Hard Shoulder

Director: Nicholas David Lean

Year: 2012

Carl Foster, a work obsessed man, reluctantly agrees to a weekend away with his disgruntled wife and disruptive children - it’s as much as he can do to muster any kind of enthusiasm for the few days he must endure in their company. Their constant bickering finally takes its toll on Carl when they are passed, on a deserted country road, by a convoy of ‘carnival types’, who, by mischief or accident, cause Carl to swerve off the road. With rage descending Carl gets into heated exchange with the travellers. Taking an enforced stop hours later, in a small layby, the family are again affronted as their stationary vehicle is rammed by an unseen assailant in a large truck. Dazed by the impact they wake, bound and gagged, within the dreary confines of an abandoned roadside diner, with, seemingly, the same carnival types now their abductors and antagonists. As the gang demeans, insults, and tortures each of their captives in turn, it falls to Carl to free his family from their predicament. But not everything is as it seems, their environment not as tortuous as they imagined, and Carl not all that he would have us believe.

Director: Simon Callow

Year: 2026

Sami, a Syrian refugee in the UK, and Bryony, an aimless young librarian, embark on a highly personal quest to preserve a bell from a demolished Christian church. What begins as a civic protest quickly becomes a criminal case when they accidentally near fatally injure a security guard, and find themselves on the run from the police. However, our accidental heroes’ fate is sealed by a kindly police sergeant who is moved by their mission, and our odd-couple achieve their goal of saving the bell and reminding the town they both call home about the importance of remembering its own story.

Director: Remo Pini

Year: 2028

The dramatic true story of Austrian visionary, Rudolf Steiner who against ridicule, controversy and attempts on his life, developed an intricate philosophy based on his ability to research and perceive spiritual dimensions.