RETURNING SERIES (Development)
Adapted from the best-selling novel by Sólveig Pálsdóttir
A disgraced Icelandic detective and a retired British Superintendent both in pursuit of redemption are compelled to find a missing immigrant amidst treacherous landscape, an opiate epidemic and the “hidden people” of Nordic folklore.
FEATURE FILM (Development)
Told in reverse through a quiet cascade of flashbacks, this unorthodox biopic retraces the life of Forough Farrokhzad-an Iranian poet insisting on her own voice in a world unready for the unsettling clarity of female desire and ambition.
Directed by: Tina Gharavi
Executive produced by: Wes Anderson
Funded by: BFI
FEATURE FILM (Development)
"Beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and the devil are fighting there, and the battlefield is the heart of man." -Dostoevsky.
THE GOOD IRANIAN is a story from classical mythology: a naïve ingénue goes to look for her “idealised” mother, whom she has not seen for many years, only to discover that she is not who she thought she was.
Funded by: Film Four BFI
Producers: Ado Yoshizaki & Neil Wallace
FEATURE DOCUMENTARY & COLLABORATIVE STORYTELLING PLATFORM (Development)
Trump, Brexit, borders and travel bans… Terrorism, discrimination and war. Why do we create insider/outsider groups? And why do these divisions appear to be growing ever deeper?
FEATURE FILM (Distribution)
A film about love, finding oneself and the eternal search for home.
When you change where you are, do you change who you are? After a run-in with the police, Nasrine and Ali must leave Tehran and move to the UK. They struggle to adapt to their settings in the North East. When tragedy strikes, Nasrine must find the courage to continue her new life.
Directed by: Tina Gharavi
Funded by: Bridge + Tunnel Voices
Northstar Ventures
Awards: BAFTA 2013 (Nominee), Brooklyn Film Festival
FEATURE FILM (Development)
A middle-aged woman begins a journey of sexual awakening after meeting a masseur. Their ensuing awakenings lead to consequences that change their lives forever.
DIGITAL STORYTELLING/HERITAGE COLLECTION (Archive)
Crime & Punishment focuses on the heritage of incarceration, exploring public memories and understandings of penal regulation/social justice.
DOCUMENTARY (Production)
How do you cope with being convicted of a crime you know you did not commit? What happens when you are condemned to death row and spend over 18 or 30 (sometimes many more) years of your life locked away; often not knowing how long you will be alive? How do people survive when placed in such extraordinary situations?
ART INSTALLATION & COMMUNUITY ENGAGEMENT WORKSHOP (Development)
A multi-disciplinary art project, exploring the artistic processes and legacy of regional and international award-winning, Tina Gharavi, based in Newcastle from 1996-present.
BROADCAST DOCUMENTARY (Development)
Two men: one the three times World Heavyweight Champion, self-styled ‘Greatest of All Time’ from Louisville, Kentucky, the other one a white working class amateur boxer from Newcastle. The King and I provides a fascinating insight into an incredible friendship spanning five decades and two continents.
INTERACTIVE STORYTELLING PLATFORM (Development)
I Am Other is a digital storytelling platform and social networking website, designed for user experience and social media driven activism.
FEATURE DOCUMENTARY & TOURING EXHIBITION (Distribution)
Last of the Dictionary Men: Stories from the South Shields Yemeni Sailors is an exceptional hybrid exhibition consisting of exciting major and large-scale visual arts installations by internationally renowned artists, Tina Gharavi and Youssef Nabil.
EXPERIMENTAL DOCUMENTARY (Distribution)
‘The King of South Shields’ is the story of how one person can have a lasting effect on the lives of many people. Something you could call ‘a butterfly effect’: the power of one person to effect positive change in lives of those he touches.
Funded by: Arts Council England Decibel Spotlight Award
Trent House World Headquarters
South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council
Britdoc Channel Four
EXPERIMENTAL DOCUMENTARY (Distribution)
Closer innovatively explores the process of documentary filmmaking and boldly challenges traditional forms of storytelling. Fiction and documentary collide in this gripping film as “scenes” from the main subject’s life are re-enacted for the camera.
Funded by: Northern Production Fund
Distributed by: Women Make Movies (NY) Showtime Sundance Channel
Official Selection: Sundance Film Festival, IDFA, Cork, Mannheim-Heidelberg + many more
Awards: PlanetOut/iFilm Short Movie Award (Grand Prize), Czech Radio Prize at the One World 2003 Film Festival
SHORT DRAMA (Development)
Ramsay, a French Foreign Legionnaire, has been brought home to recuperate by his brother, a less-than-successful footballer who now finds himself working on an oil platform. In the shadows of the military and the macho culture of the South, the young soldier, 22, meets an older married woman, Anna, 47, who has been hired to help him recover while his brother is away.
DOCUMENTARY PHOTOJOURNALISM (production)
How do we tell stories? How can we as filmmakers, photographers and citizen journalists communicate the horrors of conflict?
In this project, filmmaker Tina Gharavi and Alessio Romenzi, will collaborate to consider their subject and the ethics of storytelling.
SHORT DRAMA (Distribution)
Featherhead is a moving tale of a lifelong love that is tested to the limit. John is forced to watch helplessly as his wife’s Alzheimer’s progresses and he is barely able to cope. Portraying the heart-breaking consequences of this confusing and frustrating disease, John’s emotions become visibly aggressive as he loses control.
Funded by: UK Film Council Northern Film & Media
Alzheimer’s Society
Co-Production: Superkrush Productions
DOCUMENTARY & INSTALLATION (Distribution)
A documentary film about a day in the life of two bakeries – one in the West Bank in the Occupied Territories of Palestine and one in an Ultra-Orthodox district of West Jerusalem. In each bakery, we follow the story of one Palestinian and one Israeli as they go about their daily tasks.
Funded by: Bridge + Tunnel Productions
Arts Council England
Northern Film + Media
DOCUMENTARY (Distribution)
This is a film about the journey of a British University football team who are transformed by the events they bear witness to in the Middle East which force them to change their outlook on life.
Directed by: Matthew Kay & Jasper Kain
FEATURE FILM (Development)
Kurdistan’s first ever thriller film, “The Woman Who Captured Saddam”, is a featurette, which will be made through a unique collaborative process with a joint British-Kurdish team who will come together to produce a genre film with a twist.
BROADCAST DOCUMENTARY (Distribution)
Over 20 years ago, at the age of six, director Tina Gharavi left Iran and her mother, to live with her father in the West. This intensely personal film, co-produced with October Film, follows her as she returns for the first time, to confront her past and attempt to gain answers from her mother about why she was sent away.
Funded by: Channel Four TV (UK) Northern Production Fund
Distributed by: British Council Frameline Distribution (USA)
Awards: Tongues on Fire: Asian Women’s Film Festival Grand Prize.
DOCUMENTARY (Distribution)
This observational documentary focuses on the differing attitudes of two distinct groups of men – American-Muslims from the Yemeni community and those from white European backgrounds – who once worked in the former steel mining industry in Lackawanna, NY. This facinating insight into a fragmented community records the groups of men discussing the changes that have occurred in their town and the dramatic shift in attitudes following 9/11 and the arrest of the Lackawanna Six.
Funded by: Hallwalls Media Institute
The National Endowment of the Arts (US)
POETIC DOCUMENTARY (Distribution)
An experimental documentary exploring the ways in which poetry inspires creativity and imagination. ‘Two Lighthouses’ takes the form of a visual poem illustrating Julia Darling’s work of the same name. The film is a commemoration of Julia’s life, exploring how her poetry has touched the lives of people in the Region and beyond.
Funded by: Catherine Cookson Fund
MUSIC VIDEO (Distribution)
Music video produced by Tall Man Short Man Films in association with Bridge + Tunnel.
Directed by: Jamie Korn
SHORT DRAMA (Production)
Produced with Tall Man Short Man Productions, Jamie Korn & Chris Bailey. Tackle is the story of a young teenage footballer that faces the consequences of coming out to his friends and family as a homosexual.
DRAMA SHORT (Distribution)
Neville in a Blue Dress is a romantic comedy, a modern day twist on the classic film “Brief Encounter”. It’s boy meets girl, boy never gets with girl, boy loses girl. Directed by Mike Steel.
Awards: Cineglobe 2010 for Best General Fiction
SHORT FILM (Distribution)
A ‘visual poem’ reflecting on the impact of the Israeli ’security wall’ as it encroaches upon Palestinian towns and villages of the West Bank.
Funded by: Arts Council UK
MUSEUM INSTALLATION (Distribution)
Asylum Carwash is an eight hour installation exploring the working lives of refugees and economic migrants who have recently moved to the UK. The film documents a full day in the life of men who work at a carwash.
This piece forms part of a travelling exhibition, delivered through the Engaging Refugees & Asylum Seekers project; a partnership project between National Museums Liverpool, Salford Museums and Art Gallery, Tyne & Wear Museums and Leicester City Museums Service.
SHORT DRAMA (Distribution)
After an unnatural death comes an unnatural burial.
Directed by: Richard Lawson
Funded by: Northern Production Fund
Official Selection: Edinburgh International Film Festival, Leeds International Film Festival, BBC Short Film Festival
SHORT DRAMA (Distribution)
Reckless boyfriend, Nav, attempts to impress new girlfriend Lisa with a surprise holiday. What Lisa thinks could be the beginning of a great weekend and bonding experience for her new man and daughter, soon descends into chaos.
Directed by: Richard Lawson
Funded by: Northern Film & Media BFI
Runner up: Turner Classic Short Film Awards at London (International Film Festival)