounter the Jeweller, Sunshine and Sophie, who guide Helen to the Drummer Girl, a forger who has given Frank a new identity - Sid Arthur.

When the Drummer Girl is murdered, Sylvia realises they are involved in something bigger than just looking for Helen's brother.

Synopsis

Glenda, an unemployed misfit, falls in love with Freddie, her goldfish. As her search for work flounders, her love for Freddie deepens and she feels her place is at his side.
 

Synopsis

Polly is a teenager, discovering and experimenting with sex. Her father is becoming increasingly withdrawn and Polly mourns the intimacy that existed between them. They are both haunted by the absence of Polly's mother who is revealed to have abandoned the family. Polly deliberately creates a confrontation by dressing up in her mother's clothes.

Synopsis

Following Yago is a quirky study of married life. It takes the popular genre of romantic comedy and shifts the focus away from the typical 'boy meets girl' scenario to examine how a couple stay together and whether this is the basis of true love.
 
Jack has recently given up his full-time job to concentrate on writing a book on the Mary Rose.  Finding it easier to work at  night, his routine has changed and he now sleeps during the day.  Meanwhile, his wife, Maddy, continues her job as a photographer in order to support them both.  Then, one day, much to Jack's horror, Maddy brings home a self-help book with a view to improving what Jack thought was a perfectly happy relationship.
 
The film is, unusually, set completely in one location (the couple's house) with only the two lead characters seen throughout. By giving the audience a private insight into their lives behind closed doors, the story explores how situations that occur in our outside lives affect us and, in turn, our personal relationships.

Synopsis

A woman is travelling on a tram when she sees an electronic sign which gets her thinking.

'Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names', the sign reads.
 
Has she got any enemies? And if she has, are they really her enemies? And if they are, would she forgive them?
 
Forgive is a reflective tale about a woman who realises that sometimes what might at first seem negative, in reality, might not be.

Synopsis

After being knocked out, an erratic Paul Hunt believes he has been the victim of a mugging, robbed of £1000, a deposit for his new house. Relationships are already strained between his new wife and his elderly father who all live under the same roof. Paul is now under pressure at his new job as a double glazing sales man for tyrant Big Al, under pressure to care for his devoting father and under pressure to get the money back, before his pregnant wife finds out.
 
Life just can't get worse for the trainee salesman as his boss forces him to wear glasses - "They make you look 17% more intelligent" - his new company car looks like Tweety Pie on wheels and his wife's on his back to get a new home.
 
Made on a shoestring, yet glittering with wit and invention - and jam-packed with brilliant set-pieces - Finnigan's digital feature is a superb example of Scottish independent filmmaking.

Synopsis

Peter is fourteen. Mary is fourteen. Bob behaves like he is fourteen. Bob lives in Crawley. Peter doesn't. Mary wishes she didn't. Together they would find out very little.

Synopsis

Short experimental drama that follows a journey of transformation by the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) who wore a series of orthopaedic corsets because of impairment. The film draws on Kahlo's own words and bold painting style. It refutes the picture of Kahlo's life as one of tragedy and suffering.

Synopsis

It’s two years since the mysterious disappearance of Kath Swarbrick’s older sister Annie. But Kath (Shirley Henderson) remains haunted by the need to know what happened.

When police investigations wind down, Kath continues the search herself. She gets nowhere until she steals some CCTV footage of her sister on her final day.

Visiting the spot where she was filmed, Kath becomes convinced she has found a gateway to another reality in which Annie is still alive. Those close to Kath are sceptical. They question her sanity, beg her to stop searching.

Has Kath really found a way to access the afterlife? Or is she losing her grip on reality?

Synopsis

When soprano Lucy gets invited to dinner by famous tenor Barolo she finds it could be her that ends up on the menu.

Synopsis

On a bleak English housing estate a dysfunctional teenager is reduced to a mere automaton. Using heavily manipulated video and strong colourisation, Joe Magee's film conveys the surreal experience of a young drop-out. The protagonist's state of mind manifests through extreme film loops and continually recurring sound motifs. Dogs become agitated, birds circle and clocks stop working all to the backdrop of a melancholy ice-cream van.

Synopsis

Sarah is 32 and wondering if she'll ever meet Mr Perfect. She places a personal ad and arranges a blind date with a hot prospect. But with a serial killer on the loose should this girl be afraid of something far worse than being left on the shelf?