Projects in categories: Fiction

Synopsis

Maud, a reclusive live-in nurse, becomes dangerously fixated with saving her newest patient’s soul.
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2019 - Midnight Madness - World premiere
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2019 - Official Competition - European premiere
Official Selection International Film Festival Rotterdam 2020

Synopsis

Eco-thriller - Autistic student Siobhán endures a research week on a ragged fishing trawler, miserably out of place in the close-knit crew. But in the deep Atlantic, an unfathomable life-form ensnares the boat. At first, the crew see the rare deep-sea animal as a chance to make a killing. But as members of the crew succumb to a mysterious infection, Siobhán must persuade them that to profit here is to risk their lives - and the lives of all humans.
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2019 - Discovery - World premiere
Official Selection Thessaloniki International Film Festival 2019 - European premiere

Synopsis

Abandoned in Africa as a child, following a visit to the Sufi shrine in Bilal al Habash, Lilly is taken in by the shrine’s spiritual leader Great Abdal and brought up there as a devoted Muslim. At 17, she leaves for Ethiopia, where she falls in love with an idealistic doctor. With civil war looming, danger grows. Lilly is forced to flee to England. She finds home in a friendship with Amina, a refugee from Ethiopia who has fled the same war, and together they begin a mission to reunite people with their scattered families. We soon discover that Lilly’s mission isn’t purely selfless and Amina has buried a secret that she is trying to flee.
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2019 - Discovery - World premiere

Synopsis

Set in 1862, the high-flying tale of pilot Amelia Wren, a wealthy young widow, and James Glaisher, an ambitious scientist as they mount a balloon expedition to fly higher than anyone in history. This is a journey to the very edge of existence, where the air is thin and the chances of survival are slim. As their perilous ascent reveals their true selves, this unlikely pair discover things about each other - and themselves - that help them find their place in the world they have left behind.
Official Selection Telluride Film Festival 2019 - World premiere
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2019 - Gala Presentations
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2019 - Headline Gala

Synopsis

A fresh and distinctive adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic novel 'David Copperfield'. A haunting semi-autobiographical tale of a boy who is sent away by his stepfather after his mother dies but manages to triumph over incredible adversities.
Set in the 1840s, chronicling the life of its iconic title character as he navigates a chaotic world to find his elusive place within it. From his unhappy childhood to the discovery of his gift as a storyteller and writer, David’s journey is by turns hilarious and tragic, but always full of life, colour and humanity.
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2019 - Special Presentations - World premiere
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2019 - Opening Night Gala - European premiere

Synopsis

In 2013, progressive incoming Pope Francis and conservative outgoing Pope Benedict debate the best path forward for the Catholic Church, in this surprisingly funny chamber piece.
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2019 - Special Presentations

Synopsis

Ripped from the pages of Peter Carey’s Man Booker prize winning novel True History Of The Kelly Gang, this thrilling, bold adaptation charts the rise and fall of Australia’s original Mad Max; a coming of age tale about a defiant rebel sworn to wreak vengeance and havoc on the British Empire.
Set against the badlands of colonial Australia where the English rule with a bloody fist and the Irish endure, Ned Kelly discovers he comes from a line of Irish rebels called the Sons of Sieve, an uncompromising army of cross dressing bandits immortalised for terrorising their oppressors back in Ireland.
Nurtured by the notorious bushranger Harry Power and fuelled by the unfair arrest of his mother, Ned Kelly recruits a wild bunch of warriors to plot one of the most audacious attacks of anarchy and rebellion the country has ever seen.
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2019 - Galas - World premiere

Synopsis

Amid the struggle for survival in a sprawling Indian metropolis, a red rose brings together three tales of impossible loves. Love between two flower sellers. Love between two women. Love of an entire city for its Bollywood stars.
Official Selection Venice Film Festival 2019 - Critics' Week - World premiere
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2019 - Contemporary World Cinema
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2019 - Special Presentation

Synopsis

Georgie Jutland (Kelly Macdonald) is barely holding it together these days without a drink. Once a nurse, now she’s trapped in the backwater fishing port of White Point with local crayfish baron, Jim Buckridge (David Wenham) and his two sons, whose dead mother she can never hope to replace.
One hazy morning she sees the lone figure of Lu Fox (Garret Hedlund) appear in the mists of the bay. A long time ago he was a dirt musician, but now he survives as a poacher – an unwise choice given Jim’s iron-grip on the local fishing trade. Georgie is instantly drawn to Lu, and the pair begin an intense affair. What Georgie doesn’t realise is that the Foxes and the Buckridges have a long, murky history. Fearing Jim’s fury and haunted by his tragic past, Lu flees north to Coronation Island, a place dear to Georgie’s heart. Discovering Lu has fled, Georgie decides to follow him north with the unlikely help of Jim.
Based on the critically acclaimed novel by iconic Australian writer Tim Winton, Dirt Music is a tale of love and redemption, set against the awe-inspiring backdrop of the Australian West.
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2019 - Special Presentations - World premiere

Synopsis

A nerdy video game developer becomes the next contestant in an illegal live-streamed death match. A dark, viciously violent, and chillingly prescient sci-fi thriller.
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2019 - Special Presentations - World premiere

Synopsis

Grace and Edward have been married for 33 years. When their son, Jamie, comes home to visit them in the fading seaside town where he grew up, Edward tells him that he plans to leave Grace the next day.
HOPE GAP tracks the unravelling of three lives, through stages of shock, disbelief and anger, to a resolution, of sorts. It’s tender, it’s funny and above all, true. There are no easy answers, no simple paths to redemption, but in the end, it is a story of survival. A story of hope.
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2019 - Special Presentations - World premiere
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2019 - Headline Gala - European premiere

Synopsis

The art world and the underworld collide in this elegant and erotic neo-noir thriller. Set in present day Italy, irresistibly charismatic art critic James Figueras hooks up with provocative and alluring American Berenice Hollis. He’s a classic anti-hero in the making with a charm that masks his ambition, whilst she’s an innocent touring Europe, enjoying the freedom of being whoever she wishes. The new lovers travel to the lavish and opulent Lake Como estate of powerful art collector, Joseph Cassidy. Their host reveals he is the patron of Jerome Debney, the reclusive J.D. Salinger of the art world, and he has a simple request: for James to steal a Debney masterpiece from the artist’s studio, whatever the cost.
As the couple spends time with the legendary Debney, they start to realise that nothing about the artist nor their mission is what it seems. But James is a man of deep, lurking ambition and he will do anything, from arson and burglary to murder, in order to further his career…
Official Selection Venice Film Festival 2019 - Out of Competition & Closing Night Gala - World premiere
Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2019 - Gala Presentations