Projects matching: ISO

Synopsis

It wasn't exactly a promising childhood. An impoverished father at fifteen, Daniel joined the family business, becoming a drug dealer despite watching his two brothers jailed for the same crime. But when his mother narrowly escapes a prison sentence, and moves the family from North Carolina to the South Bronx, Daniel is given a fresh start. At Taft High School, one of the most violent, notorious high schools in the nation, Daniel discovers that education can give him a future away from poverty and crime. Mature beyond his years, and increasingly articulate, he becomes a dedicated student, not only is he the first of his family to graduate high school, but he wins a scholarship to one of the most elite universities in the US.

Just as he thinks the world is his oyster, Daniel falters. A fish out of water he feels alienated not only by his white classmates, but even more so by his middle-class black ones. Filmed over nine years by director Daniela Zanzotto, and narrated by Daniel himself, this is a remarkable portrait of a self-believer determined to steer his own path in life.

Synopsis

Director Adrian Wills, known for his sensitive portrayal of artists and their work, documents the adventure of the Beatles and Cirque du Soleil joining forces to produce the live show Love. Traveling between London, Montréal and Las Vegas, his team tracks the human story behind the production - from its beginnings in Abbey Road Studios to its historic opening night.

Inspired by the energy of cinéma vérité, All Together Now presents dozens of revealing incidents and encounters. Using archival material as well as intimate interviews with Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison, Sir George Martin, Giles Martin and Dominic Champagne, this feature- length documentary is a privileged glimpse of the artistic process from within the creative circle.

Synopsis

Buried under concrete and controversy on the outskirts of Dublin lie the remains of Ireland's pop star priest - Father Michael Cleary. In 1991 as a student Alison Millar moved into his house and started filming him. Fifteen years on, using her unseen archive, this film is the story of the secret life of a man who fooled her, his family and an entire nation.

Synopsis

Sometimes leaving brings you back - 17 year old Tom returns home after an unsuccessful suicide attempt.
 

Synopsis

Mi Piace is a film of made with the documentation of one performance to camera, where during a spurious singing rehearsal, the singer's body is progressively bound to test the changes in the voice. The film leaves ambiguity as to the exact nature of the events, which are presented as a diverse collection of documentation, hence suggesting a history.

The singer is asked to perform repeatedly a popular aria (O Mio Babbino Caro), at each repetition (itself interrupted in mid flow at different points) the singer's body is bound, starting from the ankles, and proceeding upwards. The section isolated in the soundtrack Mi Piace, is part of the aria and means  like' or in its original context 'I would like to'.

Synopsis

Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating: how could a 'slumdog' know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life on the streets - picaresque tales of the Juhu slum where he and his brother Salim grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika, the girl he loved and lost. In each episode of his story lies the key to the answer to one of the game show’s questions.

Intrigued by Jamal's story, the jaded Police Inspector begins to wonder what a young man with no apparent desire for riches is really doing on this game show?

When the new day dawns and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Inspector and sixty million viewers are about to find out.

Synopsis

In his sweet shop resembling movie museum, owner and film lover, a Cypriot Londoner, Umit Mesut, debates film versus digital with professional screenwriter Tony Grisoni.

Synopsis

For David, school life is different - he cannot understand why no one seems to want to talk to him. It seems there is a secret that everyone knows except for him. Frustrated and isolated, David must face his darkest imaginings to finally realise the true horror of the secret.

Synopsis

Six disparate strangers escape a cataclysmic explosion which could be mankind's final act of self- destruction and retreat to an old manor house. Trapped within their haven, it rapidly becomes a prison and before long the small fraction threatens to repeat the mass destruction which has preceded events within their own fragile group.
 
 

Synopsis

Set in a typical East London high street during an atypical hot, dry, English summer. After the rain is a love story, between neighbours Lian and Adrian, who suffer from surreal compulsive obsessive disorders. Lian, a Chinese waitress, evaporates when she cries, only coming back with the rain; while Adrian, the laundry man, coughs feathers in times of anxiety. As their worlds and disorders collide, we watch Lian and Adrian’s initial suspicion and distaste of one another give way to understanding, friendship and love. Tonally, After the Rain is a surreal comedy, addressing themes of love, ecology, racism and ignorance.

Synopsis

Based on Blake Morrison’s best selling memoir, And When Did You Last See Your Father? is ultimately a father son love story. From scholarly Blake’s fraught and sometimes humiliating teenage years growing up with a charismatic, overbearing and adulterous father, through to the ultimate grief of watching him die as an adult and father himself, the story takes us on a heart-rending and often humorous journey in which Blake revisits his past, comes to terms with some difficult home truths and finally learns to accept that one’s parents are not always accountable to their children.

Synopsis

After a violent storm, Ali Abdul Hussein awakens on a deserted Cuban beach, sick and disoriented. Taken to Havana, he meets Manuela, a beautiful and sensual dancer. She is reluctant to take in this tormented stranger, suspecting he’s a prisoner from Guantanamo Bay. However, she relents, drawn to this troubled foreigner. Plunged into the music and romance of Havana, Ali struggles to separate fantasy from reality. He is haunted by nightmares, taken back to the interrogation room’s pain and humiliation, and by startling visions linking his past and his present life. But are these nightmares flash backs to his experiences in the prison or just dreams of a tortured soul?