Projects matching: Kim Longinotto

Synopsis

In December 2018, a young pansexual man from the slums of Jamaica became the first non British and black man to win the UK X-Factor and a million-pound album deal that promised to change his life forever. Filmed over two years, this documentary follows 24-year-old Dalton Harris as he searches for fame, love and acceptance and tries to capitalise on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to achieve his dream. Charting an extraordinary rise, the film follows Dalton winning the world’s most famous talent competition, starting a lavish life in London, falling in love with his new boyfriend and launching his first single on national UK television to1.7 million viewers...
Official Selection Sheffield DocFest 2023 - World premiere

Synopsis

'Love Is All' is a creative collaboration between director Kim Longinotto and musician Richard Hawley, taking us on a romantic journey from the first screen kiss to the present day using spell-binding archive to explore how we made love in a century of unprecedented social upheaval.
aka 'Love Is All: 100 Years of Love and Courtship'
Göteborg Film Festival 2015 - World premiere

Synopsis

The Dreamcatchers, Brenda Myers-Powell and Stephanie Daniels-Wilson, are two former prostitutes who use their inside knowledge to help women who are selling sex on the streets of Chicago, and to prevent very young girls from doing the same. Longinotto's film reveals the true devastation of sexual exploitation; how it affects the women, their families and the communities where they live. Through the intervention of the Dreamcatchers, we see how Brenda and Stephanie turn hopeless lives around.
Sundance Film Festival 2015 - World premiere

Synopsis

When Salma, a young girl in South India, reached puberty, her parents locked her away. Millions of girls all over the world share the same fate. Twenty-five years later, Salma has fought her way back to the outside world to become the most famous female poet in South India.

Synopsis

'A girl's life is cruel - A woman's life is very cruel', notes Sampat Pal, the complex protagonist at the centre of Kim Longinotto’s latest foray into the lives of extraordinary women.
 
Sampat Pal should know, like many others she was married as a young girl into a family which beat her often. But unusually, she fought back, leaving her in-laws and eventually becoming famous as a champion for beleaguered women throughout Uttar Pradesh, many of whom find their way to her doorstep. 
 
Rekha, a 14 year-old untouchable, is three months pregnant and homeless unable to marry her unborn child's father because of her low caste. Fifteen year-old Renu's husband from an arranged marriage has abandoned her and she's threatening to throw herself under a train. Both desperate young women, reach out for their only hope - Sampat Pal.
 
Pink Saris is an unflinching and often amusing look at these unlikely political activists and their charismatic leader.  In extraordinary scenes, we watch her launch herself into the centre of family dramas, convinced her mediation is the best path for these vulnerable girls.  Her partner Babuji, who has watched Sampat Pal change over the years, is less certain.

Synopsis

'For the forty children who call it home, Mulberry Bush is their last chance. Excluded from school for extreme behaviour, and often having suffered severe emotional trauma, they are given three years at the Oxford boarding school to try to turn their lives around. Acclaimed documentary maker Kim Longinotto has once again turned her compassionate lens on to people living in extraordinary circumstances. The fragile young boys at the heart of her film lash out in shockingly extreme ways - hitting, swearing and spitting their way through the misery of their blighted childhoods. Endlessly patient and determined staff members verbally reason with the boys, whilst often having to restrain them physically. Hold Me Tight is ultimately a heartbreaking, engrossing study of dysfunction - of what happens when families break down. It also pays witness to the tremendous influence that adults hold - for bad and for good - upon growing children,' (Carol Nahra).

Synopsis

Fearless, feisty and resolute, the "Rough Aunties" are a remarkable group of women unwavering in their stand to protect and care for the abused, neglected and forgotten children of Durban, South Africa.

Synopsis

Selected for Cannes 2005, festival favourite Kim Longinotto's latest work (co-directed with Florence Ayisi) is a totally fascinating - often hilarious - look at the work of one small courthouse in south-west Cameroon.

The two women at the heart of the documentary wouldn't be out of place in an Alexander McCall Smith bestseller. As the State Counsel and Court President, they dispense wisdom, wisecracks and justice in fair measure. The victims of crime - an abused child, a woman daring to accuse a man of rape, and another trying to end a brutal marriage in a society where divorce is taboo - are handled with fierce compassion. You'll feel like cheering when justice is served. (Sydney Film Festival)

Synopsis

This film is set in a refuge for girls in Tehran and follows the stories of five girls who come here. These girls, in leaving a situation that has become intolerable, show incredible courage and resourcefulness. The film explores their experiences of authority, their longing for respect and freedom, and their hopes for a brighter future. The centre is run by the dynamic and charismatic Mrs Shirazi, who protects the girls from their families and helps them to renegotiate their relationships. The film shows how Iranian women are learning to challenge the old rules, and how rapidly their country is changing. Farsi Dialogue English subtitles.

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

In a small Tehran courtroom, the stories of three strong-willed women unfold as they use reason, charm, pleas for sympathy, anger, even a disarming wit to win what they each need - a divorce. Divorce Iranian Style is a unique window into the impassioned but very practical business of divorce - and marriage - in three Iranian women's lives. Jamileh, whose son saved her from the hand of her abusive husband; Ziba, an outspoken 16-year-old who proudly stands up to her 38 year-old husband and his family; and Maryam, remarried and desperate to regain custody of her two daughters. Stirring and poignant, this fly-on-the-wall look into the real circumstances of Iranian women's lives shatters the stereotype of women as passive victims in the Muslim world. (Edinburgh Film Festival Review)