Projects in categories: Documentary

Synopsis

A sympathetic but searching portrait of Frank Ryan (1902-1944) IRA activist in Ireland, International Brigade Volunteer in Spain and Nazi collaborator in Berlin. Ryan enters a Faustian pact with a Nazi regime he believes will assist in forging a united Ireland. His collaboration is justified by the republican motto: "My enemy's enemy is my friend". But the former radical and internationalist pays a heavy price for this pact. The film raises important questions about collaboration between the IRA and the Nazis in World War II. It opens up a long suppressed debate about Irish neutrality in that war. Drawing upon Ryan’s correspondence and using a rich mix of period archive combined with live action - with a striking portrayal of Frank Ryan by Dara Devaney - the film makers tell a story of tragic proportions and probe the enigma that was Frank Ryan.

Synopsis

Berlin Golden Bear-winning director Peter Mackie Burns allows the audience access to the private lives of disparate groups of characters who reside in the city of Glasgow.

We are privy to their conversations, private moments and everyday occurrences in a piece that often makes for uncomfortable and even voyeuristic viewing.

Accompanied by the ambient music of Sigur Ros the city takes on a character of its own as we follow their lives from cradle to grave through an ever-changing landscape.

Come Closer is about change, the constant flux that happens to people and places, and how that change affects their relationships. Crossing boundaries of age, sex, class and religion, it causes the audience to reconsider the everyday in their own lives.

Synopsis

A documentary film about the extraordinary life of a famous, musical prodigy who has been battling against Lou Gehrig's Disease for 22 years. A paralyzing, terminal illness with no real treatment or cure, it has trapped Jason inside of his body for over 15 years; unable to move, unable to speak, and unable to play the instrument which propelled him to international stardom at just 19 years of age.
Using an eye communication system invented by his father, Jason is able to escape the confines of his own body and release the music that is trapped inside of his mind.

Synopsis

Rise Again focuses on a number of men who are asylum seekers from Afghanistan. Discovering and inhabiting the wood proximate to the asylum center in which they live, they step outside of their prescribed roles as refugees and engage in voluntary social activities within this oasis, surrounded by highways at the edge of town. By combining allegorical imagery with martial arts elements, played and documentary scenes, the video develops a narrative structure in which these men appear in enfolding transformation.

Synopsis

Between Two Rivers is a feature documentary about Cairo, Illinois, a historic river-town with a dark and turbulent past; isolated at the confluence of the Ohio & Mississippi rivers, where North meets South in the heartland of America.

Synopsis

A documentary that follows LCD Soundsystem front man James Murphy over a 48-hour period, from the day of their final gig at Madison Square Garden to the morning after the show.

Synopsis

Following several tragic events, Jo and Amy attempt to come to terms with their new life as another Christmas in the care system approaches. Using audio interviews with brother and sister, Jo and Amy we listen to their memories as they deal with loss, separation and acceptance.

Synopsis

Partially blinded by an unknown illness aged 4 and sent out to work on the tough streets of Kano in Nigeria aged 9, Aisha Sani Abdullahi's life chances were not great. However, a chance meeting sent Aisha's life in a completely different direction. Aisha's Song is an energetic and beautifully shot 16mm documentary that uses the sounds of street life in Kano in order to create a vibrant and organic soundscape. Musically lush and uplifting, the film is a positive story of female empowerment from a part of the world where women are all too often overlooked.

Synopsis

Exploring the Balkan music scene in Berlin, London and Paris.

Synopsis

Most people have a memory of a first time catching a fish, and 'FLY a Legacy' reflects my memories, and the vivid moments that I experience as a young man with my grandfather. An evolution, from the float, to the fly.

Synopsis

Every year, around 3000 lone children come to the UK from war-zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan, with few documents or evidence but full of expectation.

Hamedullah was protected by the UK Children's Act... but when he turned 18, he's jailed pending deportation. Hamedullah is the story of what happened next.

Synopsis

Hula Girl is a documentary come road movie that follows two friends from Sheffield as they travel across America in search of a woman who posts hula hooping videos online