Tag Archives: film

Paparazzi

Chain-smoking, opinionated, nihilistic and unscrupulous; Przemek will stop at nothing to get the picture that he wants.

During a high-speed chase he photographs a female celebrity, his camera pointing towards her passenger window, blazing like a machine-gun. He trawls through the grounds of a hospice to get an elusive window shot of the dying Catholic priest Father Jankowski. The paparazzo is a leather-jacketed, self-proclaimed ‘motherfucker’ whose actions and motivations seem deeply immoral, even borderline criminal. But this is only half the story.

Director Bernas filmed his ‘black hero’ for a year, and events subsequently conspire to force home Przemek’s volte-face. When the Polish president and his entourage are killed in a plane crash, the public outpouring of grief effects a significant change in his approach to his craft. His subjects are now sorrowful citizens assuming attitudes of sombre reflection, illuminated by candles of remembrance. But despite his change of heart, Przemek can’t suppress his urge to get one final picture, which is of the car carrying the president’s brother as it eludes the speeding paparazzo, racing towards a dark and ominous tunnel.

Paparazzi is a visual feast – stylish, colourful, fast-paced – and shot to a thumping beat.

Fish Out of Water

Fish out of Water tackles the seven Bible verses used to condemn homosexuality and justify marriage discrimination.

This documentary uses humour and original animation to make a traditionally complex and controversial topic accessible to those who don’t like talking about religion and sexuality. Fish out of Water dives into the underbelly of America, crisscrosses red and blue states and talks to ministers from every denomination to uncover America’s impassioned relationship with homosexuality and the Bible. With slapstick animation and quirky interviews taken everywhere from barbershops to mega churches, Fish out of Water delivers a voice to the oppressed and informs the misled. Most importantly, Fish out of Water sits down with hundreds of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender folks to impart their experiences with faith and sexuality.

When China Met Africa

A historic gathering of over 50 African heads of state in Beijing reverberates in Zambia where the lives of three characters unfold. Mr Liu is one of thousands of Chinese entrepreneurs who have settled across the continent in search of new opportunities. He has just bought his fourth farm and business is booming.

In northern Zambia, Mr Li, a project manager for a multinational Chinese company is upgrading Zambia’s longest road. Pressure to complete the road on time intensifies when funds from the Zambian government start running out.

Meanwhile Zambia’s Trade Minister is on route to China to secure millions of dollars of investment.

Through the intimate portrayal of these characters, the expanding footprint of a rising global power is laid bare – pointing to a radically different future, not just for Africa, but also for the world.

Ghosts

Three Canadian men of Muslim faith were detained and tortured during a three-year period in Syria and Egypt. Upon their release, they return to Canada struggling to find answers to why this happened to them.

An internal inquiry was struck into their cases in order to determine the role of Canadian agencies and officials in their detention and torture. The inquiry was conducted almost exclusively behind closed doorsand the findings of this inquiry were made public in late 2008, revealing that the Canadian government was complicit in their detention and torture.

Ghosts follows the lives and cases of these men for a year and a half as they – with the help of lawyers, organisations and regular Canadians – fight to leave the horrors behind them, to receive an apology and compensation, and to see accountability as they attempt to rebuild their lives.

A portrait of life after experiences of torture, this is a powerful and intimate documentary about the fragile balance between democracy, human rights and national security fears in the post 9/11 era.

Tibet: A Buddhist Trilogy

Four years in the making and hailed as a “masterpiece” on its theatrical release in 1979, Tibet: A Buddhist Trilogy takes you to the heart of an ancient Buddhist culture. Filmed in the Dalai Lama’s residence in Dharamasala, and captured on film with startling beauty, the trilogy begins by observing Tibetan monks engaged in furious metaphysical debate giving lie to the stereotype of the placid Buddhist. The film goes on to create an intimate portrait of the Dalai Lama’s everyday life, before he was known to the western world, in his dual role of political leader and spiritual teacher, from naming children to orating on the value of preserving Tibetan culture. In elegant cinematic style, the first part explores the ways in which inner knowledge of Tibetan Buddhist culture is developed in monasteries through vigorous debate and solitary meditation, and communicated to the masses.

With extraordinary authenticity Part II of the Trilogy journeys deep into the mystical inner world of monastic life. The film follows the lamas of the Phulwary Sakya Monastery through their contemplative retreats, the building of an intricate cosmogram, and the performance of an ancient protective ritual known as ‘A Beautiful Ornament’. Gracefully shot and with a subtitled commentary based on the teachings of the great 20th century master Dudjom Rinpoche, the essence of tantric Buddhism is powerfully revealed.

Set in the majestic mountain landscape of Ladakh, Part III is a meditation on impermanence and the relationship between the mind, body and environment. It follows the monks and farmers through a day, ending with an unflinching depiction of the monastery’s moving ritual response to a death in the community. As described in the “Tibetan Book of the Dead”, the departed is guided through the dream-like intermediate state between death and birth.

From a portrait of the Dalai Lama, as a spiritual and temporal leader, to the unprecedented revelation of the mystical inner world of monastic life and its rituals, Tibet: A Buddhist Trilogy brings you face to face with the unbroken continuity of Tibet’s ancient culture.

Blue Code of Silence

Bob Leuci: American Hero or the Biggest Rat in NYPD History? 

It’s 1970’s New York City, crime and drug trafficking is at an all time high and police corruption is rife. One officer went under-cover within his own department, wore a wire and collected evidence, eventually bringing to trial over 50 of his colleagues in the NYPD. Although hailed as a hero by many, Bob Leuci is also the most hated cop in American history. 

Did he rat on his colleagues to save his own skin, as many claim, was he motivated by the pursuit of justice or was he used as a pawn to scape goat the rank and file, while their superiors – many of whom are still in power – got off the hook? 

After a lifetime in Witness Protection, Bob Leuci – and those that despise him – tell their story. Using past and present testimonies, dramatic archive, stylised recreations and a killer 1970’s soundtrack, Blue Code of Silence will bring this story of corruption and betrayal to life.

Trophy Hunters

With exclusive access to the Dallas Safari Club we go behind the scenes into the hidden world of big game hunting, where millionaires bid to hunt endangered species. We follow them from the auction room to the African continent where they claim that their sport actually saves lives in bringing much needed funds to impoverished communities, and help in the conservation effort.

Each year, the club itself comes under intense media scrutiny and severe criticism for it’s annual big game auction, and it is here that the arguments in favour of trophy hunting can be heard at their most impassioned.

In this revelatory documentary we will enter the world of the Dallas Safari Club, who for the first time are letting a documentary film crew into their inner circle.  With this access we have an opportunity for some of the world’s most prolific (professional and amateur) Trophy Hunters to tell their side of this story. Through them we’ll seek to shine a light on the big questions in this debate. Does trophy hunting actually help or hinder conservation? In this most expensive of ‘sports’ where does their money go and who ultimately benefits?  This revealing and at times shocking film will explore the world of this close knit and fiercely loyal community, where the legal and the moral are often conflated and Hunters are revered as professional athletes.

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Contact us to request full treatment, more screening material, information on broadcast partners, budget, finance plan or any other matters relating to potential partnerships.

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Director: Des Henderson
Producer: Ed Stobbart
Executive Producer: Kazz Basma
Distributor: Sideways Film
Country of Production: UK
Language: English
We are looking for: Co-Pro and Pre Sales
Stage of Project: Early Development
Delivery Date: TBA

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Key Biographies

Director – Des Henderson

Des is an award wining director with ten years experience originating and directing hard-hitting and startling factual content for a range of broadcasters, including the BBC, C4 and RTE. Des is currently in post-production on his latest feature-documentary that will screen at film festivals in the fall. Credits include: Project Children (Currently in Production), Keepin’ ‘Er Country (BBC 2015), Hit the Stage (BBC 2013), Life Patrol – BBC (2012).

Producer – Ed Stobart

Ed is a multi award winning producer and director who has delivered successful, high quality series and films for all the UK’s major terrestrial and digital broadcasters, and his work has been seen in over 150 territories around the world.  He executive produces all of Alleycats output – BBC4’s Killing me Softly, The Roberta Flack Story; Here Comes the Summer, The Undertones Story; BBC1/CBBC Music City/Hit the Stage, BBC1 Longest Night and the award wining BBC1 NI/RTE1 Life Patrol and CBBC My Life: The Big Climb are highlights. Among his many award winning credits, Ed Stobart Executive Produced Pink Saris, directed by Kim Longinotto, which was BAFTA and Grierson nominated, winner of the Prix Europa, selected at numerous festivals including IDFA and Sheffield and broadcast on HBO, BBC and elsewhere worldwide.

Executive Producer – Kazz Basma

Kazz Basma set up Sideways Film in 2010 to distribute social justice and dramatic narrative documentaries. He has licensed films to broadcasters, all rights buyers, the education market and online on every continent and have been screened at prestigious festivals worldwide including Sundance, Tribeca, IDFA, Hot Docs and Sheffield Doc Fest. He attends at least twelve documentary festivals each year where he is regularly invited to speak on panels and at round-tables, serves as a guest lecturer at the London College of Communication and is an invited expert at EAVE (the European Audio Visual Entrepreneurs network).

The Grand Experiment

There is a grand experiment underway, the birth of a new financial market, one that promises to solve society’s most complex, intractable problems. An unorthodox marriage between capitalism and charity, The Grand Experiment tracks a social innovation that has won the backing of both conservative and liberal governments, support from renowned philanthropists like the Rockefeller Foundation, and buy-in from Wall Street’s biggest investment bank, Goldman Sachs.

Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) are an investment product designed to raise private capital for social programs. Governments pay investors a return only if the programs decrease public expenditures by improving social outcomes, for example lowering the number of unemployed or prisoners. The profit paid by government to the investor is commensurate with the success of the social program.

From the halls of power to society’s struggling underclass, The Grand Experiment follows an unusual cast of characters forging previously unthinkable alliances: social workers and Wall Street bankers, the homeless and venture capitalists, conservative and liberal politicians. Over three years – in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom – this feature film tracks their efforts to use profit motivation to solve everything from crime to addiction to homelessness.

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Sir Ronald Cohen is the creator of social impact bonds, and leader of the international SIB revolution. As chair of the newly formed G8 Taskforce on Impact Investment, he’s been charged with igniting impact investing around the globe. Credited with creating the global venture capital market, Sir Cohen believes impact investing will be a democratizing force giving equal opportunity to all.  By enticing investors with the lure of a double bottom line, he aims to bridge the gap between rich and poor.

At Melody Elementary School on Chicago’s west side, we’ll follow Kindergarten children through a school year in one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. These students and their parents are part of a program designed to reduce the city’s special education costs. Goldman Sachs and local venture capitalists have invested $17 million in the Chicago bond.  If the children test well, they’ll make a profit, which they hope will galvanize a global impact investment market.

For head teacher Michelle Stewin, the money is a chance to keep their program alive. Poverty, unemployment, and homelessness, have stacked the cards against her students.  Will the teachers and children at Melody get the test scores they need to keep the money flowing?

In Canada, the Ontario government is looking to launch its first social impact bond. We have negotiated exclusive access to film the final selection process, as four short-listed non-profits work with finance consultants to hone their business case and pitch to investors. The finalists are attacking a wide range of confounding social problems: generational unemployment, habitual young offenders, and chronic homelessness.

In the UK, Sir Cohen’s creation is facing growing opposition.  Some labour unions and non-profits are accusing the British Cabinet Office of pursuing a privatization agenda, and opening up government coffers to society’s wealthiest individuals. In the United States, academics have questioned the metrics used to pay Goldman Sachs a maximum return on the country’s first successful SIB.

Despite the concerns surrounding SIBs, they are the fastest growing social innovation in modern history. Currently there are 53 in more than a dozen countries, including: the UK, U.S., Canada, Australia, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Israel, Japan, Finland, Sweden, Ireland, Italy, India and Malaysia.

In Chicago and Ontario, and through the international efforts of Sir Cohen, The Grand Experiment will document one of the most important shifts of the 21st Century. At the heart of this film is one central question: is capitalism the answer to our social problems?

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Contact us to request full treatment, more screening material, information on broadcast partners, budget, finance plan or any other matters relating to potential partnerships.

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Director: Nadine Pequeneza
Producer: Nadine Pequeneza
Distributor: Sideways Film
Country of Production: Canada
Language: English
We are looking for: Co-Pro and Pre Sales
Stage of Project: Development
Delivery Date: Dec 2017

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Key Biographies

Director – Nadine Pequeneza

Nadine Pequeneza is an award-winning Producer, Director and Writer best known for her observational films offering unique access to character-driven stories about social justice. With over 15 years international experience, she has received multiple awards including; a Canadian Screen Award for Best Writing in a Documentary Program, the American Bar Association Silver Gavel, a Gold Hugo from the Chicago International Film Festival, a Golden Sheaf from the Yorkton Film Festival, and a Gold Panda from the Sichuan TV Festival. Nadine is a 7-time Canadian Screen Award nominee in both directing and writing categories. Her work has broadcast in more than 50 countries.

As the founder of HitPlay Productions, Nadine has produced and directed the company’s feature documentaries, including: Up In Arms, Inside Disaster, and Raising Cassidy. Her most recent documentary feature, 15 to Life: Kenneth’s Story, premiered in August 2014 on the award-winning PBS series POV. She is currently in production on a film about the legalization of physician assisted dying in Canada for CBC.

Editor – Ricardo Acosta

Ricardo immigrated to Canada from his native Cuba in 1993. He is a Sundance alumni and has edited award-winning documentaries for the past 20 years, including: Sembene! premiered at Sundance and screened at Cannes in 2015.
Marmato won Best Editor in a Documentary from the Canadian Cinema Editor Awards. Herman’s House premiered at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival and won an Emmy for best Political Arts documentary.

The Take directed by Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis, official selection at the Venice Film Festival and winner of the Canada Screen Award for Best Picture Editing.

Cinematographer – Stan Barua

Stan Barua’s work has attracted accolades and awards on five continents. Born in Poland where he earned his MA in Cinematography from the National Film School in Lodz, he also lived and worked in Kenya before moving to Canada in 1998.
Baba’s House Best Cinematography Award, Yorkton Short Film Festival; Eastman Kodak Cinematography Award, Houston International Film Festival; Best Canadian Short Drama Award, Atlantic Film Festival.

Rain Best Atlantic Canada Short Film Award, Atlantic Film Festival. Forgotten Places Best Cinematography Award, Warsaw Terra Film Festival.

Pot Farm

The war on drugs is over. The world is rehashing it’s pot laws. Medical marijuana trials are set to begin in Australia. A controversial new industry is emerging…

Meet Max and James. They’ve decided to become farmers.

Max is a computer genius and James is a hustler, they’re clever city-slickers, but they’re ready for a tree change. They’ve never farmed before, they’ve got masses to learn, and they’re borrowing a whole lot of coin to get this venture started.

They’ve bought a banana plantation in Byron Bay, and they’re gonna turn it into a Pot Farm.

A couple of years ago Max had leukaemia, and during chemotherapy smoked pot to help with his nausea and lack of appetite. He was the only one not throwing up in his ward. He knows it works, so now he and James have bought a banana farm, and are going to grow pot. Legally.

Byron Bay has one of the biggest concentrations of illegal cannabis in Australia. So on the up side there will be a very skilled (and eccentric) advisors available. On top of this, they’ll employ WOOFers (Willing Workers on Organic Farms) from all over the world.

But they’ll also have some pretty unhappy locals if their low-THC marijuana cross-pollinates and ruins the abundant illegal varieties.

They have in hand a coveted license to grow cannabis at less than 1% THC (the stuff that gets you high), with which they are hoping to produce medical oil. It’s well-documented that hemp oil is a wonderful product for patients, as it has such a low THC content, it’s very safe, especially for parents not wanting to get their kids high!

But the laws and bureaucracy are so complex with their new paranoid-level regulations that they are pushing the proverbial uphill for miles, especially when the government decides that hemp oil will not legally be used for medicinal purposes. It looks like all is lost, until they meet Mukti the white witch, who makes vaginal lubricant. With their magic ingredient they can help ladies orgasm. Another noble venture.

This has the potential to turn Max’s wife Kirby around. She’s not so keen on her hubby’s plans to farm marijuana in a mozzie-infested backwater with their baby Archimedes in tow. And Kirby and James aren’t so keen on each other either. But she does like the sound of the lube. And so do thousands of Italian women, it seems, through their new Italian investor.

If their incredibly ambitious plans fall in a heap, they will have borrowed to the hilt and sunk two million dollars into their venture for nothing.

Malos Pasos (series)

Malos Pasos is a series that through sports give us an inspiring perspective on environmental, disability and social issues in Latin America. We will travel across Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Ecuador and more Latin American countries learning that sports can help us overcome any obstacles.

Episode 1 – Limitless Sports

Inspiration can come from anywhere, but nothing is more inspiring than seeing others overcome adversity and demonstrate that their capacities take them to places where nothing is impossible.

Episode 2 – Sports and Environment

There is a strong bond between extreme sports athletes and their environment. Felipe and Jules show us their adventures, combining sports and love for the environment. 

Episode 3 – Female Stereotypes

Passions can be restricted by prejudice. Nevertheless, the stories of Mimi and Greisy show us that they can be overcome.

Episode 4 – Bones and Steal

Sometimes a wound can be far more than just that for an extreme sports athlete. Sportsmen Diego Iturrieta and Jonathan Camacho show it takes to get back on track.

Episode 5 – The Competition

Overcoming your own fears is more difficult than overcoming your opponents. Two extreme sports athletes invite us to witness the extreme lengths they will go to prepare.

Episode 6 – Sports and Dreams 

The path of dreams can be full of struggles, but for sportswomen Daniela and Mafer, passion is what gets them through. 

Episode 7 – World Records and World champions

Karl and Fabio relive their sports achievements and show us the sacrifices they had to make in order to achieve the highest places in their disciplines.

Episode 8 – Retirement and New Generations

Great figures of extreme sports dedicate themselves to preserving and expanding sports culture once their moments of glory are over. 

Episode 9 – First Steps

We all started out in different ways, in very different environments. The Villegas twins and Hardy Muñoz show us how to find your place in extreme sports. 

Episode 10 – On the Street

Discrimination is something extreme sports athletes have to put up with everyday. The lack of space to train, however, did not deter Musingo and Napo from standing out and achieving success.

Episode 11 – Sports and Family

Sports can bring families closer. That is what the Navarro and the Carrera families demonstrate, with children and parents following the same path for generations. 

Episode 12 – Extreme Sports and The Media

Technology has opened the borders of information sharing, and many entrepreneurs have taken the lead in using it to expand sports culture across the world.

Episode 13 – Sports and Legacy

All sports have champions who have inspired others to follow their path. By looking at the lives of Carlo de Gavardo and Felipe Acosta, we will understand how they entered the history books.

Driverless

Over 40,000 people will die from car crashes in the U.S this year; the leading cause of death for young people.

The driverless car’s arrival promises to save many of these lives by eliminating human error, but how will the introduction of such a revolutionary technology shape our cities and influence our behaviour?

From the fascinating history of America’s embrace of the automobile to a present grassroots movement against them, Driverless is a documentary that seeks to look beyond the engineering marvel and ask, in what kind of world do we want to live and are we driving down a road that will get us there?

Rise of the Sex Robots

Advances in computer science and engineering have lifted animatronic lovers from the realms of science fiction to reality with the first models due to go on sale by the end of the year.

We meet the men who are making the sex robots, the customers who want to buy them – and the critics who say they are dangerous.

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Contact us to request full treatment, budget, schedule, budget, finance plan or any other matters relating to potential partnerships.

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Director: Tom Silverstone
Writer / Presenter: Jenny Kleeman
Executive Producer: Charlie Philips
Executive Producer: Kazz Basma
Distributor: Sideways Film
Country of Production: UK
Language: English
We are looking for: Co-Pro and Pre Sales
Stage of Project: Early Development
Delivery Date: TBA

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Key Biographies

Director – Tom Silverstone

Tom Silverstone is a London and New York based filmmaker currently working for the Guardian, making short films across current affairs, tech and culture. You can see his portfolio at www.tomsilverstone.com

Writer / Presenter – Jenny Kleeman

Jenny Kleeman is an award-winning journalist who travels the world telling thought-provoking stories you won’t have heard from anyone else.

On TV, she’s reported for BBC One’s Panorama and The One Show and Channel 4’s Dispatches, as well as making 13 films from across the globe for Unreported World, Channel 4’s critically acclaimed foreign affairs documentary strand. She’s a regular commentator on Sky News’s nightly Press Preview.

Executive Producer – Charlie Philips

Charlie Phillips is the Head of Documentaries at The Guardian, commissioning and acquiring new short documentaries from all around the world. He was previously Deputy Director at Sheffield Doc/Fest and Editor of FourDocs for Channel 4.

Executive Producer – Kazz Basma

Kazz Basma set up Sideways Film in 2010 to distribute social justice and dramatic narrative documentaries. He has licensed films to broadcasters, all rights buyers, the education market and online on every continent and have been screened at prestigious festivals worldwide including Sundance, Tribeca, IDFA, Hot Docs and Sheffield Doc Fest. He attends at least twelve documentary festivals each year where he is regularly invited to speak on panels and at round-tables, serves as a guest lecturer at the London College of Communication and is an invited expert at EAVE (the European Audio Visual Entrepreneurs network).