Not on the Heep - The Lee Kerslake Story

Director: Tayla Goodman

Year: 2023

At the Dawn of Heavy Metal, the sun rose to the beat of Lee Kerslake's drums. Through his halcyon days with Uriah Heep, his controversial times with Ozzy Osbourne and his potentially career ending illnesses, this film follows Lee as he attempts to overcome his greatest obstacles. It celebrates his immortal music, but also his courageous confrontation with his own mortality. The film features rock icons from bands like Uriah Heep, Def Leppard, Ozzy Osbourne, KISS, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. This is Lee's tribe, and they come together for him in his final triumphant years. Lee was a founding member, songwriter, singer and drummer for Uriah Heep. It tells the magnificent story of Lee through his time as the drummer who propelled the first two classic Ozzy Osbourne albums and was inducted in the Hall of Heavy Metal History! Lee Kerslake has sold 60 million albums worldwide with multiple silver, gold and platinum albums. He was inducted into the ‘Metal Hall of Fame’ in 2019. Special appearances in the film by: Ian Paice (Deep Purple), Joe Elliott (Def Leppard), Gene Simmons (Kiss), Mick Box (Uriah Heep), Ken Hensley (Uriah Heep), Bob Daisley (Uriah Heep, Gary Moore, Ozzy Osbourne)

Director: Siobhan Silén

Year: 2027

An animated VR short inspired by autistic musician Jen Msumba, who defies a system designed to erase her through synaesthetic music-making. It explores the universal need to be accepted for who we are. Participants journey through Jen’s life, from childhood, when the world feels confusing and “wonky”. Music is her safety and compass. While others read notes on a page, Jen sees visual maps that help her express emotions and navigate uncertainty. As a teenager, Jen’s mother becomes ill and her anxiety overwhelms her. Years of psychiatric institutions and medication leave her sedated, unable to play instruments. Her family sends her to the Judge Rotenberg Center, whose practices will later be described by the United Nations as torture. Over seven years of confinement and painful electric shocks, Jen is taught to believe she is “wrong”. Secretly composing music in her head becomes her refuge. Realising the centre will not support her independence, Jen writes to a judge and wins her freedom. She rediscovers music and invites us into her musical map, where participants touch and transform notes through movement, shifting melodies from classical to punk rock. We end with Jen performing on stage.

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.