Harry Birrell Presents Films of Love and War

Director: Hannah Berryman

Year: 2024

A landmark feature documentary about astronaut Eileen Collins, the first woman to pilot and command the Space Shuttle. Eileen’s incredible journey starts with her smalltown beginnings, sees her smash through many glass ceilings, and culminates in four dramatic space shuttle missions, the last being possibly the most dangerous and most important of them all. At its heart the film is the moving human drama of one family, where a mother’s extraordinary career takes us straight to the big philosophical question of what is the level of acceptable risk in human endeavour? This film celebrates Commander Collins’ trailblazing NASA career which opened the way for women to become spacecraft pilots and commanders, and proved a perfect riposte to a previous generation of male astronauts who thought there was no place for women to lead the way in space. Official Selection DOC NYC 2024 - World premiere Official Selection CPH:DOX 2025 - European premiere

Director: David Nicholas Wilkinson

Year: 2025

The controversy surrounding the Parthenon Marbles centres entirely on their initial acquisition and their current location in the British Museum. In 1983, when she became the Minister for Culture of Greece, the esteemed actress and politician Melina Mercouri reignited Greece’s argument that they were illegally removed from the Parthenon temple in Athens by Lord Elgin. The British Museum has consistently affirmed the legality of its acquisitions and that they are better and more securely preserved and appreciated in London. In the past, it has been stated that the sculptures are an essential part of its wider world collection, which enables visitors to understand both the full cultural and historical context of ancient Greece. Greece asserts that the sculptures are integral to its national identity and historical narrative, and that only their reunification with the remaining Parthenon artefacts in Athens can provide the fullest, most complete, and meaningful context for their display. With both sides standing firm on their positions, the debate remains unresolved. THE MARBLES advocates for reunification in what has become the art world’s most pressing issue.

Director: Barney Douglas

Year: 2026

The extraordinary story of Richard “Ric” O’Barry, once the world’s highest-paid dolphin trainer, now their most passionate defender, risking his life and liberty to free these remarkable creatures from captivity. In the 1960s, Ric was America’s leading dolphin trainer at the Miami Seaquarium and the celebrated trainer behind the hit TV series Flipper, whose smiling stars enchanted a generation. Everything changed after the apparent suicide of one of the show’s dolphins, Kathie - a moment that shattered his beliefs and set him on a radical path from insider to activist. For over 50 years, Ric has led a global campaign against dolphin captivity. As founder of Dolphin Project, he has risked arrest, injury, and personal loss to rescue dolphins and expose the industry’s darkest secrets. Both celebrated and criticised, he remains steadfast that every captive dolphin can be returned to the wild. Told through intimate family access, joyous underwater imagery, and covert filming, Ric’s mission has transformed a non-issue into a global movement. Now 85, he must ask: after a lifetime spent freeing others, can he finally set himself free?