Projects in genres: Drama

Synopsis

A chance encounter: as a boy cycles up a quiet country lane, an apple falls from tree and rolls downhill towards him.

Synopsis

Daniel Dillon sold his wife and child - and then tried to buy forgiveness. California 1849. The snowbound goldfields are littered with countless hopefuls rushing to make their fortune. Among them are the poor Irish immigrant Daniel Dillon, his wife Elena and baby daughter, Hope. Lost in a blizzard, exhausted and starving, they stumble upon a lonely hut with a sign above which reads 'Thy Kingdom Come'. Fuelled by drink and a lust for gold, Dillon sells his wife and child to the prospector who lives there, in exchange for a gold claim. Twenty years later Elena and Hope return to the pioneer settlement of Kingdom Come. Although rough and tough, the town is prosperous and Dillon is now a wealthy man of considerable authority, having as his mistress the local madam, Lucia. The Claim is an epic story against the backdrop of American history in the making. This is a world of sweeping snowbound landscapes, goldmines, rowdy saloon bars and the racket and bustle of a pioneer town. Hard times where jealousy and rejection take their toll and where one momentary lapse of weakness, twenty years earlier brings, a final and terrible retribution.   Based on Thomas Hardy's 'The Mayor of Casterbridge'.

Synopsis

Eamonn Manley (Kris Marshall) hasn't much going for him. He's 24, he works in a Dating Agency (Amoré - 'Your Love is Our Affair') and he lives with his Ma. At night he hides in his room, dreaming of superhero adventures, romance and a girl he's too scared to approach. Yet his life takes on a new direction when, after a miraculous encounter with Mary Mallory (Tara Lynn O' Neill), the local good time girl, Eamonn discovers he has the highest sperm count in Ireland. With male fertility rates plummeting around the world Eamonn finds himself in demand. Seduced by the possibility of doing good and a taste of the high life, Eamonn is persuaded by his friend Millicent (Bronagh Gallagher) to start providing a unique service to the good ladies of Belfast. With his new-found confidence, he finally finds the courage to ask out the girl of his dreams. Rosie (Kathy Kiera Clarke) works at the local funeral home and has proved impervious to the approaches of more bullish guys. Entirely unaware of his new profession she finds herself drawn to the innocent, awkward Eamonn. And so begins Eamonn's bizarre double life: Lothario to half the city by day and shy lover to Rosie by night. His life is weirder and more wonderful than he could ever have imagined. Meanwhile the 'most fertile man in Ireland' has come to the attention of the local Protestant hardmen, led by Mad Dog Billy Wilson (James Nesbitt), formerly 'the most-feared and psychotic' paramilitary in Belfast who now finds himself in a world that no longer requires or endorses his services. Aware that the rising birth rate in the Catholic community means the Protestants will no longer be in the majority, he is determined to get Eamonn to even the score.

Synopsis

The Navigators follows the fortunes of a group of rail track workers based at a South Yorkshire depot as the privatisation of British Rail takes effect. When Harpic (so called because he's clean around the bend), the depot boss, gives Paul, Mick and the rest of the gang their new working brief, the company's 'mission statement', 'performance-related pay' and no paid holidays seems like a joke. But before long the choice is very clear to the gang; take their chances with redundancy cash and life as casual agency workers, or work for the company under the new rules...

Synopsis

It's 1940 London, the height of the Blitz. Two young women, Lily (Anna Friel) and Sophie (Julie Cox) work as East End seamstresses. They are best friends, working and playing like typical 20 year olds despite the nightly bombings. They meet two Canadian servicemen at a dance, Charlie Travis (Aden Young) and Louie Maldoff, and fall madly in love. Charlie regales Lily with stories of his family's huge 'John Wayne style ranch' on the Canadian Prairies. In a matter of weeks the two couples are married and the boys are shipped to the front. Lily learns she will have Charlie's baby. After the baby is born, mother and child and Sophie are shipped across the sea to their new in-laws by the Canadian Embassy. While Sophie is welcomed into a wealthy and warm family, Lily is met with an icy reception from her bitter mother-in-law, Betty (Brenda Fricker) and crippled sister-in-law, Sylvia (Molly Parker). What's even worse, the 'dream ranch' is actually nothing more than a dirt-farm with a tiny shack in the middle of nowhere. In true 'Lily' style, she struggles to overcome these obstacles and is determined not to let anything interfere with making her new life and marriage work. After several years, Charlie returns, no longer the fun loving, naive man Lily married in London. He has become a shell-shocked stranger. Lily considers joining a now disappointed Sophie in Returning to London, but decides, in spite of everything, that she wants to remain in her home with her new Canadian family. Charlie and Lily resolve to face the rest of thier lives together, undaunted by the past or the future.

Synopsis

When his conscience awakens, his journey begins. The Warrior is a timeless story of an epic journey from the deserts of Rajasthan to the snow capped peaks of the Himalayas. The story follows Lafcadia, head of a small band of warriors employed by a tyrannical lord, who rules the region from his crumbling fort in the desert. The warriors are ordered to wipe out a village late with its payments. The warriors set off on horseback and proceed to raze the rustic village to the ground. In he midst of the slaughter Lafcadia has a mystical encounter with a young girl. Lafcadia drops his sword and vows to never kill again. He decides to escape his violent life. He sets off with his young son, Katiba, for his native village in the mountains.

Synopsis

Annie-Mary is an awkward and secretly rebellious 20 something still living at home in a village in the Welsh valleys with her womanising widowed father. Moral support comes from the odd collection of characters who make up the population of the village but it takes a series of calamities with unexpected silver linings before Annie-Mary can finally stand up and claim her freedom. Very Annie-Mary is a joyful, poignant film about striking out against the odds, and winning in the most eccentric way.

Synopsis

An action film set in Britain's vicious gangster underworld. It's a tale of friendship against adversity. The story begins with the killing of Lloyd's younger DJ brother, Tom, at the hands of Dodge. We follow Lloyd's search for justice. As the story untangles we are introduced to Mel and Colleen, desperate petty thieves who work for Dodge in his nightclub and are forced to stay by an ever-increasing debt to him for living expenses and Colleen's crack habit. It's not long before they are given an ultimatum: find the money or turn tricks for Dodge. Mel plots their escape. She vows to get enough cash to get away and get Colleen cleaned up. They manage to escape with the club's takings. Hot footed they are pursued by Dodge. Desperate, they make their way to the rooftop where they manage to elude him. Mel and Colleen are on the run in Margate where they find work on the seafront spinning candyfloss . It's not long before Colleen's obsession with thieving draws the two back to London. Dodge finally catches up with them on the streets around King's Cross.

Synopsis

A troubled teenager purges her abusive past in a dream of her own making.

Synopsis

An unusual love story about a man who falls in love with a cat after the murder of the woman he adored. But is the cat all it seems?

Synopsis

Tackling the often-troublesome act of linking ‘the sportsman’ with unstable mental health is not a unique notion in art or life, but this film tries to discern the ‘madness’ from the sportsman when the sportsman may not be ‘mad’; even though incarcerated in a psychiatric institution.

Synopsis

The filming of F.W. Murnau's 'Nosferatu' is hampered by the fact that its star Max Schreck is taking the role of a vampire far more seriously than seems humanly possible. Official Selection Berlinale 2018 - Homage