Project Detail

Stephen

Melanie Manchot/STEPHEN FILM Ltd

Synopsis

Ste Giddings grew up with addictions in himself and those around him. At 26 he was giving up on life. STEPHEN is a film-within-a-film that combines narrative fiction with real-life observation and archive material. It takes us on intimate journeys into two characters as Ste auditions for and takes on a role in a fiction film. Produced with a mixed cast of people in addiction/recovery alongside four professional actors, the film presents alternative perspectives on urgent social questions including alcohol/drug misuse, gambling and mental health. As fiction merges with reality the separation between person, actor and character at times dissolves.
Official Selection Sheffield DocFest 2023 - World premiere

Details

Year: 2023
Type of film: Features
Running time: 78 min
Format: 4K Video
Director: Melanie Manchot 1st Feature
Producer: Elena Hill
Executive Producer: Solon Papadopoulos
Editor: Graeme Hanks, Liza Ryan-Carter
Screenwriter: Leigh Campbell
Director of Photography: Andrew Schonfelder
Production Designer: Stephanie O'Hara
Sound: Phil Hartley
Music: Forest Swords
Principal cast: Stephen Giddings, Michelle Collins, Paislie Reid, Kent Riley, Michael Starke
Trailer password: Stephen

Genre

Experimental Woman Director Drama

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

STEPHEN Film Ltd

Melanie Manchot & Elena Hill
33 Dunloe Street
London
E2 8JR

Visit Website

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

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

Woman Director