British Council Logo UK Films Database
Project Detail

Locks and Keys, Water, Trees

Synopsis

Told entirely in drawings made over nearly thirty years by British artist/filmmaker Penny Andrea, LOCKS AND KEYS, WATER, TREES portrays the genesis of a rare brain tumor with its origins in early childhood. Diagnosed and treated in the artist's late twenties, the film reflects an ongoing process of recovery from traumatic brain injury. Portraying drawing as both escape and embrace, a 'shuttle between inner and outer worlds', and video as its counterpart medium in time, the film speaks to the communicative power of art to connect, explore and heal trauma.
Official Selection IDFA 2021 - Envision Competition - World premiere

Details

Year
2021
Type of project
Features
Running time
99 min
Director
Penny Andrea
Producer
Penny Andrea
Editor
Penny Andrea
Director of Photography
Penny Andrea
Sound
Young Thugs
Composer
Garo Nahoulakian, Angela Penhaligon
Sound Design
Poppy Illsley

Genre

Woman Director

Categories

Documentary

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

Penny Andrea

Sales Company

Penny Andrea

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.

Suggest amendments

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

Cold Blow Lane Cold Blow Lane

Director: Penny Andrea

Year: 2020

The romantic and professional trials of Mary Henry - a cog in the machine of a London-based crime syndicate, presided over by sinister pragmatist The Mademoiselle.

Experimental Woman Director
Free Lyric Free Lyric

Director: Cherish 'Chez' Oteka

Year: 2026

Reliving one of the first viral social media moments in rap culture, when a 17 year old female rapper’s life was turned upside down by admitting to having an orgy, FREE LYRIC explores the experience of online call out culture, gender and consent. With the rise of social media as the backdrop, this film explores the journey of a young woman named Niki who was cancelled before being cancelled was a thing, and how she survived a sex scandal. Official Selection Raindance Film Festival 2026 - World premiere

Black Docufiction Woman Director
Image from a dramatic reconstruction - Two white skinhead males are staring aggressively at a black man. Beyond the Divide

Director: Imoje Aikhoje

Year: 2025

A Black British activist and a former neo-Nazi sit face to face. In a tense encounter combining direct testimony with dramatic reconstruction, each man is forced to confront what brought him to this point: one radicalised by hate, one shaped by the movement that resists it. Chris Otokito and Nigel Bromage meet for the first time on camera. What unfolds is an unsparing examination of how far-right extremism takes root in Britain and whether dialogue across that divide is possible at all.

Black Docufiction Human Rights