When Neil Platt is diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease at the age of 33, he makes the unusual decision to document his final months, not just in a blog (which he painstakingly dictates via frustratingly inaccurate speech recognition software) but by inviting a film crew into the home he shares with his tireless wife Louise and toddler son Oscar. The result is a heartbreaking, funny and tender portrayal of incredible fortitude and love (EIFF).
A rich documentary inspired by the life and work of Megan Boyd, a legendary Scottish maker of salmon flies. Filled with tributes and recollections from those who knew this solitary and enigmatic woman, this elegiac film draws further inspiration from the colours and textures of Boyd’s handmade, featheradorned flies. The film also takes off into flights of expressive fantasy, courtesy of Em Cooper’s oil-painted animation.
(EIFF 2013)
The third instalment in the popular Nazi zombie saga restores the series to its WW2 origins and introduces a new hero in Dolokhov (Bryan Larkin), a member of Russia’s elite special forces. His strength and survival skills are sorely put to the test when he is captured by the Germans and taken to an underground bunker, where the most horrifying experiments are under way. Frenetic action, gory horror, and a sardonic touch make this a welcome sequel (EIFF).
An intrepid young filmmaker travels from Britain deep into the American heartland to probe the mysteries of Bigfoot and Bigfoot mania. He forms uneasy alliances with several Bigfoot trackers, including a man who believes he is part sheep, a known hoaxer, and an entrepreneur with a short fuse. Things get hairy as the filmmaker realises that his companions may not be the harmless eccentrics they seem (EIFF).
Idealistic Dixie (Jonny Owen) and his girlfriend Shell (Vicky McClure) leave their small Welsh hometown for London, where Dixie intends to let nothing stand between him and his dream of being the manager of a big-time rock band. The realities of the music business — and of London rents — would daunt many a lesser man, but not Dixie. Expanded from a YouTube cult series, this is a smart and winning comedy (EIFF).
A middle-aged art historian returns to the Irish seaside village where, as a boy, he and his family spent their holidays. His visit triggers a series of memories, some romantic, some disturbing, of a summer that saw the awakening of sexuality and an unexpected tragedy. John Banville adapted his Man Booker Prize-winning novel to provide the script for this haunting and superlatively acted film.
Stars of This is England, Kill List, Skins and Fresh Meat bring a fresh and talented slant to the coming-of-age genre. England, 1990, and Thatcher has just resigned; meanwhile three friends embark on a night out, and like the characters in all good teen movies, their lives are changed forever. With a hilarious script, a knockout soundtrack and an excellent ensemble cast, this energetic comedy is refreshing, timely and guaranteed to make you laugh out loud (EIFF).
In 2012, a resurrection no one thought possible took place when legendary band, The Stone Roses reformed after 16 years.
With unprecedented access to previously unseen archive footage, Made of Stone is a revealing journey through the life of one of the most revered and influential bands in British music history.
Acclaimed film-maker Shane Meadows brings his unique directorial style, humour and emotional depth to the film, capturing the band at work and in their everyday lives as they rehearsed for their much-anticipated reunion, which culminated in three triumphant homecoming gigs at Manchester's Heaton Park in front of 220,000 adoring fans.
Incorporating never-seen-before material spanning the band’s musical history, the personal experiences of many of those touched by the band and their music, and unparalleled access to the record-breaking sell-out concerts which took place in Summer 2012, this is the definitive record of the definitive band of the past 25 years.
A look at the events leading up to the 1973 tennis match between retired men's champ Bobby Riggs and the current women's Wimbledon winner Billie Jean King.
Made from over 100 years of BFI archive footage, From the Sea to the Land Beyond offers a poetic meditation on Britain's unique coastline and the role it plays in our lives. With a soundtrack specially created by Brighton-based band British Sea Power, award-winning director Penny Woolcock's film offers moving testimony to our relationship to the coast - during wartime, on our holidays and as a hive of activity during the industrial age.
In a violent, futuristic city where the police have the authority to act as judge, jury and executioner, a cop teams with a trainee to take down a gang that deals the reality-altering drug, SLO-MO.
