Fred
Synopsis
The former London gangster Freddie Foreman is the only one of his generation who survived the English underworld long enough to be able to tell the tale. And this is exactly what he does in 'Fred': Tells his story. Today, he is 85 years old and lives alone in a nursing home, allegedly with several murders to his name and with his memories intact. A long and critical interview with the East End boy who grew up in the turbulent era of the war and became one of London's most notorious gangsters in the 1960s and 1970s, when he hung out with pop stars and football players, is the thread running through Paul van Carter's self-reflective portrait of the criminal mastermind. A film that balances between true crime, deep journalism and colourful cock-and-bull tales from another era with Swinging London as its backdrop. The conversation with the charismatic Foreman unfolds against a richly detailed (pop-)cultural and historical background, where myth and truth meet – not least when he visits the set of the Tom Hardy film 'Legend'. Dark psychology and captivating storytelling in a masterful film. (CPH:DOX brochure)
Official Selection CPH:DOX 2018 - World premiere
Details
- Year
- 2018
- Type of project
- Features
- Running time
- 85 mins
- Director
-
Paul Van Carter
- Producer
- Nick Taussig, Paul Van Carter
- Executive Producer
- David Rogers, Marcus Searancke, Alena Walker
- Editor
- Tom Meadmore
- Screenwriter
- Paul Van Carter
- Director of Photography
- Gregory Taylor
- Composer
- Composer: Martin Dubka; Music Supervisor: Phillip Horatio Bush
Categories
Production Status
Production Company
A Salon Pictures production with support from Premiere Pictures
Salon Pictures
Unit 5B Rudolf PlaceMiles Street
London
SW8 1RP
Sales Company
Kew Media
19 Heddon StreetLondon
W1B 4BG
Page updates
This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.
See also
You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.
Stage
Director: Brett Morgen
Year: 2027
An arena-scale cinematic experience built out of long-lost, remastered 35mm footage originally shot by British director David Hemmings. The film features previously unseen concert footage of David Bowie from his 1978 Isolar II World Tour, in support of his landmark 'Heroes' album. Using a three-screen presentation, transparent LED screens and large-scale projections, it is described as an “immersive and sound light experience”. Official Selection Berlin International Film Festival 2027 - World premiere
India's Circularity: Not a Trend, But Tradition from Margins
Director: Purva Tavri
Year: 2026
Across India’s overlooked margins, India’s Circularity – Not a Trend, But a Tradition from the Margins reveals how reuse, repair, and regeneration are not innovations - but inherited ways of life rooted in culture, necessity, and care. Featuring voices across sectors - artists, makers, NGO leaders, entrepreneurs, government officials, planners, engineers, institutions, and homemakers - the film journeys through terracotta clusters in Rajasthan, bamboo-timber homes in Sikkim, palm-leaf artisans in Kerala, and community commons in Chhattisgarh. One story is deeply personal: the director’s mother, whose regenerative practices shaped the director’s own circular worldview long before her professional work in sustainability. With poetic narration, immersive visuals, and grounded research, the film reframes circularity as a lived tradition, not a future policy aspiration.
A Spirit, a Deity, a Barbarian? Captive in the Subterranean
Director: Hannan Jones
Year: 2025
In the subterranean archive of the National Roman Legion Museum, where artefacts and imperial debris trace Britain’s imperial past, the possible first depiction of a Welshmen or “barbarian” becomes a catalyst to unsettle imperial narratives and surface long-suppressed voices.