Projects in genres: Woman Director

Synopsis

Armagh Woman's Prison 1980. Based on true events this is the extraordinary story of an unshakeable bond between two very different women. A young girl, a wild child, Aine, is arrested in Belfast and convicted of joyriding. She is, to her horror, placed in the wing of Armagh jail containing protesting political prisoners. In addition to this she is housed in a cell with the leader of the protesters, Eileen.

At first, their differences all to obviously come to the fore; the two women can find no common ground and are at war with each other. However, as time progresses Eileen takes pity on Aine, for whom this is a terrifying experience, and helps her come to terms with this new and frightening environment thus saving Aine's sanity. In turn, as their friendship grows and as the protest escalates, Aine risks all to save Eileen's life. Despite their obvious differences, an unlikely friendship emerges.

Shot on location in Kilmainham jail, Silent Grace features an exceptional cast, including IFTA Best Actress nominee, Orla Brady (A Love Divided), Cathleen Bradley (About Adam), and with a special appearance by Patrick Bergin (Sleeping with the Enemy).

Synopsis

A bed and breakfast hotel in London with 100 bedrooms and a sign on the front door: 'No Vacancies'. Two words enough to identify it as a hotel for 'council people' - euphenism for refugees, homeless, mentally disturbed and others who have their accommodation paid and arranged by the local Council when they do not have a permanent place to live.

Synopsis

A disturbing portrait of a young woman pushing against the boundaries of love and lust. Billy's passionate relationship with her friend Maria ignites her father's forbidden desire.
 
Winner of Best New Director at 2004 Brooklyn International Film Festival.

Synopsis

Based on a true story, The Blue Butterfly tells the tale of a terminally ill 10-year-old boy. His one last dream is to catch the most beautiful butterfly on Earth, the mythic and elusive Blue Morpho, found only in the tropical rain forests of Central and South America. His mother persuades a renowned entomologist to take them on a trip up to the jungle to search for the butterfly, leading to an adventure that will transform their lives.

Synopsis

This film takes you into different Kenyan communities and explores the tradition of circumcision and also love, marriage, families, rebellion and change. We discover girls struggling with their culture and their loyalty to their parents. Will they be strong enough to break with tradition? And if they do, will they be accepted back into their communities, or will they become outcasts? Fardhosa, a woman doctor, takes us into the Somali community where she attempts to open people's minds to try safer and more humane medical practices. Simalo, a young Masai girl, goes home to confront her mother for having married her off to an old man against her will. And finally, sixteen young girls challenge their parents and take the painful decision to take them to court to stop them circumcising them. This has historic implications for their whole culture. The film shows ancient traditions beginning to be questioned by a new generation that doesn't want to suffer as their mothers have done.

Synopsis

Set in the 1940s the film is based on a poem by Brenda Cook, an artist with learning difficulties. The film explores Brenda's early experiences and relationships. Brenda creates a fantasy world and refuses to allow her individuality to be dimmed.

Synopsis

Spike and Heaton are the unlikeliest pair. Taciturn, competent, unreadable, Heaton is someone we are instinctively afraid of. In contrast, his side-kick Spike is manic, child-like, unstoppable: someone we are instinctively afraid for. But when Spike commits a terrible crime, Heaton stands by him. There begins a chase across a vast Northern landscape of moors, rivers and dark woods, the increasingly exhausted fugitives being hunted not by the police but by a posse of farmers intent on revenge. No ordinary chase film, This is Not a Love Song is a love story trapped inside the body of a thriller.

Synopsis

Directed by Sarah Gavron and produced by Stewart Mackinnon, This Little Life is the story of a premature baby's fragile existence, and of a mother's supreme trust and tragic betrayal. Rosemary Kay's screenplay was awarded the BBC's Dennis Potter Screenwriting Award and is an adaptation of her novel Between Two Eternities.

Luke is born prematurely weighing only one pound and four ounces. He is too small to be cradled in his mother's arms but can be held in the palm of her hand. Everything possible is done to keep him alive, but what does her son want? Luke's mother, Sadie, desperately wants him to have a voice and, through her friendship with a young boy, mother and son find a way to talk.

Synopsis

Although based on the history of Cambodia during the years of the Khmer Rouge Regime (Angka), the film takes place in an unspecified country at an unspecified time. Could be anywhere where there is civil war and people are imprisoned and tortured just for 'being'.

Synopsis

Bend It Like Beckham is a British 'Teen-Comedy' about bending the rules to get what you want.

If you're 18, love Beckham and can bend a ball like him the world's your oyster, right? Wrong. If you're Jess - 18, Indian and a girl - forget it. Do you think your marriage-obsessed folks will let you play a Man's game?

If you're Jules - 18, English and a girl - what will it take to convince your mother that just because you play footie with girls doesn't mean you're a lesbian?

Both girls dream of playing professionally - that means going to the States where the girls get paid, get sponsorship and get proper respect. Jess and Jules are on their way with help from their coach, Joe, until they both fall in love with him.

Synopsis

A grandmother and child go for a walk in the woods with a bag full of kittens.

Synopsis

1942. The world is at war.

Charlotte Gray, a young Scottish woman, is parachuted behind enemy lines into Southern France. Only she knows she has a dual mission. Officially, she has been recruited by the British Government on a special operation to liaise with the local resistance group, who are using guerrilla tactics against the occupying German Army. Unofficially, she is searching for her lover, Peter, an English airman missing in action after his plane is shot down.

As Charlotte becomes more deeply involved with the resistance fighters, led by Julien Levade, she realises that her love of France and its people will change her life forever.

Charlotte Gray is a thrilling romance set against the harrowing events of the dark years of the War in France.