When artist Sergei Ivanov moves with his partner Tszman Chan to the remote Scottish island of Papa Westray, they start an International Arts Festival, bringing an eclectic mix of artists, performers and musicians to the island from as far afield as Japan and Norway. With the festival entering its seventh year they invite their friend, filmmaker David Kew to make a documentary about their extraordinary life on the island.
But when Sergei suddenly disappears without trace on Papa Westray three months into filming, the filmmaker is forced to embark on a profound journey of discovery and contemplation. As the filmmaker interviews those left behind, each in their own way trying to make sense of Sergei’s vanishing, the film gravitates towards Tszman as she attempts to come to terms with her grief by creating an elegiac and moving tribute to Sergei on the island.
Shot over several years, THE ARTIST WHO DISAPPEARED includes profoundly moving scenes with Tszman and their daughter Snaedis in the wake of Sergei’s disappearance, interviews with islanders, artists and close family members. THE ARTIST WHO DISAPPEARED goes to the very heart of what it means to be an artist, how we judge success and failure, and the nature of loss.
During the conflict in Northern Ireland a practice developed that saw actors hired to dub those associated with the IRA on broadcast media. Via unseen archive footage and interviews with key figures, THE BAN reflects on the British government’s use of the threat of ‘terrorism’ to justify censorship.
Official Selection International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) 2024 - International premiere
Official Selection CPH:DOX 2025
A writer, a filmmaker and a January 6th insurrectionist embark on a road trip from Washington DC to Idaho after the insurrectionist has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison for her part in the storming of The Capitol. En route they visit friends of the insurrectionist and hear about their respective journeys of “awakening”. The insurrectionist takes the writer and filmmaker on an intense journey into her labyrinth of conspiracy, but is disappointed when, by the end of the trip, she has not succeeded in her mission to elevate them out of their 3D world and help them to see the truth.
Erica hugs pandas for a living and is absolutely miserable. And when hidden-camera TV star Jacques Burton tries to chat her up in the bar of the Hotel Samos, there’s a few other things he might be surprised to find out.
Official Selection Galway Film Fleadh 2024
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2024
In 1938 Peter Lucas keeps a journal of British inaction against fascism. His wife Prudie designs ‘Lovers of Gudrun’, for Stockport Garrick Theatre. As Czechoslovakia is occupied, with Peter consumed by politics and Prudie obsessed by Gudrun, fault-lines in their personalities and marriage crack under pressure of impending war.
On a bright January morning in 2020, 38 year old Clemmie suffered a catastrophic brain haemorrhage. Just a few hours earlier, she’d been a star on the rise - acclaimed broadcaster, writer and musician. Against the odds she emerged from a 17 day coma but, unable to speak or walk, she was now faced with having to rebuild her life.
With compelling recordings of her early attempts to speak and walk, we follow Clemmie as she tries to return to work, to finish the book she’d started before her brain injury, and to play her beloved violin again with her son. The film interweaves verité filming with touching home movies and lyrical sequences of Clemmie struggling amidst the cacophony of New York’s streets. Counterpointed throughout are majestic pieces of music from her book. She’s defiant and refuses self-pity, but is haunted by the knowledge that her brain could bleed again at any moment. A film about resilience, rediscovery and identity.
Craving their own version of the American dream, a trio of Michael Jackson tribute artists drive to Hollywood to find fame and fortune, but as the allegations against their idol mount up, can their friendship survive?
An aging dentist kidnaps a young man with intentions of killing him because he’s had an affair with his wife, but an unlikely connection starts to form between them.
In this personal and intimate film writer-director Elizabeth Sankey uses her own story of being admitted to a psychiatric ward after the birth of her son to explore the unexpected yet compelling connections between perinatal mental health illness and the history and portrayal of witches in western society. Using clips of cinematic witches to illustrate her own experience and those of fellow sufferers, alongside interviews with medical professionals and academics, Sankey creates her own spell book for all to use.
Official Selection Tribeca Film Festival 2024 - World premiere
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2024 - Documentary Competition
A woman on a drip steps outside the hospital for a breather. But does she follow doctor's orders?
Part of THE MUTE Series, a collection of deadpan micro-films made with adherence to three rules: RULE 1 no dialogue; RULE 2 no camera moves; RULE 3 only one shot
Official Selection Vienna Shorts 2024 - World premiere
Driving a Black Cab night after night is a quiet and simple life for Eddie Carter. His only friend is Rachel, and both she and Eddie are wrestling with loneliness and uncertainty over handling their obligatory relationship.
When Eddie’s daytime sleep schedule is disturbed by construction work, he finds his nighttime exhaustion setting in. After pulling over for a break one night, he awakens to a terrifying situation: ahead of his cab is the body of a murdered woman.
After this gruesome discovery and reporting it to the police, the sight and Eddie's tiredness haunt him. The following night he awakens from a dream of the murder scene to find that he has started sleepwalking again, a condition he suffered from as a child. Panic creeps in as he realises that there is a chance he may have been involved in the woman’s murder.
In an effort to clear his conscience, Eddie starts to investigate the murder on his own. With the help of his customer, investigative journalist Adam Blomfield, and high-end escort Karli as a window into the underground world of London’s sex industry, Eddie soon finds himself immersed in the murky depths of a city he’s been blindly driving through for years.
