Projects in categories: Documentary

Synopsis

A musician is discovered In a Detroit bar in the late 60s by two celebrated producers struck by his soulful melodies and prophetic lyrics. They record an album which they believe is going to secure his reputation as the greatest recording artist of his generation. In fact, the album bombs and the singer disappears into obscurity amid rumors of a gruesome on-stage suicide. But a bootleg recording finds its way into apartheid South Africa and, over the next two decades, it becomes a phenomenon. Two South African fans then set out to find out what really happened to their hero. Their investigation leads them to a story more extraordinary than any of the existing myths about the artist known as Sixto Rodriguez. This is a film about hope, inspiration and the power of music.

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The Serbian Pink Panthers are the world's most successful gang of jewel thieves. With incredible access this gripping documentary film both tells their story and follows the Interpol task force set up to stop them. Playing out like a noir thriller and keeping their Hollywood-style heists at its centre, the film reveals the impact of a 21st Century mafia, opens the shady world of diamond trading, and retells the tragic history of the Balkans. As more of the world is controlled by such mafias – often aided and abetted by the West - it is a story we need to understand.

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Beginning his solitary shift as most of us are going home, a young Chinese takeaway driver delivers food to faceless customers, alone in the car with only his thoughts and dreams for company.

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Returning to his Hackney roots, Kapadia explores the connection between London, the Olympic Games and the experiences it engenders.

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An intimate portrait of Yemen as the revolution unfolds, told through the eyes of a tour guide leader.

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Doc-maker Marc Isaacs has used a portrait of a road - the A5 – to take a warm, human look at immigration to the UK.

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A poetic journey through the waterways and along the coastline of the British Isles, following a lone swimmer through lakes, rivers and coves, framed by a soundtrack of seminal British music from Delius to The La's.

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Town of Runners is a feature documentary made by award winning director Jerry Rothwell about young people from the Ethiopian rural town of Bekoji, home to the current Olympic and World champions Tirunesh Dibaba and Kenenisa Bekele. The film follows three children keen to follow in their heroes’ footsteps, as they move from school track to national competition and from childhood to adulthood. Set against the background of the seasonal rhythms of this farming region, and the impact of increased urbanization, climate change and globalization on agriculture, the film shows rural young Africans striving to make their own future.

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Nicky Hamlyn's celestial overtures The Transit of Venus I & II form a diptych document of this astronomical phenomenon, one shot in black in white in the United Kingdom, the other capturing a stunning Italian blush sunset (TIFF 2012).

Synopsis

Nicky Hamlyn's celestial overtures The Transit of Venus I & II form a diptych document of this astronomical phenomenon, one shot in black in white in the United Kingdom, the other capturing a stunning Italian blush sunset (TIFF 2012).

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In one legendary week on Ben Nevis in 1960 Jimmy Marshall and Robin Smith climbed six first winter ascents on consecutive days, including the mini Alpine-route, Orion Face Direct. Exactly 50 years later Dave MacLeod and Andy Turner pay tribute to Smith and Marshall by setting out to repeat all the routes that were climbed in that famous week. This film tells the story of the original events and follows MacLeod and Turner as they discover exactly what an achievement it was.

Synopsis

The life and times of the rock band Queen - told in two parts covering in part one the 1970's and in part two the 1980's and beyond.