Projects with status: Complete

Synopsis

Against the backdrop of sunbaked parking lots, deserted courthouses, and empty suburban homes — the familiar spaces of true crime, stripped of all action and spectacle — a filmmaker describes his abandoned Zodiac Killer documentary and probes the inner workings of a genre at saturation point.
The true crime genre’s ubiquity is driven by people’s endless fascination, disgust, and — bizarrely — search for comfort in genre conventions that still have the ability to generate complex emotions despite their predictability and familiarity. Filmmaker and multimedia artist Charlie Shackleton’s projects have used his uniquely funny, intellectually engaging style to examine how popular culture, mass media, and storytelling create meaning. In this wholly original, self-aware cinematic work, Shackleton dissects the true crime genre by recreating it. Using Bay Area landscapes, archival material, reenactments, film and TV clips, and voice-over to walk the viewer through what his film would have been like and why, Zodiac Killer Project is a captivating and entertaining experience that will forever change how you watch your next murder program.
Official Selection Sundance Film Festival 2025 - World premiere
Official Selection True/False Film Fest 2025
Official Selection SXSW Film & TV Festival 2025 - Best of the Fests
Official Selection First Look 2025 (New York, Museum of the Moving Image)
Official Selection CPH:DOX 2025

Synopsis

KING OF THE APOCALYPSE takes us into the heart of the American militia movement with Dakota Adams, the de-radicalized son of Stewart Rhodes – founder of the Oath Keepers who is now serving 18 years in prison for his role in the January 6 United States Capitol attack in 2021. With exclusive access to Rhodes, and framed by the unique perspective of his estranged family, we tell the story of the enigmatic militant leader’s origins, his turbulent family life, and his descent into paranoia and extremism.
With Rhodes in prison, even more radical militia leaders are emerging, such as Mike Dunn of the Boogaloo Bois, who believes that January 6 was just a dress rehearsal for the real civil war that's coming. Mike is the antithesis of gentle Dakota. While one young American claws his way out from extremism, we watch the other being sucked deeper in. As we immerse ourselves in their ideas and beliefs, we reveal the underpinnings of political violence and gain essential insight into where America could be heading.

Synopsis

Aiden, a widowed robotics expert channels the grief of losing his ten year-old son into creating ‘Robin’, a fully functioning robotic doll. It finally seems he has found someone to keep him company in his lofty mansion.
Aiden’s estranged nephew and his fiancé unexpectedly return to the manor hoping to patch up the family's rocky past before their big day. The loved-up pair are instantly creeped out by the lonely man’s staggeringly realistic creation.
A series of terrifying events leave the young couple suspecting there's a more sinister side to Robin that even Aiden is aware of.

Synopsis

When Helen David first founded her fashion label, English Eccentrics, in the early 80s, she was living in a Brixton Squat and selling her designs from a market stall in Camden. By the mid-90s, she was dressing stars including Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, Prince, Helen Mirren and Helena Bonham-Carter. Then, at the turn of the millennium and during the height of her success, her brand unexpectedly collapsed. Twenty years later, her son – filmmaker Oliver David – investigates what happened. Looking through her life’s work, he traces her creative journey, through meteoric success and devastating failure, and discovers how she reinvented herself after losing everything.

Synopsis

Dublin 1985. Teenager Billy is cultivating an obsession: he’s tracking down VHS tapes of films branded 'Video Nasties' – The video nasty ruckus was fuelled in the early days of home video by conservative activist Mary Whitehouse, concerned about the harmful influence of certain horror films deemed 'extreme'.
Official Selection Rotterdam International Film Festival (IFFR) 2025

Synopsis

A film that is inspired by the novel 'The Baron in the Trees' by Italo Calvino. Calvino's book tells the adventures of a boy who climbs up a tree to spend the rest of his life inhabiting an arboreal kingdom.
Official Selection International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) 2025 - World premiere

Synopsis

The personal story of three exceptional astronauts who came together in America’s race for the Moon - Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee. The events that followed shook the US space program to the core, and has left a lasting impact on their families and on all space flights since.
With exceptional access granted to the production team along with a rich ingredient of unseen personal archive, it's a story of jeopardy, adventure, tragedy and recovery, as told by those closest to the crew.
Ultimately, it’s an inspiring story of the human spirit, as we continue our quest towards new horizons in space and look to the new generation of Artemis astronauts prepared to face the risks in doing so.

Synopsis

The fate of a couple unfolds in an unsettling way.

Synopsis

The story of two full-of-life, lonely and desperate strangers. One has risked his life to come to the UK to seek asylum; the other is a bold, vivacious woman clinging on to life, looking bleakly to her future whilst not quite being able to let go of her chaotic past. Jostling between comedy and heart-breaking moments of vulnerability, our story treads the fine line between pathos and humour, where human nature and tragedy are just a part of everyday life. Cindie is jobless, childless, and her life has been spiralling - addicted to her love of a party, vaping and drink. A working-class woman about to turn 40 and at her lowest ebb, she’s offered a lifeline via a sham marriage by fixer Amel - to a political refugee, Tariq, 27. In 2025, the number of people crossing the Dover Straits to the UK to seek asylum has doubled to around 60,000; this number continues to rise. A story about drag, immigration, class and true friendship. And so much more than that - it’s a love story, a modern fairy tale, and love is something we can all relate to regardless of sex, race, or religion – love is universal.

Synopsis

Children lie. But when one lie threatens Ms Lawson’s integrity as a teacher, can she keep on defending a student as peculiar as Maria Obasi?

Synopsis

An animated exploration of diasporic female identity, inspired by the director’s Bété ancestry in central Ivory Coast.
Blending abstract storytelling with rich spiritual iconography, the film delves into feminine cosmology, folklore, and traditional artistry. Featuring copper motifs and intricate relief engravings, DÉDÉ reimagines West African sculptures through animation, bringing mythological deities, fertility carvings, and tribal masks to life in a visually striking journey.

Synopsis

A burn survivor dwells on the incident that scarred him, unraveling a tale of malpractice and the devastating cost of putting profit over people.
Official Selection Rotterdam International Film Festival (IFFR) 2025 - World premiere