Artificial Things

Director: Sophie Fiennes

Year: 2022

'Four Quartets' names four landscapes that serve as the basis for four interwoven meditations on the nature of time, faith and the quest for spiritual enlightenment. It is one T.S.Eliots's final great poetic works and its questions, imagery and reflections retain their power and resonance today.<br /> Early in the Covid pandemic Ralph Fiennes set himself the challenge of committing 'Four Quartets' to memory. This cinematic adaptation, filmed shortly after the conclusion of Fiennes original stage production, is an exquisite rendering of Fiennes' tour de force performance, seamlessly transposed from stage to screen, featuring the landscapes in the poem.

Director: Sophie Fiennes

Year: 2024

In a derelict mansion on the outskirts of London, we witness eight actors - four Macbeths and four Lady Macbeths - work in pairs to investigate Shakespeare’s iconic tragedy.<br /> Sophie Fiennes' richly detailed and immersive film offers privileged access to the vital experience of making theatre with pioneering practitioners Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod of the ground breaking international theatre company Cheek By Jowl.<br /> Cheek by Jowl is the international theatre company of Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod. Its landmark productions, performed in more than 50 countries in the 44 years since the company was founded, have influenced the creation of theatre and the experience of audiences the world over. Actors including Adrian Lester, Tom Hiddleston, Ralph Fiennes, Tom Hollander, Olivia Williams, David Morrissey, Gwendoline Christie and Matthew MacFadyen all developed their talent working with Cheek by Jowl in their early careers.<br /> "The setting of Twyford Abbey is dramatic, but Shakespeare’s text is also haunted by the ghosts of actors and audiences who have passed through it, and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future." Sophie Fiennes<br /> Official Selection Edinburgh International Film Festival 2024 - World premiere<br /> Official Selection International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) 2024 - International premiere

Director: Sophie Fiennes

Year: 2017

An electrifying journey through the performance, private and public worlds of pop cultural icon Grace Jones. Jones’ bold aesthetic echoes throughout as director Sophie Fiennes creates a powerful cinematic experience, contrasting musical sequences with intimate personal footage and reaching beyond her iconic mask.<br /> The film includes unique performances of her iconic hits 'Slave To The Rhythm' and 'Pull Up To The Bumper' as well as more recent autobiographical tracks, 'Williams' Blood', 'This Is' and 'Hurricane'. These personal songs link to the film’s narrative that follows Grace on a holiday road trip across her native Jamaica where the story of her traumatic childhood are uncovered.<br /> Her stage is the fixed point to which the film returns, with 'Love Is The Drug' acting like an aria, bringing the film to its final and most touching scenes, including an encounter with French photographer Jean Paul Goude, father of Jones’ son Paulo and creator of her iconic album covers.<br /> This is a Grace we have not seen before, someone who reminds us of what it is to dare to be truly alive. In all her apparent contradictions, Grace Jones may appear an exception, but she is also a point of identification: she is the exception that proves the rule.<br /> Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2017 - TIFF Docs - World premiere