Projects with status: Complete

Synopsis

When Howard Brookner lost his life to AIDS in 1989, the 35-year-old director had completed two feature documentaries and was in post-production on his narrative debut, 'Bloodhounds of Broadway'. Twenty-five years later, his nephew, Aaron, sets out on a quest to find the lost negative of 'Burroughs: The Movie', his uncle's critically-acclaimed portrait of legendary author William S. Burroughs. When Aaron uncovers Howard's extensive archive in Burroughs’ bunker, it not only revives the film for a new generation, but also opens a vibrant window on New York City’s creative culture from the 1970s and ‘80s, and inspires a wide-ranging exploration of his beloved uncle's legacy.
Sundance Film Festival 2016 - World premiere

Synopsis

Many of us know the freedom of our twenties—unfettered by responsibilities or mortality, inventing ourselves in the rush of the moment. 'All These Sleepless Nights' viscerally summons that feeling, chronicling life across two Warsaw summers when students Kris and Michal resolve to experience life to the limit.
After Kris, our sensitive yet perpetually inquisitive hero, breaks up with his long-time girlfriend, anything seems possible. He and Michal, handsome and wide-eyed, roam the metropolis at night, floating from encounter to encounter, with only instinct and desire as their captain. As they chain-smoke, drink, and party with abandon, big ideas are as palpable as the romance and sex in the air.
In a profound and compelling celebration of cinema, filmmaker Michal Marczak captures the very heart and soul of a generation awake enough to dance to their dreams.
Official Selection Sundance 2016 - World premiere

Synopsis

The music never had to be explained. For childhood friends Yoshiki and Toshl, forming their band X in 1982 was a way of living through music. Soon they were selling out international stadiums by perfecting their own style of amps-to-11 glam rock dubbed “psychedelic violence crime of visual shock” (imagine Iron Maiden with a David Bowie spirit animal) and connecting with millions of fans.
Their journey to play Madison Square Garden amidst a Beatlemania-shaped maelstrom is expertly captured by director Stephen Kijak and editors Mako Kamitsuna and John Maringouin, who dismantle the kitsch and dig into the cult of personality to reveal a story of misfortune and tragedy that has shadowed the band time and again. Just as it is for their fans, music becomes a lifeblood for X Japan, as they are forced to reinvent and regroup in order to survive. Cameos by artistic giants including Marilyn Manson and David Lynch mark some memorable moments in this roller-coaster musical experience. (Sundance Film Festival brochure)
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2016 - Sonic Strand

Synopsis

This Los Angeles-set tale follows Ronnie, a man who runs a disco walking tour along with his loser son, Brayden. When a sexy, alluring woman named Janet comes to take the tour, it begins a competition between father and son for her affections. It also brings about the appearance of an oily, slimy, inhuman maniac who walks the streets at night and strangles the innocent - soon dubbed "The Greasy Strangler".

Synopsis

Adapated from the novel 'Ali and Nino' first published in 1937 by an author writing under the pseudonym Kurban Said.
Set in Azerbaijan in 1914 exploring the dilemmas created by 'European' rule over an 'Oriental' society through the love story of Ali and Nino. Ali, a Muslim with his ancestors’ passion for the desert, and Nino, a Christian Georgian girl with sophisticated European ways - the two, who have loved each other since childhood, face a variety of obstacles preventing them from being together, including their religions and the impending threat of World War I. As the political-military situation intensifies in Russia and Turkey, the two become swept up in Azerbaijan’s fight for independence.
Sundance Film Festival 2016 - World premiere

Synopsis

Take a journey across time to the birth of modern music, when the musical strands of a diverse nation were first combined, thereby sparking a cultural revolution that forever transformed the future of music and the world. The event will include clips of the film, an extended conversation with the creators including executive producers Robert Redford, T Bone Burnett and Jack White, and live performances featuring The Avett Brothers and other special music guests.
Official Selection Sundance Film Festival 2016 - Special Events

Synopsis

In 1983, writer and theologian John Hull went blind. To help make sense of his loss, he began keeping an audio diary. Encompassing dreams, memory and imaginative life 'Notes on Blindness' creates an impression of his new world, immersing the audience in John’s experience of blindness.
A feature-length version of Middleton and Spinney's 2014 Sundance-selected short 'Notes on Blindness'.
Official Selection Sundance Film Festival 2016 - New Frontier - World premiere

Synopsis

Five sisters in 19th century England must cope with the pressures to marry while protecting themselves from a growing population of zombies. A fresh twist on Jane Austen's widely celebrated novel.
A mysterious plague has fallen upon 19th century England, the land is overrun with the undead. Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is a master of martial arts and weaponry. Casting aside personal and social prejudices, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy must unite on the blood-soaked battlefield to rid the country of the zombie menace and discover their true love for one another.

Synopsis

A boy growing up in Dublin during the ’80s escapes his strained family life and tough new school by starting a band to win the heart of a beautiful and mysterious girl.
Official Selection Sundance Film Festival 2016 - Premieres - World premiere

Synopsis

In the aftermath of the Korean War, ambitious young film director Shin Sang-ok and actress Choi Eun-hee enter into a glamorous romance. They rise to the top of the South Korean film industry and are drawn into the inner circle of dictatorial President Park. Their groundbreaking films become instant sensations. But their movie-world idyll is shattered after Shin has a scandalous affair with another actress and confronts the President over censorship, who retaliates by shutting down his studio. Unable to reconcile, Choi and Shin divorce.
Then their lives take a bizarre turn. Choi is lured to Hong-Kong by the promise of work, but is bundled onto a boat and sedated. After a grueling sea voyage to North Korea she is welcomed ashore by whimsical dictator's son and movie-obsessive, Kim Jong-il, who imprisons her in his summerhouse.
Sundance Film Festival 2016 - World premiere

Synopsis

Two worlds collide when Nick, a wealthy hedge fund trader returns home to find squatters have occupied his country house. The London City fund manager is thrown into a race against time over one explosive night.

Synopsis

The younger lover of a famed astrophysicist is left devastated when he suddenly dies but soon starts to receive messages from him, apparently from beyond the grave.