Projects in genres: Drama

Synopsis

This compelling film follows refugees Jamal and Enayatullah as they travel overland to London, passing through Iran, Turkey, Italy and France. Their fictitious journey is a distillation of the experiences of a multitude of real life asylum seekers and migrants - courageous and resourceful people seeking a better life but whose stories so often end in tragedy.

Synopsis

A couple break up briefly (the intermission of the title), sending ripples through the lives of everyone around them. Ripples that become shockwaves as a film-maker teams up with a cop for a journey into violence: a jilted wife plots revenge on her husband; three men team up for a daring kidnap-robbery. These and other stories collide, dovetail and climax in extreme ways, pushing the couple toward a reunion which in turn restores a kind of order.

Synopsis

'Me? Take it easy now, calm down. It couldn't be me, it couldn't be me! I mean if you don't know yourself who do you know? But the blood - It seemed crazy but how else could I be sure? So I set the camera up, tied myself to the bed and lay there, waiting - Guess I must have nodded off somehow, 'cos the next thing I know it's morning and I'm there just where I left myself. No problem, I'm telling myself, no problem - Then I played the tape. I just couldn't take it in. Me, a fuzzy black and white image in pyjamas, getting out of bed, leaving the room.' Leonard Grey, superintendent of Jericho Mansions. His world may be small but he cares for every inch of it. The fading wallpaper in the entrance hall, the ageing carpet on the stairs, the clank of the elevator and above all, the faint but continuous refrain of lives being lived around him - For the last thirty years the building has been his universe. Beyond the front door of the apartment block lies a terrifying agoraphobic nightmare into which, for as long as he can remember, he has never dared to venture. But Leonard's sanctuary is beginning to crumble; forces are conspiring to kick him out. Constant accusations by Lily Melnik, the landlady, of stealing worthless items from her apartment, stirrings of discontent among the residents, infidelities and finally a murder. Bill Cherry, one of the building's inhabitants is found dead, his body thrown down the garbage chute. Though the cops believe they have their killer and motive - a jealous tenant taking revenge on his wife's lover - Leonard begins to discover clues that point to a different kind of killer. Himself.

Synopsis

This is a love story, not Helen and Joe, but the whole family. Helen (late 30s) is wife, mother and daughter and, on the morning we meet her, is killed in a road accident. But Helen doesn't know she is dead, and neither does her husband, Joe, who is a truck driver travelling home to London from war-torn Eastern Europe. The film charts the four-day odyssey of the family until Joe's return: the children and Grandpa at home struggling with what has happened, Joe over scary and unpredictable terrain and Helen through limbo to the moment when she and Joe finally reconcile their love and she is free to leave in peace. In the tragedy comes the seed of hope for the future.

Synopsis

A free-spirited group of young animal rights activists break into an animal research facility in order to get video footage of grisly experiments for their 'LD-50' website. When cocky group leader, Gary, wanders into a booby-trapped office, his leg gets caught in a hidden steel trap. Unable to free himself, the group panic as they hear the sound of approaching police sirens. Believing that the survival of the group is the most important thing, they flee the building, leaving Gary behind. Gary is taken away in handcuffs as the group's van drives away under the cover of darkness. Troubled by an unspoken, collective guilt, the group disbands. One year later, Gary sends a mysterious, encoded message to his brother, Danny, the group's videographer and all round 'tech-head'. Danny is sure that Gary is in trouble, and appeals to the group to reconvene. Reluctantly, they agree to go on one more mission to find out what happened to Gary and to investigate the mysterious MultiTech lab that Gary mentions in his e-mail. But, it is only a fact-finding mission - they will sneak in, find Gary, and get out quickly.

Synopsis

Julie has a bad dream. Is it an omen of something that is rapidly approaching to destroy her waking life?

Synopsis

Jason Flemyng (From Hell, Rock Star, Snatch, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) stars with rising star Kirsty Mitchell (Butterfly Man, A Shot At Glory) in Lighthouse Hill a funny and thought-provoking story of the conflict between love and the realisation of a dream, the power of money and position and what happens when we turn our backs on everything familiar. Charlie Davidson (Jason Flemyng) is thirty-something, single and seems to have it all: a successful London publishing company, a beautiful and intelligent girlfriend, everything money can buy. But something is missing - Suddenly his best friend and business partner Peter suddenly dies, and he finds himself running away from three really determined loan sharks. Driving off into the heart of the countryside, with the loan sharks in pursuit, he stumbles across a surreal and lonely hotel, with a landlocked lighthouse. This place is inhabited by some strange and fascinating characters including Grace (Kirsty Mitchell), an attractive waif who he meets in a junkyard in the village who will change his life forever. Here in this strange hamlet Charlie tries to find a real purpose in his life.

Synopsis

Michelle is young, bright and attractive, leaving prison with a spring in her step and determined to steer clear of the heroin that led her here. Shaun is getting out after a year, his mother Angela there to greet him and take him home to start anew. In improvised scenes drawn from their past and present experience, Michelle is tempted by a junkie friend and succumbs to an overdose, while Shaun tries hard with his friend Carl to stay straight. It's only a matter of time before Angela's suspicions are confirmed as they return to drugs and thieving. Michelle continues her fighting descent back into addiction, revealing the defining moments of her life: the death of her mother and her father's effective abandonment of her. Angela discusses with Carl's mother the impact of heroin on their lives and her relationships with other men, recalling the despair that led to her attempted suicide. But it's her love which keeps Shaun going, the love Michelle has lost. In this powerful, often emotional film, Hollywood-bound film director Paul McGuigan achieves a vibrant modern approach to the kind of creative documentary originated by Robert Flaherty and developed by Humphrey Jennings.

Synopsis

Posh is a fresher at Cabot University and on the same corridor in Hope Hall as Liam, Harry, Animal and Footsie. Liam is Irish, in love with Reena and wants to go home. Footsie is the quiet northerner who's at university to work. Harry's a cockney who wishes he wasn't. Animal's a sports fanatic proving himself to an over-competitive dad. And Posh is a public schoolboy who loves life but can't seem to love anyone. It's fresher's week and Posh wants to chase girls and hang out with chinless public school wasters. Until he knocks down Animal while driving Footsie to a party. At the hospital he meets Liam and Harry and an unexpected friendship begins. Posh lusts after Michaela, who fancies Liam, who hardly notices. Ginny is in love with Posh who definitely doesn't notice. Posh invites the lads to his aunt's house on the moor. Animal turns it down to fulfil his dream of playing in the universtiy rugby team. But he isn't picked so he comes too, setting in motion events that force the lads, and Posh especially, to re-evaluate life and love. And of course, there's a very tall bridge to jump off.

Synopsis

Love Actually is not a new romantic comedy - it is ten new romantic comedies in one. Set in contemporary London in the two months before Christmas, it weaves together a series of touching and hilarious stories that end in not one, but really quite a lot of climaxes on Christmas Eve.

Synopsis

In the year 2010, drugs and sexual excesses are the dominant forces that shape the lives of Europe's teenagers, and London and Paris are at the centre of this chemical nation. No child can shelter from this storm of abusive substances and nowhere is this more visible than in the daily lives of Demon and Davi. Those two teenage girls have embraced drug culture and now spend their days sleeping and using the dark hours to explore life's chemical and sexual possibilities. Young and naïve they have become the possessions of a schizophrenic mentor, Ryu, who whilst saying he loves them, happily sells them into sex slavery. Too messed up on the drugs he gives them to notice that their lives have been stolen, they have accepted this 'vampiric' version of life. Demon and Davi's illusions are shattered when their friend is sadistically tortured by one of the sex clients, with the knowing permission of Ryu. Horrified, they fail in an attempt to kill their false protector, and have to escape from his raging fury, only to find themselves in a different version of the same reality. This time with an angry Ryu breathing down their necks. Realising that they carry with them the past they are trying to escape from, they attempt to clean up. An obsessed Ryu finds them. Now back in his clutches, Ryu begins his theatrical and brutal revenge. The hopelessness of Demon and Davi seems complete. Demon, now clean, is stronger and able to find the courage to attempt a dangerous escape. Finally in control of their destiny, they have a future worth living for.

Synopsis

Maddest Man is a film that explores what it would be like to have the ability of controlling one's destiny slowly eroded away. The world of crime can be viewed as a type of left-handed endeavour where the potential rewards are the same for the high flyers of legitimate business. However, the consequences of failure within this illicit cut throat environment offer an entirely different set of repercussions. Greed can distort an individual's perspective. Easy money is a fuel that allows the greed to grow. Biting the hand that feeds you becomes a temptation that is never far away. There are people you can take liberties with, and then again there are also people with whom you can't. Make a wrong judgement and there are only a few alternatives as to how events will run. Maddest Man paints an unnervingly realistic portrait of a world that few people ever see. It is a compelling drama that offers a stark warning as to what can happen within a lawless culture.