Projects in genres: Drama

Synopsis

In 1890s England, Algy Moncrieff and his friend Jack Worthing are a spirited pair of London dandies who are keen to win the hands of the women they love. And their chosen brides, the pre-Raphaelite Cecily and the distinguished Gwendolen are their perfect women - except that they appear to have a pathological aversion to any name - other than Earnest. But of course, adopting this unusual name is the least of their troubles when the imposing Lady Bracknell arrives to guard her beloved daughter's reputation and investigate her suitors. Quizzing Jack over his social pedigree, Lady Bracknell is utterly dismayed to discover that he has only the spurious claim to being parented by a 'handbag'. She presents him with an ultimatum: unless he can prove his suitable origin within the week, the marriage will be off. Galloping between London and the country, this farcical comedy of mistaken identities, and undiscovered liaisons gathers speed as the rakish pair try desperately to conceal their duplicity and prevent the discovery of some astonishing truths. Oliver Parker's imaginative adaptation combines Wilde's inimitable wit with an engaging romantic tale and a sparkling comedy of social manners.

Synopsis

Oscar Slater lived in Glasgow at the turn of the century. A petty criminal, gambler and in all likelihood a pimp. Also a German and a Jew. He spent twenty years in Peterhead jail, after being found guilty of a murder, now believed to have been carried out by members of Glasgow's professional classes.

Synopsis

The story of a couple's quest for happiness. Set in the 1920s, a forty-year-old woman Sarah and her young lover Hamish travel to an ivory trading post, deep in the jungle. Run with an iron fist by the domineering Mrs Jones, her avaricious son William and his elderly scheming nanny Erina. The influence of the newcomers on the small strained group of inhabitants unleashes greed, murder and madness: a tragedy where everyone is the victim of each others broken dreams.

Synopsis

A young couple (William & Zeze) embark on a trip to the country to meet with Willie's long estranged college sweetheart, Sarah. On their arrival they discover quite a different Sarah to her college days.

Synopsis

Single mum gains security but loses her adored son. After battling the housing authorities, a Castlemilk machinist succeeds in buying her own home. But her victory is bittersweet, because her main reason for wanting home-ownership has just walked out her front door, bound for London and adventure.

Synopsis

Set in the present day and in 1946, this is a story of lost love and missed opportunities. Anne, an English woman in her early seventies, is incorrectly diagnosed with terminal cancer. As she believes she has only a few weeks to live, she travels to a lake in northern Italy where she restored paintings as a young girl after the Second World War. Anne wishes to discover what happened to Antonio, her first and only passionate love, from whom she was forced to flee in unexplained circumstances. When she arrives in Orta, Antonio's village, she is told contradictory stories about Antonio's fate. Faced with these stories and hostility, Anne begins to lose hope of discovering the truth. She befriends Fleur, a Jamaican born, English raised young woman who teaches English in the village. Fleur has fallen in love with a local boy whom she is forbidden to marry by the boy's grandfather. Despite Anne's deepening depression, she encourages Fleur to not surrender her relationship and to therefore live a life of regret. Meanwhile, in England, the mistake in Anne's diagnosis is discovered. A race begins to get the news to Anne before depression consumes her....

Synopsis

Mina has just arrived in a new city and is looking for somewhere to live. Her search becomes difficult and absurd when an estate agent makes her go through a series of bizarre tests to prove her worth. Mina eventually has to resort to seduction to be awarded a flat.

Synopsis

A contemporary romantic comedy set in the heart of multi-cultural Bradford. Vivek, a pest controller, steals a pot of magic ointment from the cockroach-infested flat of Bekai Basu - a self-professed love-doctor.

Synopsis

The Magdalene Asylums in Ireland were run by the Sisters of Mercy on behalf of the Catholic Church. Young girls were sent there by families or orphanages and once there, were imprisoned and sent to work in the laundries where they could atone for their sins. Their sins varied from being unmarried mothers to being too pretty, too ugly, simple minded, too clever or being a victim of rape and talking about it. And for their sins they worked 364 days a year unpaid, they were half starved, beaten, humiliated, raped, their children forcibly removed from them. Their sentence was indefinite. Thousands of women lived and died there. The last Magdalene Asylum in Ireland closed in 1996, five years ago. This film is from the point of view of four of these young women in the 1960s, an era mistakenly seen by some as a time of unchallenged female liberation. These young Catholic women find themselves in an almost medieval nightmare whilst the outside world tacitly (or in some cases actively) supports a theocratic state. It looks at how their personalities develop for better and for worse in an environment controlled and dominated by celibate women, servants of God, Brides of Christ. In their own ways the girls refuse to be beaten, but what victory is there if they remain imprisoned as little more than slaves? One gets out in a heartbreakingly banal fashion, one is imprisoned in a mental asylum, two finally rebel, run away, escape. It is a fictional film that unfortunately happens to be true.

Synopsis

Mythical drama set on an enchanted stretch of coastline. When a deaf girl chances on an abandoned wheelchair, she discovers the incredible secret of the 'Magic Mile'. Finding herself in a strange and unfamiliar world, she picks up the trail of the wheelchair's owner who reveals that miracles have their limits.  

Synopsis

Adopted as a baby and taken to England, Daniel Meeks returns to the town of his birth in search of his real family. He finds himself embroiled in a fight for the ownership of the town and to free the soul of the late Lucius Meeks, Daniels great, great grandfather. Regarded by the town as an evil gun-slinger, Lucius had an affair with the fiancée of Joshua Carter, the town's owner, and shot them both dead in the street during an argument over land rights. Lucius' ghost appears to Daniel to clear his name and allow him to rest in peace. Daniel quickly adapts to 'life out West' and goes on to discover the truth about his discredited gun-slinging relative, picking up clues along the way which help him to track down his real mother too.

Synopsis

Three guys appear at the gates of Heaven, stunned. St Peter himself is surprised to see them there all at once. Three flashbacks show what happened.