Poly Styrene was the first woman of colour in the UK to front a successful rock band. She introduced the world to a new sound of rebellion, using her unconventional voice to sing about identity, consumerism, postmodernism, and everything she saw unfolding in late 1970s Britain, with a rare prescience. As the frontwoman of X-Ray Spex, the Anglo-Somali punk musician was also a key inspiration for the riot grrrl and Afropunk movements.
But the late punk maverick didn’t just leave behind an immense cultural footprint. She was survived by a daughter, Celeste Bell, who became the unwitting guardian of her mother’s legacy and her mother’s demons. Misogyny, racism, and mental illness plagued Poly’s life, while their lasting trauma scarred Celeste’s childhood and the pair’s relationship.
Featuring unseen archive material and rare diary entries narrated by Oscar-nominee Ruth Negga, this documentary follows Celeste as she examines her mother's unopened artistic archive and traverses three continents to better understand Poly the icon and Poly the mother.
Official Selection Glasgow Film Festival 2021 - World premiere
Official Selection SXSW Film Festival 2021 - North American premiere
Captured by the U.S. Government, Mohamedou Ould Slahi (Tahar Rahim) languishes in prison for years without charge or trial. Losing all hope, Slahi finds allies in defense attorney Nancy Hollander (Jodie Foster) and her associate Teri Duncan (Shailene Woodley). Together they face countless obstacles in a desperate pursuit for justice. Their controversial advocacy, along with evidence uncovered by formidable military prosecutor, Lt. Colonel Stuart Couch (Benedict Cumberbatch), eventually reveals a shocking and far reaching conspiracy. Based on the New York Times best-selling memoir, this is the explosive true story of a fight for survival against all odds.
Official Selection Berlin International Film Festival 2021 - Berlinale Special
A white ex-soldier who's just lost his family in a car crash discovers that the people he knows around him are actually grooming him to commit a crime to keep the war on terror escalating.
Based on real life intelligence practices.
Alfred Rott’s (Timothy Spall) reputation as a womanizing, foul-mouthed right wing genius follows him like a late afternoon shadow. After falling out with authorities over a new Arts Centre in Brussels, Rott is invited to an exclusive orgy where he is handed a once-in-a-lifetime invitation to visit the wealthy and eccentric recluse on the island of Malta who calls himself 'The Grand Duke Of Corsica'. The Grand Duke (Peter Stormare) commissions Alfred to build him a personalized mausoleum in preparation for his own death.
A malaria outbreak on the island causes the entire population to flee. Fires break out and pandemonium ensues. Alfred must remain however, to finish the project that may be the greatest, yet most invisible, creation of his remarkable career.
Deon Williams is missing. And he's not the first. Deon’s mates have their theories on who it might be, always bringing it back to the figures of authority who make their lives difficult. But there is one suspect that stands out the most - the shady proprietor of the rundown chip shop on the edge of the estate with the lisp and unusual skin condition. Something just ain’t right about him. Deon’s brother Junior, resolves to go in and find out the truth.
In the mid-'80s, Swedish mining company Boliden exported hazardous waste to the town of Arica in northern Chile, turning a blind eye towards its mismanagement. This has devastating consequences for the health of the local community, heavily affecting young children as well as adults. Arica by Lars Edman and William Johansson Kalén plunges us into the lawsuit against the mining giant, as the underprivileged demand justice and petition the company to take responsibility for the case.
Official Selection IDFA 2020 - Frontlight - World premiere
In a dystopian Britain flooded by climate change, Arya is raised as a militant racist on an isolated island. When a mixed race stranger arrives, she sees the monstrous truth of her world through his eyes. Arya must decide between freedom and justice, and the only home she’s ever known.
Peter Bromley's new documentary is on the artist Clare French. The film highlights French's unique working art practice in her Thamesmead based studio. Interviews with French explain how her art comes together and why. Clare’s reductive, monochrome practice considers the constructed, protean nature of human systems of meaning.
More than one in three Turkish women have experienced domestic violence and the number of femicides is rising. But some Turkish women are fighting back. Ipek Bozkurt, a courageous lawyer, is determined to challenge this misogynistic violence by putting abusive men behind bars.
Working with a group of activists, Ipek is fighting to get justice for two survivors of horrific violence- Arzu, married off at 14 to a farmer ten years her senior and Kubra, a successful and glamorous TV presenter. From very different backgrounds, both were lucky to survive the attacks by their partners.
In the middle of these case, Turkey is rocked by an attempted coup that shakes Ipek’s world and puts her in jeopardy. Lawyers start to be threatened by an increasingly repressive government looking to crack down on all opposition. She must fight for democracy while continuing to fight for Kubra and Arzu.
Filmed over 5 years, DYING TO DIVORCE takes viewers into the heart of Turkey's gender-based violence crisis and the recent political events that have severely eroded democratic freedoms. Through intimately shot personal stories, the film gives a unique perspective on the struggle to be an independent woman in modern Turkey.
Official Selection Hot Docs Festival 2021 - Persister - North American premiere
Sarah and Dev meet in this quirky comedy clash of black and indian cultures cultures leading up to a mixed race marriage. Will their marriage stand the test of time?
In a dystopian Britain flooded by climate change, Arya is raised as a militant racist on an isolated island. When a mixed race stranger arrives, she sees the monstrous truth of her world through his eyes. Arya must decide between freedom and justice, and the only home she’s ever known.
Official Selection Austrian Filmfestival 2022 - Winner - Genre Award Best Sci-Fi Fantasy
A mixed media piece integrating the stylization of documentary and spoken word. Inspired by Shenny de Los Angeles’ one-woman show “What Happens to Brown Girls Who Never Learn How to Love Themselves Brown?”, this piece invites you to witness the meaning of beauty through three generations of Dominican women. The grandmother, the mother, and the daughter. In learning about the ritual to beauty that was passed down to each woman, there is a pain buried deep in the denial of their blackness. It is only through the secret voice in the water, that the daughter is able to release herself from a pain she’s been holding onto since she was born. By forgiving herself and the women before her, will she finally see just how beautiful she is when she’s free?
Official Selection BlackStar Film Festival 2022
