Projects in genres: Drama

Synopsis

Another Life is a true story. Set in Edwardian London, it is the colourful and moving account of Edith Thompson, a woman wrongly accused of the murder of her husband, a case which became a 'cause celebre' of its time. Beginning of 1909, the film traces the heady days when Edith falls in love with and finally marries her childhood sweetheart, Percy Thompson. The First World War follows during which time Edith becomes gradually disillusioned as Percy reveals himself to be a coward, dodging his military service. Her whole world is changed when she meets the handsome Freddy Bywaters and she soon embarks on an affair with the young sailor. When the couple indulge in foolish fantasy, inventing unrealistic schemes to do away with Edith's husband, Freddy translates the game into reality, stabbing Percy to death as he walks home from the theatre with Edith. Despite hugh public outcry and Bywater's adamant assertion that she had no hand in the killing, Edith is found guilty of murder alongside her lover, and they are both sentenced to be hanged. Edinburgh International Film Festival - NBX review: Set in Edwardian London, Another Life is based on the true story of Edith Thompson, a woman wrongly accused of her husband's murder. Natasha Little (a This Life graduate who has since starred in the BBC's Vanity Fair) plays Edith, a career woman whose husband Percy Thompson (Nick Moran) is stabbed to death on a dark night in October 1922. As Edith recollects her past, we are introduced to Freddie Bywaters (Ioan Gruffudd), a sailor with whom she embarks on a passionate affair. When the lovers indulge in a fantasy to do away with her husband, little does Edith realise that Freddie is about to translate their game into action. Writer-director Philip Goodhew first started researching Edith Thompson's story a decade ago, at the same time as he uncovered the material for his first feature Intimate Relations. Goodhew and producing partner Angela Hart of Boxer Films set about getting the project off the ground in 1996 and the £2.5m budget was finally raised in 1998. Ioan Gruffudd was the first actor on board. "I saw a trailer of him as Hornblower and was stunned at how similar he was to the real Freddie Bywaters," says Goodhew. Nick Moran, from Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, was a more unusual piece of casting as the dullard Percy. "Most people will be wondering what he's doing playing that role because its a period piece and he's not playing the baddie," says Goodhew. Another Life was shot over six weeks at the end of 1999 at Three Mills Studios in Bow, East London and around London.

Synopsis

Vera Fairfax (Susannah Morley) believes she has achieved everything she could wish for, through social climbing and marriage to a powerful bureaucrat. That is until her husband Robert (Ian Swann), meets his match in his former protégé Cadogan (Ian Good). Cadogan's manipulation of the apparatus of this totalitarian state, results in Robert's death and Vera being turned into a non-person. Abandoned to the whims of Cadogan's unseen manipulation of the state system, Vera has only one possible course of action - to seek a fitting revenge on Cadogan.

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Set at the end of World War II in no-man's land, two lone characters journey the hostile environment intent on escaping the surreal horrors surrounding them.

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'One man, One space - The seaside; his home, heaven and hiding place. After his fathers funeral, bewildered, lost, confused as a man, he seeks solace as a child. Mourning his loss with memories, through the safety of naîve young eyes.'

Synopsis

We follow the ups and downs of a toddler's day, alternating between the baby's point of view and that of the harassed, unseen mother.

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A little girl's bad dreams are a refuge from a much more disturbing reality.

Synopsis

In a run-down bus station in the North East, Clint takes pity on a hungry man. He gives him some sandwiches that his dad, Johnno, asked him to guard while he attends a job interview. When Johnno returns and sees that Clint has given away their lunch, he snaps.

Synopsis

Matt and Ross leave Birmingham behind for a weeks holiday in Brighton. Matt is cynical, love can't touch him. Ross meanwhile is a nervous mothers boy on the verge of another breakdown. The film follows the lads' antics and subsequent liaisons during their week away. Matt drives into the local prostitute scene while Ross is seduced by local girl Kelly, who takes a firm hand with him and his rubber wearing fetish. Matt's desperate for love, even though he doesn't realise it, and Ross is getting all the love he can handle. At the end of the holiday, the question is, do they return home or start a fresh life in Brighton? Beach Boys is a fresh, touching and unusual take on male sexual angst.

Synopsis

London 1961. Alex, a jazz musician, and Faith, a singer, share an uneasy life together. The relationship 'on the rocks' Faith is willing to try to win back Alex by any means. Alas her attempts at making Alex jealous by leaving the club with a stranger backfire. Assuming that Faith has found a new beau Alex leaves their flat not knowing that Faith has been waiting for him.

Synopsis

Maya, a young Mexican, crosses the border to join her tough elder sister Rosa who works as a cleaner in a down town block, home to some of LA's most powerful corporate clients. The two sisters have a deep but fiery relationship which is further stretched by Sam, a talented and anarchistic American activist, who is part of a dynamic campaign opposed to older methods of trade union organising. They have a simple motto, 'No Justice, No Peace' and embark on a peaceful but highly imaginative guerrilla campaign for trade union recognition against cleaning companies and powerful corporate owners of the tower blocks. Ken Loach's first US-set film exposes a side of Los Angeles that to date has been swept under the corporate carpet. Written by Paul Laverty, Bread And Roses is set around the early 1990s Justice for Janitors strike which saw an army of exploited cleaners - the invisible Latino immigrants - take to the streets to protest for basic workers' rights. The film stars Pilar Padilla and Elpidia Carrillo as the two sisters involved in the struggle and Adrien Brody as a union activist who leads the campaign against their employers. For Loach, the appeal was that "the film was set in another world that existed side by side with the movie world. It's about organising immigrant workers, (who are) very vulnerable and easily exploited. Having worked on a film in Nicaragua (Carla's Song), this seemed another element in the same wider story, the relationship between the US and countries that are essentially its colonies, economically and culturally." The film was shot according to Loach's pared-down aesthetics, with a high shooting ratio that allowed the director to let the dialogue run on until he had what he needed. Making the film in the US with a significant number of extras meant the budget, at $5.5m, was higher than usual. It also meant Loach had to occasionally break the rules "which is always quite entertaining", he says.

Synopsis

Family high action adventure, aka 'Rebel Zone', features the rescue of hostages and gold bullion seized by armed terrorists led by a maritime Rebel Warlord. Royal Naval Frigate 'HMS Monarch', despatches a Royal Marine detail to track and confront the enemy at their tropical island HQ.

Synopsis

Local newspaper journalist, Cameron Colley, is setting the world to rights; his articles are idealistic, written from the viewpoint of the underdog. A twisted serial killer seems to have the same motives; his murders are committed on behalf of the underdog. The two stories begin to merge and Cameron finds himself inextricably and inexplicably implicated by the brutal killer. The arms dealer Cameron plans to expose is found literally 'disarmed' before he can put pen to paper. The brewery chief, loathed by Cameron, who sold up at the expense of his workers, finds himself permanently unemployable. And the malpractising doctor and corrupt newspaper proprietor meet with similarly sinister ends. The police are convinced of Cameron's guilt and so are half his friends and colleagues. Cameron is forced to employ all his investigative skills to find the real killer and his motive.   Based on Iain Banks novel "Complicity".