Projects in genres: Drama

Synopsis

Recent graduate Robin, returns to her parents’ house and obsessively starts to dig a hole, encouraged by an impossibly perfect girl; but as she digs, she heads further down a path of self-destruction.
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2019 - Short Cuts - World premiere

Synopsis

Winter 1968 and showbiz legend Judy Garland arrives in Swinging London to perform in a sell-out run at The Talk of the Town.
It is 30 years since she shot to global stardom in THE WIZARD OF OZ, but if her voice has weakened, its dramatic intensity has only grown.
As she prepares for the show, battles with management, charms musicians and reminisces with friends and adoring fans, her wit and warmth shine through. Even her dreams of romance seem undimmed as she embarks on a courtship with Mickey Deans, her soon-to-be fifth husband.
And yet Judy is fragile. After working for 45 of her 47 years, she is exhausted; haunted by memories of a childhood lost to Hollywood; gripped by a desire to be back home with her kids. Will she have the strength to go on?
Featuring some of her best-known songs, including the timeless classic ‘Over the Rainbow’, and celebrating the voice, the capacity for love and the sheer pizzazz of “the world’s greatest entertainer”.
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2019 - Special Presentations - World premiere

Synopsis

A band of misfit women form a choir on a military base. Bonds of friendship begin to flourish between them, and the music transforms their lives, helping each of them to overcome their fears for loved ones in combat.
Inspired by BBC documentary series 'The Choir: Military Wives'.
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2019 - Special Presentations - World premiere

Synopsis

Joan and Tom have been married for many years. There is an ease to their relationship that only comes from spending a life time together and a depth of love which expresses itself through tenderness and humour in equal part. When Joan is unexpectedly diagnosed with breast cancer, the course of her treatment shines a light on their relationship as they are faced with the challenges that lie ahead and the prospect of what might happen as she fears the worst.
A story about love, survival and the epic questions life throws at each and every one of us.
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2019 - Gala Presentations - World premiere
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2019 - Love Strand - European premiere

Synopsis

Based on Lauren Redniss’ award-winning graphic novel, this innovative biopic of two-time Nobel Prize-winning scientist Marie Curie tells the story of the scientific and romantic passions of Marie and her husband Pierre, and the reverberations of their groundbreaking discoveries throughout the 20th Century.
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2019 - Gala Presentations - World premiere

Synopsis

Rocks (15) is a teenage girl with big dreams for the future, loyal fun friends and an adoring, though mischievous, little brother, Emmanuel (7). Rocks enjoys school (as much as any teenager does) and lives a full vibrant life in East London with her team of London-centric best mates. Rocks’ world is turned upside down when she returns from school to find her mum gone, leaving some cash and a note offering little explanation except that she is sorry. Determined to stick with her brother and avoid being taken into care against all odds, Rocks leaves her home and hides in pockets of East London, and as each day becomes tougher and her secret harder to hide, Rocks starts to push away those who love her and her friendship group begins to fracture. When the authorities finally catch up with her, there is really only one source of support for her to turn to: her friends. A film about the joy, resilience and spirit of girlhood.
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2019 - Platform - World premiere
Official Selection San Sebastián International Film Festival 2019 - European premiere
Official Selection Busan International Film Festival 2019 - Asian premiere
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2019 - Special Presentation

Synopsis

Eco-thriller - Autistic student Siobhán endures a research week on a ragged fishing trawler, miserably out of place in the close-knit crew. But in the deep Atlantic, an unfathomable life-form ensnares the boat. At first, the crew see the rare deep-sea animal as a chance to make a killing. But as members of the crew succumb to a mysterious infection, Siobhán must persuade them that to profit here is to risk their lives - and the lives of all humans.
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2019 - Discovery - World premiere
Official Selection Thessaloniki International Film Festival 2019 - European premiere

Synopsis

Abandoned in Africa as a child, following a visit to the Sufi shrine in Bilal al Habash, Lilly is taken in by the shrine’s spiritual leader Great Abdal and brought up there as a devoted Muslim. At 17, she leaves for Ethiopia, where she falls in love with an idealistic doctor. With civil war looming, danger grows. Lilly is forced to flee to England. She finds home in a friendship with Amina, a refugee from Ethiopia who has fled the same war, and together they begin a mission to reunite people with their scattered families. We soon discover that Lilly’s mission isn’t purely selfless and Amina has buried a secret that she is trying to flee.
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2019 - Discovery - World premiere

Synopsis

Set in 1862, the high-flying tale of pilot Amelia Wren, a wealthy young widow, and James Glaisher, an ambitious scientist as they mount a balloon expedition to fly higher than anyone in history. This is a journey to the very edge of existence, where the air is thin and the chances of survival are slim. As their perilous ascent reveals their true selves, this unlikely pair discover things about each other - and themselves - that help them find their place in the world they have left behind.
Official Selection Telluride Film Festival 2019 - World premiere
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2019 - Gala Presentations
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2019 - Headline Gala

Synopsis

A fresh and distinctive adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic novel 'David Copperfield'. A haunting semi-autobiographical tale of a boy who is sent away by his stepfather after his mother dies but manages to triumph over incredible adversities.
Set in the 1840s, chronicling the life of its iconic title character as he navigates a chaotic world to find his elusive place within it. From his unhappy childhood to the discovery of his gift as a storyteller and writer, David’s journey is by turns hilarious and tragic, but always full of life, colour and humanity.
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2019 - Special Presentations - World premiere
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2019 - Opening Night Gala - European premiere

Synopsis

In 2013, progressive incoming Pope Francis and conservative outgoing Pope Benedict debate the best path forward for the Catholic Church, in this surprisingly funny chamber piece.
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2019 - Special Presentations

Synopsis

Ripped from the pages of Peter Carey’s Man Booker prize winning novel True History Of The Kelly Gang, this thrilling, bold adaptation charts the rise and fall of Australia’s original Mad Max; a coming of age tale about a defiant rebel sworn to wreak vengeance and havoc on the British Empire.
Set against the badlands of colonial Australia where the English rule with a bloody fist and the Irish endure, Ned Kelly discovers he comes from a line of Irish rebels called the Sons of Sieve, an uncompromising army of cross dressing bandits immortalised for terrorising their oppressors back in Ireland.
Nurtured by the notorious bushranger Harry Power and fuelled by the unfair arrest of his mother, Ned Kelly recruits a wild bunch of warriors to plot one of the most audacious attacks of anarchy and rebellion the country has ever seen.
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2019 - Galas - World premiere