Projects matching: ISO

Synopsis

A young Japanese man, who is living in self-inflicted isolation, meets an old man who is waiting for his death. They develop a silent friendship.

Synopsis

Woven in with a constantly surprising and colourful thriller plot, Five Seconds to Spare is the witty and poignantly observed story of William, a young aspiring musician who pins his hopes in London, the dream city which will bring him rock 'n' roll success and true romance.





Only trouble is, in reality, William's life is beset with frustration: his witless band seem intent upon turning his dark, heartfelt songs into commercial pop; the coolly desirable Madeleine hangs out of reach and even catching a bus on a Sunday seems a hopeless act of faith. Things could hardly get any worse, but they do - when he becomes the only witness to a bizarre murder.

Synopsis

1974, Alan Riply (Joseph Fiennes), a young idealistic 23 year old, works as a beach boy at an exclusive Miami resort. There he dreams of one day owning his own Hotel but resists the temptations and short cut to riches taken by his peers by dealing in drugs and working in the underworld. Alan meets the recently married Ella (Gretchen Mol), the young wife of middle-aged and ruthless New York businessman Mark Brice, with whom she is on vacation.





Alan falls deeply in love with Ella and against her instincts and knowing it's wrong to do so, she starts a passionate affair with him. Aware the liaison is doomed, Ella determines to finish it at the end of her trip but Alan will not be thwarted and follows her back to New York.





There, he continues to court her but when Ella loses her nerve and confesses all to Brice he becomes mad with rage and takes swift and vicious retribution. He frames Alan in a drugs raid and subsequently visits him in prison and on hearing Alan remaining defiant and still refusing to stay away from Ella, attempts to have him killed by other inmates during a routine prison transfer. Although, unknown to Brice that his action has failed, Alan is left permanently scarred, both physically and emotionally. He retreats to Florida to begin a healing process which will take years but never forgets his love for Ella nor forgives her husband. He also changes, literally, into a new man and after thirteen years certainly not the one recognisable as the young beach boy in Florida.





1987, in the intervening time Alan has become successful and formidable in his own right with his own dubious connections. At last he goes back to New York with a new identity, 'Manuel Esquema', to claim his lost love. He returns to find Brice has huge legal and political problems and not recognising Alan, is desperate for help. He has no idea that Alan has come back to gain revenge and reclaim the lost love of his life . . .

Synopsis

A visually stunning film, both beautiful and bizarre, Frog enters a dark fairytale world where mysterious frog creatures enter a house over successive nights and steal the eyes of the three strange residents only to replace them with surreal clockwork eyes that need to be wound by a special key.

Synopsis

Based on real-life events, Joel Hershman's Greenfingers is a triumph-over-adversity story, starring Helen Mirren, Clive Owen and Natasha Little, about a man serving a long-term prison sentence who unexpectedly discovers a love of gardening. His talent is recognised by a famous horticulturist and he goes on to compete in the world's biggest garden show, win the heart of the woman he loves and regain his will to live.



US producer Travis Swords first read the story in 1998 in a piece in the New York Times by Paula Deitz called Free To Grow Bluebells In England. Swords had been looking for the right feature to back following his 1992 film, Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, directed by Hershman.



Swords and Hershman then teamed up with BoneYard Entertainment's Daniel J Victor, who had previously helped to finance and executive produce such films as Sling Blade and Henry Fool. Victor set up an equity fund called Motion Pictures Partners to finance and produce two to three features a year, of which Greenfingers is the first. Trudie Styler's London-based Xingu Films then came on board as co-executive producer and the Los Angeles-based Overseas FilmGroup took worldwide sales rights.



Greenfingers shot on location in England in the summer of 1999. It will premiere either later this year or in 2001.

Synopsis

Guest House Paradiso is the much-anticipated feature debut of two popular UK comedians, Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson. The anarchic story of the world's worst hotel was written by the pair, directed by Edmondson and produced by Phil McIntyre, the music and live show promoter who had worked with Mayall and Edmondson on their live show. The trio had long wanted to make a feature together and funding came from Video Vision, a division of the then-PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, and now Universal Pictures International (UPI).

"With the opportunities available to Rik (Mayall) and Ade (Edmondson), it has been easier for them to take the course of least resistance and to write a book, do a TV series, or act in somebody else's film, that somebody else has financed, than actually to do their own thing," says McIntyre. "But things became easier so we made a film."

In addition to Mayall and Edmondson, the cast is populated by some of Europe's most dynamic acting talent including Vincent Cassel, Helene Mathieu and Bill Nighy.

"There's only one criterion in the whole film, which is that it's very funny," Mayall explains. "We find it's much better to build your own world, to make a fantasy and invite people into it. It's a world where the level of reality is such that you can do the kind of things we do, such as be swung around by meathooks through your nose without it seeming unreal."

Shooting took place in April 1999 at Ealing Studios and on location on the Isle of Wight. Universal International Pictures released the film in the UK in April 2000.

Synopsis

Richie and Eddie run Guesthouse Paradiso: possibly the worst hotel in the world. The drunken chef has eaten all the food and most of the guests have departed without paying. But things look up when the Nice family check in. Rummaging through the family's luggage, Richie finds exotic rubber underwear. Naturally he has to try them on. Interrupted, he hastily leaves his clothes in their bathroom and makes for the reception area.





There, beautiful actress Gina (having just jilted her fiancé Gino) wants to check in. Unsuitably dressed, Richie hides in the oven - but it ignites, fusing the underwear to his body. Eddie tries to remedy this with compressed air and a skewer - but the pants blow up, hurling Eddie onto the road. Still unconscious, a truck runs over his head, the jolt causing some fish to spill.





This, at least, eases the catering problem and Eddie incinerates the fishy windfall for dinner. Things take a turn for the worse when Mr Nice finds video evidence of Richie's panty-pilfering and threatens to sue. The guests also start to show signs of severe indigestion . . .

Synopsis

Harry, a seasoned CIA agent in his mid forties, wants nothing more than to forget his years of duty in places like Nicaragua and to become his cover as a jazz club owner in Helsinki.





Natasha, a young and ambitious KGB agent with more chutzpah than experience, wants to secure a future for herself amid the uncertainty of the floundering KGB and Russian Republic.





Natasha's assignment to spy on Harry has blossomed into a torrid love affair. Like any two career couple they keep secrets from each other. But theirs have international implications.





The delicate balance of their life together is disrupted when a young, over eager CIA agent, Dave, arrives in Helsinki to intercept a videotape encoded with state secrets en route from New York - its concepts so hot that everybody who touched the tape is now dead. Dave pursues the unsuspecting courier, Max, a manic ex-bond trader who stumbled into the delivery job fresh from a prison sentence for SEC fraud.





For Natasha, the tape could be a ticket out of the KGB and into the American dream - if she crosses her boss. But as satellites hover overhead and the rusting Russian fleet leaks radiation nearby, absolutely everyone except Harry hatches a personal plan to exploit the encoded tape.





Harry is left to try to stop Natasha from getting herself killed - or worse, leaving him for America.

Synopsis

To re-vitalise his marriage, Lawrence uses CCTV to spy on his wife and place anonymous 'I Saw You' ads in the local paper. Should she meet this mysterious sender?

Synopsis

eo Rook, the most feared man in Europe, escapes unnoticed from the prison ship Hyperion. Guided by the beam of a lighthouse he heads for nearby Gehenna Rocks. Once ashore, Rook kills the keepers and disables the lighthouse itself.





With no beam from the lighthouse to pierce the gathering fog, the Hyperion runs aground. Once safely on the island, the surviving prisoners and crew discover the bodies of the lighthouse keepers. Fear grips them as they realise that Rook is lying in wait for them, somewhere in the dark night.





Lighthouse is a dark, brooding nightmare, a descent into hell, set almost in real time over the course of one terrifying night.

Synopsis

A lonely adolescent girl, living on an isolated farm, creates her own friends to make a magical world to retreat from her violent father and mentally ill mother.

Synopsis

Bethan is drug-dependent and in prison awaiting trial for a murder she thinks her daughter has committed. We learn of the guilt that underlies their relationship as she explores her most precious bond.