Projects in categories: Documentary

Synopsis

Using both verbatim reconstruction and lip-synched archive, NO MAN IS AN ISLAND examines a tragic story of social shaming in a small island community. As panic about the imminent decriminalisation of homosexuality rises, the media provides a mechanism beyond the judicial one of keeping gay men in their closets.

Synopsis

Aa'La'Ma'Ni means worldly in Arabic. It's a significant term in the Middle East, where secularism is controversial. SECULAR | Aa'La'Ma'Ni a documentary based on academic research, explores the depiction of secularism in Middle Eastern cinema and TV channels. Filmmakers and producers from the region, openly discuss religion, sectarianism, authorities, minorities, and industry challenges.

Synopsis

An experimental film that recreates the experiences of dementia through spoken word, documentary, dramatic reconstruction, and never-before-seen deteriorated archival footage: 16mm films from the 1930s to the 1960s, featuring major historical events and world travel. THE MEMORY BOOM is framed from inside the mind of Pops, a hospitalised grandfather with severe dementia. The decayed footage serves as a visual exploration of Pops' memories. Pops' grandson narrates from his bedside, attempting to preserve Pops' memories while struggling to comprehend memory loss. Pops' confused thoughts rise to the surface, and he shares them with his grandson as if it were 'storytime' leading him down rivulets of muddled tales and garbled memories spanning his lifetime. Pops' Filipina nurse supports the grandson, sharing her inability to care for her own dementia-affected father in the Philippines. The film charts the trio's journeys through emotional turmoil, leading to a deeper understanding of the nuances of memory. THE MEMORY BOOM was created with documentary participants from community groups across rural England and features anonymously donated archival materials, courtesy of Exeter Phoenix. The film was made in memory of the filmmakers’ relatives who lived with dementia, and explores memory preservation and photographic consent. Official Selection PÖFF - Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2024 - World premiere

Synopsis

Light, without which life itself is impossible, is the working medium and obsession of director Thomas Riedelsheimer. Light, seen only in interaction with matter, allows us to explore the origin of the universe. In Tracing Light, science and art interact to illuminate the birth of stars and secrets of the molecular world. Einstein’s work on light changed our understanding of the world forever and revealed it as more complex and magical than was thought. Now, at a radical moment in physics, we bring together leading scientists, and artists who sculpt with light, across Scotland and Germany – from the Max Planck Institute at Erlangen, to Glasgow University’s Extreme Light Group and western reaches of Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, in a quest to understand and embody the ineffable. New questions are given voice, visually and sensually, in the language of matter; in the language of film – light. Official Selection DOK Leipzig 2024 - World premiere Official Selection CPH:DOX 2025 - International premiere

Synopsis

Genre-busting tale of how unemployed amateur cyclist, Bryan Allen, and heavily in debt father-of-three, Paul MacCready, together with a rag-tag team of neuro-diverse outliers, set out on a death-defying and madcap quest to untangle the mystery of human powered flight and in doing so win the most coveted prize in aviation. Built from a remarkable trove of recently discovered 16mm footage along with an arsenal of innovative techniques, this uplifting story of ingenuity, courage and determination, challenges us to question the assumptions we make about about society’s outliers and reminds us of how the stories we tell can help us to understand and perhaps change the world.

Synopsis

You can't choose what you inherit. This documentary offers an uncompromising look at what gets passed down. Framed around a contested house in the west of Ireland, it is a coming-of-age story - a survival story - about the cost of love; and how difficult it can be to escape. Official Selection International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) 2024 - World premiere Official Selection True/False Film Festival - North American premiere Official Selection Sheffield DocFest 2025

Synopsis

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

Synopsis

In their final year of high school, three Argentinian best friends prepare for their last Welsh ‘Eisteddfod’ competition - but are they ready to say goodbye?

Synopsis

Using DNA extracted from a hat worn by actors in Bertolt Brecht’s Berliner Ensemble, DRINKING BRECHT is an interactive installation that explores the past and present of genetics and synthetic biology. A documentary you can drink, the work ingests worn-out scientific narratives and turns them into a marxist-feminist ritual. Official Selection International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) - Doc Lab 2024

Synopsis

A short animation about what happens as we die. Voiced by palliative care doctor, Dr Kathryn Mannix, the film takes a gentle step by step journey through the process of dying. Official Selection Cinanima International Animated Film Festival 2024

Synopsis

In the heart of South London, hidden within the confines of a converted church hall, lies the workshop of luthier Nick Branwell. His journey from a philosophy student to a craftsman of bespoke guitars encapsulates a life lived with passion and creativity.

Synopsis

An immersive 360 film, based on letters home written by two Cornish Boys from west Cornwall, who emigrated to Australia in 1864. The recently discovered letters, which provide the inspiration, overarching visual motif and compelling lyrics of the piece, cry out with homesickness, loneliness and separation, and the everyday challenges and triumphs of their pioneering life in an evolving nation. The boys had their mining and farming skills to fall back on; they also brought their culture too, particularly their deep chapel faith. The Cornish Diaspora of the 19th century saw 250,000 people leave Cornwall, fleeing poverty and seeking opportunities across the globe. Approximately 10% of the population of South Australia, and over 3% of Australia as a whole, has significant Cornish ancestry and the settlement of the areas within of South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales are sometimes referred to as ‘Little Cornwall’. Official Selection Cornwall Film Festival 2024 - Festival World premiere Official Selection Adelaide Fringe 2025 - Festival International premiere