Projects in genres: History

Synopsis

In 1970s London, Simran arrives at Heathrow Airport from Punjab to be married in two weeks. Dressed for the journey, she moves through the warmth and order of the terminal until she is quietly diverted into a secondary corridor. In a calm examination room, procedures are explained to her in a familiar language, framed as routine and voluntary. What follows is a polite, administrative process that determines her right to enter the country. When Simran is allowed to leave, the airport resumes its rhythm. Outside, her future husband waits. Life continues.

Synopsis

An experimental animation that connects the history of colonial navigator Captain James Cook, his home region of the North York Moors (NYM), and the enclosure of common land to private land. The aim is to show how colonial practices of land seizure, British elites used a legal and rhetorical framework developed overseas to justify seizing common lands in England through the Enclosure Acts - including Captain Cook’s home of the NYM - a privatisation which still lingers today. Through animating on oak materials foraged in the NYM, the film aims to connect this legacy to the living landscape. This includes animation on foraged oak wood, leaves, 8mm developed in oak bark extract, and oak toned prints. The title CAPTAIN COOK IS DEAD refers to the popular proclamation, ‘The king is dead, long live the king!’ in that Cook’s legacy of colonialism lives on in our ever-privatised natural spaces.

Synopsis

Bermuda, April 1968: once again a White US college student is crowned queen of the annual floral pageant, the greatest spectacle on the island home of the Easter Lilly. Hours later a race riot breaks out. The city burns. Across a decade of civil disturbances, encompassing assassinations and the last executions in the British Empire, BERMUDA RIOTS ARE DIFFERENT re-evaluates this contested history with the archival voices of Black Bermudian eyewitnesses. Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2026

Synopsis

In the grey rhythms of a 1990s British secondary school, a student begins to sense a discomfort that has no name, just a feeling that the role they’re playing doesn’t quite fit. Through a missing pair of joggers, an unexpected line from Macbeth, and the quiet rituals of uniforms, registers, and school corridors, this film traces the first flickers of identity forming - not through revelation, but recognition.

Synopsis

In 1979, when there was almost no support for trans lives, Martine Rose renovated a rundown terrace in Sheffield, UK, and opened it to anyone who needed it. Through previously unseen archive and Martine's own account, ROSE'S HOUSE uncovers a largely forgotten chapter of queer history, moving between past and present to trace what she built, and what remains. Official Selection Sheffield DocFest - World Premiere

Synopsis

Edinburgh has a developed network of greenways. One key 60 year old route, The Roseburn Path, is under threat of being significantly transformed into a Tramway. The documentary explores the history, development, social and wellbeing benefits for residents of the path and contrasts the competing needs of development and connectivity.

Synopsis

In 1860s London, three Greek female artists attend a gallery opening, seeking to impress the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Synopsis

In the tense 72 hours before D-Day, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Captain James Stagg face an impossible choice - launch the most dangerous seaborne invasion in history or risk losing the war altogether. Official Selection Busan International Film Festival 2026

Synopsis

Set in the South China Sea during the early 19th century, THE PIRATE QUEEN tells the extraordinary true-inspired story of Cheng Shih, a woman who rose from obscurity to command the largest pirate confederation in recorded history. When her husband dies at sea, Cheng Shih inherits a fragile empire on the brink of collapse. Surrounded by rival captains, internal betrayal, and escalating imperial pressure, she must outmanoeuvre enemies on all sides to keep Red Flag Fleet together. Through strategic brilliance and ruthless restraint, she transforms from an underestimated widow into a leader whose authority rivals the world’s greatest navies. This narrative-driven VR experience places audiences inside Cheng Shih’s ascent to power. Developed over five years in collaboration with historians and cultural advisors, the project draws on extensive research into Qing Dynasty China and British–Chinese relations. Official Selection Cannes Film Festival 2026 - Immersive Competition - World premiere

Synopsis

The alien cosmos of microscopy becomes the setting for a posthumous dialogue: an exploration of the unspoken fallout of the pandemic years.

Synopsis

Through five portraits of relatives and mentors, five expressions of resistance, director Pegah Ahangarani sketches her life story. Drawing from personal archives, home videos, street protests footage, newspapers, and recorded voices, she retraces more than 40 years of Iran’s history. From the early days of 1979, until the war that began in 2026, she pieces together intimate and collective memories, forming the portrait of a country shaped by political repression and in constant hope for a revolution. Official Selection Cannes Film Festival 2026 - Special Screenings Official Selection Telluride Film Festival 2026

Synopsis

In the days leading up to Christmas 1973 three astronauts enacted the first labour strike in outer space. Reconstructed from transcripts in claustrophobic close-up via CCTV system, THE CASE AGAINST SPACE is a real time investigation, dramatically collapsing embodied historical reenactment and speculative essayistic research - forming a collective testimony on struggle amongst the stars, of fights past, present and those yet to come. Official Selection Open City Documentary Festival 2026 Official Selection Visions du Réel 2026