Glasgow, 1973. On the brink of adolescence, young John McGill's about to start secondary school. He's a bright boy, a sensitive boy, eager to learn, but the cards are stacked high against him. The McGill family's dirt poor, his hated father's a drunken bully. His teachers - punishing John for the 'sins' of his older brother Benny - are down on him from the start. John's on his own.
And then there's the gangs. The Neds. Non-Educated Delinquents. The bad boys with weapons and attitude: cheap drugs, glam rock, fumbling sex, the violence and the camaraderie of the streets. Local monsters. Local heroes. Benny's fearsome reputation buys John protection, and then a way in. Scared, resentful, full of rage, John makes his decision. If no one else will give him a chance: fu*k them.
John takes to the savage life of the streets with a vengeance. But as his rage and frustration spin him further and further out of control, he is left facing a blank wall. No future. With one extraordinary chance of redemption.
'A girl's life is cruel - A woman's life is very cruel', notes Sampat Pal, the complex protagonist at the centre of Kim Longinotto’s latest foray into the lives of extraordinary women.
Sampat Pal should know, like many others she was married as a young girl into a family which beat her often. But unusually, she fought back, leaving her in-laws and eventually becoming famous as a champion for beleaguered women throughout Uttar Pradesh, many of whom find their way to her doorstep.
Rekha, a 14 year-old untouchable, is three months pregnant and homeless unable to marry her unborn child's father because of her low caste. Fifteen year-old Renu's husband from an arranged marriage has abandoned her and she's threatening to throw herself under a train. Both desperate young women, reach out for their only hope - Sampat Pal.
Pink Saris is an unflinching and often amusing look at these unlikely political activists and their charismatic leader. In extraordinary scenes, we watch her launch herself into the centre of family dramas, convinced her mediation is the best path for these vulnerable girls. Her partner Babuji, who has watched Sampat Pal change over the years, is less certain.
2015 and THE GANGS HAVE TAKEN OVER.
It's the near future and the streets of London throb with menace. Gangs scavenge and fight for food - the hottest commodity - and life is cheap.
The rich/poor divide in society has never been greater and amidst the warfare Junior is seeking to avenge the death of his brother by a rival gang.
As a result of the bombarding, many people of the war-torn Afghanistan have gone homeless and more poverty-stricken. In order to earn a living and after many sufferings, Aziz s family and some other Afghan families are going to Pakistani border with their infants to…
When is it right to steal a baby? When you’re a Social Worker? When you’re a Police Officer?
Or when you’re the only real family he’s got left in the world?
It’s a crime to steal a baby but what if he is your brother? Fourteen year-old Casey thinks his family should be together, so when his mother dies he snatches his baby brother from foster care and goes on the run in search of his estranged dad, forcing his older brother, H, to join them.
The journey becomes an odyssey across contemporary Britain, with the band of brothers collecting other dispossessed characters along the way - a young soldier just back from Afghanistan who never knew his own parents but is determined to be a good dad to his newly born daughter, beautiful black Venetia on a mission to get payback from every cheating stepdad that ever crossed her path, best-friend-since-nursery Seema who is taking this crazy detour with Venetia before heading to uni and a stranded sheep rescued by Casey from certain death.
Casey thinks that if he finds his dad everything will be alright. The police and social services think that Casey is a criminal. H thinks Casey is off his head, but Casey just thinks they should be a family.
It's 1974 in the Midlands where power cuts, strikes and boot-boy aggro on football terraces are the norm. Joe McCain (Martin Compston: The Disappearance of Alice Creed) and best friend Russ Mountjoy (Alfie Allen: Atonement) are stuck in dead-end jobs and bored with lives going nowhere. That is until Joe meets Jane (Nichola Burley: Streetdance 3D), a brassy, blond hairdresser who introduces him to a whole new world of sound and movement and all-night dancing: the Wigan Casino, home of Northern Soul.
Mandy (Felicity Jones: The Tempest, Cemetery Junction), a cute, aspiring artist, is eager to help Joe become the cool 'soul boy' he wants to be. Mandy falls for Joe and a love triangle develops with Jane and Mandy, and Joe has to decide who he really wants in his life. Along the way, they all get swept up in the soul scene, testing each other and confronting darker sides of the scene and their own souls.
SoulBoy also stars Craig Parkinson (Control, Four Lions), Jo Hartley (This is England '86) and Irish superstar Pat Shortt (Garage) and features a soundtrack of all the era's anthems and a new cover of Magic Carpet Ride by soul sensation Gabriella Cilmi.
This is the story of a slum school choir who put on a concert of songs from The Sound of Music with a full orchestra and in front of an audience of over a thousand people. Performing in such a prestigious concert is a world away from their lives in the slums but will singing songs about climbing mountains really help these kids find their dreams?
This film is a unique documentary event: with unrivalled access, it follows both sides in a political battle during a year long campaign which attracted worldwide headlines.
Labour MP Margaret Hodge, a Jewish immigrant, is defending the parliamentary seat of Barking in the British general election from a challenge by the leader of the right wing British National Party, Nick Griffin, who has a big following amongst disenchanted white working class voters.
With building tension, as violence erupts on the streets, the film shows the strategies of both parties and the eventual denouement on election night.
Described as 'remarkable' by the Observer newspaper, the film will be of particular interest in countries where there is a populist rightwing or racist party.
Return to the magic and wonder of C S Lewis’ beloved world via the fantastic Narnian ship, the Dawn Treader. In this new installment of the blockbuster 'The Chronicles of Narnia' motion picture franchise, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, along with their cousin Eustace, their royal friend King Caspian and a warrior mouse named Reepicheep, find themselves swallowed into a painting and onto the Dawn Treader.
Their mission – upon which rests the fate of Narnia itself – takes the courageous voyagers to mysterious islands and a river that turns to gold, to fateful confrontations with magical creatures and sinister enemies and to a reunion with their friend and protector, the 'Great Lion' Aslan.
London, present day. A violent, desperate man breaks into an inner city church. With him he brings the anxiety and anger of contemporary society. Once inside the church he faces his greatest opponent, a world weary priest. The fighter challenges the priest on the fundamental fabric of life, faith and death, belief and passion. The scene is set, in the fight for truth, redemption and forgiveness as the two men come to terms with their various demons over the course of the night.
Meet MAHMUD NASIR, London taxi driver, loving husband, doting father and something of a 'relaxed' Muslim. Does the 'F' word occasionally pass his lips? It's hardly worth mentioning. Does he say his prayers five times a day? Of course! Well, usually. Does he fast every day of Ramadan? Who’s counting anyway? He may not be the most observant, but in his heart he is as Muslim as it gets.
But after his mother's death a discovery turns Mahmud's world upside down. He finds his birth certificate which reveals that not only was he adopted at birth but he's Jewish, and his real name is Solly Shimshillewitz! As Mahmud tumbles headlong into a full scale identity crisis, the only person he can turn to is LENNY, a drunken Jewish cabbie who agrees to give him lessons in Jewishness, which start with how to dance like Topol. Oy vey.
