Projects in genres: Drama

Synopsis

Inspired by one of the oldest of songs in the Gaelic tradition, and set in an indeterminate time, this nearly wordless piece from Scotland is a symbolist tale of two sisters and a man, and the brutal callousness of desire.

Synopsis

The life cycle of a car. A one shot film from its factory inception to its crushing demise. Dumped, sold, abused, stolen, raced, drowned, bought, crashed, burned, crushed.

Synopsis

Amy Harding's past is eating away at her as she returns to the house of her parents. Two miles away Marshall Clarke, a field researcher, is making an alarming discovery in the marshes. Soon Amy and Marshall are locked in a deadly battle, not with their pasts, but their futures, as they fight to stay alive and outwit the seemingly indestructible, ever-mutating predators.

Synopsis

This quirky take on the story of Adam and Eve attempts to give an answer to the meaning of life. Under the ever present watch of God we see Adam and Eve tempted by the devil and eventually cast out of the Garden of Eden which is protected by a flaming sword. The use of modelmaking mixed with live action helps to heighten the sense of worlds turning within worlds.

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A humorous tale involving a fisherman on a Hebridean Island who ropes his friend into searching for romance using the Internet.

Synopsis

Somewhere in the affluent suburbs of London, young Bobby is a prisoner in his own home - a silent mansion ruled with a rod of iron by his sinister stepfather, Bernard DeWinter. Still suffering from the effects of a car accident when he was young, Bobby will, it seems always be a child in a man's body. But when Bobby's mother dies his life changes forever.

Immediately after the funeral, DeWinter reveals his plans to take over the family business, home and the helpless boy's life. But when Bobby is pushed to sign the papers that would make it possible, he refuses forcing DeWinter to deliver a damning ultimatum. Faced with being institutionalised, Bobby escapes from the darkened house and begins a journey of enlightenment through the English countryside.

A chance lift with a lorry driver who deliberately runs down a fox brings Bobby in contact with a country nomad, Mr Summers. Summers sees himself as a guardian of wildlife, caring for animals in danger and burying animals killed by humans. Bobby happily joins in The Work, finding warmth and quiet words; light and hope, with his strange new friend and tutor.

Bobby's past soon begins to catch up with him and he tells all to Mr Summers who in turn confesses his own dark secrets. The man and boy return to London to confront DeWinter but their plan goes disastrously wrong. After an ugly and violent climax Bobby is once again left to fend for himself. However strengthened by his experiences and finally free of DeWinter, Bobby confidently embraces his new life.

Synopsis

London's Soho on a typically noisy and frenetic night. A young man from Belfast arrives, evidently fearful of something he is leaving behind but also uncertain of where he's going. A chance connection with Grace, a prostitute from his home town, pulls him back from the edge of desperation and offers him a lifeline - for the moment, at least.

Synopsis

Among Giants is a triangular love story played out against a spectacular North of England landscape. Two men's lives are changed forever when a young Australian woman joins their team of painters on a risky and not quite kosher job. Ray has been offered cash-in-hand in exchange for painting the majestic electricity pylons which span the Yorkshire Moors; painting while the power supply is shut down for the summer. He puts together a gang of old mates, whose humour feeds off their deep-seated rivalries and grudges.

Ray and Steve are heading back to Sheffield from the moors when they pick up Gerry, an Australian backpacker and, as they discover in the unlikely environment of a pub, also a climber. Despite being behind schedule, the gang are against the idea of a woman on the job and think Ray has lost his head when Gerry is hired. But he has fallen in love with her and although they seem an unlikely match, Gerry falls for him, too.

Ray proposes marriage to Gerry. Steve and the gang paint a pylon pink (by moonlight) as an engagement present. They all celebrate at a line-dancing club, where Ray's ex-wife Lyn is outraged that Ray would spend money on an expensive ring rather than on clothes for his kids. Feeling trapped, Gerry gets drunk with Steve and bungee jumps off a pylon, to Ray's fury. They argue and break up. Gerry moves in on Steve. Realising it was a mistake, she waits on Ray's doorstep, but he rejects her utterly. She tries to work off her feelings on a free climb, and falls, ending up in hospital.

The summer is drawing to an end, and the job is still not finished. The gang is tired, disgruntled and looking less and less likely to get it done. Steve arrives on site, furious with Ray for Gerry's accident. The power lines start to 'sing', and there is still one person on the pylon.....

Synopsis

At the Station Hotel, Jay doesn't like his guests to mix - and with good reason. They are all damaged in some way, always emotionally and sometimes physically. Jay tries not to be judgemental, but sometimes judgement is called for.

Tonight he looks on paralysed as they all sit playing a game of cards. Worse than that, they're playing to see who will sleep in Room 207, a room that's not been slept in for 20 years. A room that should stay locked forever.

Soon the strangers will learn a little too much about each other's secrets. Nelson, the vicious womaniser. Jonathan, the defrocked priest struggling with the anguish of his past sins. Susie, the beautiful Chinese girl desperate for a reason to live. Arthur, eaten away by thirst for vengeance, each night handcuffing himself to his bed for fear of what he might do. Finally Greta, who came here to write a suicide note which she couldn't finish and with whom Jay is secretly in love.

There is hunger in all of them. Talk of hidden money whets a whole new and desperate menu of appetites. Soon everyone is eyeing one another with deep suspicion, only the darkest of which is founded in truth. Deception, paranoia, back stabbing and manipulation of circum-stances become the order of the day.

The fractured lives of all the main characters become entangled in a hilarious and terrifying series of events, that escalate throughout the hotel towards an ultimate and brutally violent climax.

Synopsis

Brighton. Late August. Teenage companions brash Wayne and shy Chris take an awayday to catch the last of the summer girls. After a shaky start they meet two girls on the pier who cause more trouble than the boys could ever have imagined. Chris wanders off to the beach, where he meets the perfect girl who is beyond his reach. The awayday closes prematurely, leaving everyone a little more worldly wise.

Synopsis

A stop-frame animation using re-cycled dolls, toys and found objects. Without dialogue. Baby is a tiny doll who lives in the perpetually dark Niteworld. The only light place left is the theme park Welcomeworld, the hyper-real creation of Baby's long lost father. Baby travels to see him and wreaks havoc with the help of her special powers, a supply of jelly beans and her mysterious friends. Can she destroy the ultra-powerful, mega-rich 'nice-guy-in-a-sweater'?

Synopsis

Anita's got attitude and ambition. She plans to be a DJ, dancehall diva, dropping sweet lyrics to wind up the dancefloor. She has a style to make bodies wind... for she is Princess Neeta... 'Mistress of the Mic'... if it wasn't for.... her two kids, if it wasn't for Byron, the kid's father - a singerman himself, who ain't around that much but thinks his babymother should be at home looking after his children. If it wasn't that her mother loves the church so much and disapproves of the dancehall.

Babymother is Anita's story. At first a woman-child, selfish yet naive, street-smart yet vulnerable. A girl as yet unable to face the responsibilities of her children or her life. A girl travelling along the bumpy road to adulthood, through the tough, deeply male world of reggae music. Set against a backdrop of Harlesden's tenement housing, Babymother is a journey into the explosion of colour, passion and style that is the dancehall!