Sunderland Film Festival

Films 2015

AISSA

Synopsis: Aïssa is Congolese and is presently residing illegally on French territory. She claims to be a minor however the authorities believe she is over 18. In order to establish whether or not she can remain in the country a doctor must give her a physical...

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Hole

Synopsis: A daring portrait of a disabled man yearning for intimacy in a world that would rather ignore him. Country: Canada Directed by: Martin Edralin

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Delivery From Earth

Synopsis: A Science-fiction short film about the birth of the first human on Mars, told from the perspective of a Navajo family living in Gallup, New Mexico. Country: United States Directed by: Michael Becker

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Solace

Synopsis: An experimental journey exploring the people and places around the North East of England. Country: United Kingdom Directed by: Will Edwick, Michael Johnson

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Road

Synopsis: We all travel together down the same path, but the journey is always different. Country: United Kingdom Directed by: Robert Carr

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BURUNDANGA

Synopsis: Pablo feels trapped in his south-American village surrounded by fog. He wants to leave, and this time, all means are good. Country: France Directed by: Anaïs Ruales Borja

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Medalion

Synopsis: Sensitive people are around our life and sometimes are able to link the past with the future. People without any name can attract attention of friendly people. Unfortunately these sensitive people are not understood any fall down, maintaining beautiful...

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S T U T T E R E R

Synopsis: For a lonely typographer, an online relationship has helped him mask his acute speech impediment. A tumultuous ride of joy, doubt and romance in the digital age. Country: United Kingdom Directed by: Benjamin Cleary

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Max

Synopsis: Some decisions are tough. A very challenging day in the life of Annette Davis. Film Download link (H.264 approx. 600MB): https://goo.gl/kB2KEf Country: United States Directed by: Rajesh Naroth

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El Mano vs. Japanese Zombie

Synopsis: One day El Mano, the world’s greatest wrestler, decided to exercise his massive legs. During a brief respite next to a scary grave, El Mano is attacked by an unholy being. It is a being charmed with a demonic appetite for wrestling. It is a Japanese Zombie!...

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Companion

Synopsis: A stray puppy suddenly appears to brighten up a lonely boy's world. The two enjoy a long-lasting companionship as they grow old together. Country: United States Directed by: Sean O'Neill

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Bystander Effect

Synopsis: Take the next best residential neighborhood. A man is on the look-out for a victim. Within a couple of minutes, he chooses a young woman. He hunts, stabs and rapes her. As he dwells on his vicious performance of the crime, the residents turn into a dormant...

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CASA DEL SUEÑOS

Synopsis: Leigh (Jason Perini) is a luckless single man who sets his standards low when it comes to romance. When he knocks on the door of his blind date, Miranda (Geraldine Hakewill), he is disappointed with her beauty. Leigh’s unexpected disapproval leads Miranda to...

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Karma

Synopsis: Jamie and Brian are two skinheads bursting with hate. One night something is revealed to them which changes their life upside down.. Country: United Kingdom Directed by: Bartosz Dzidowski

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Helio

Synopsis: One worker sparks an uprising when he attempts to break free of his dystopian underworld. Country: United States Directed by: Teddy Cecil

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Embargo on Love

Synopsis: For forty years, Cuban families have been separated by water and politics, but the desire to connect remains strong. I made this film to deliver a message of love to the once forbidden island. Country: United States Directed by: Lauren Rothman

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The Reinvention of Normal

Synopsis: Go straight off the wall said his dad and Dominic does just that. The film follows Dominic Wilcox, an artist / inventor / designer, on his quest for new ideas....Transforming the mundane and ordinary into something surprising, wondrous and strangely thought...

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Iron

Synopsis: In the wake of Thatchers reign, a broken man fights back Country: United Kingdom Directed by: Michael Rowlands

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Well of Water

Synopsis: In september, most of Slovenia was affected by heavy floodings due to lots of rain and brutal weather conditions. Lots of people's houses were damaged and some even lost their homes. During last couple of years, floodings repeat almost every year and...

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Tarim the Brave Against the Thousand and One Effects

Synopsis: Tarim is the captain of a ship sailing the seven seas, seeking for glory and wealth. During a new adventure in which he has to save a princess held captive in the donjon of an evil wizard, he gradually realizes that he is the main character of a movie. He...

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TO THE BRIDGE

Synopsis: A short film about the painting of a mural under the Wearmouth bridge in Sunderland. Country: United Kingdom Directed by: Monkey with a Pen

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The Herd

Synopsis: A number of kidnapped and trafficked women find themselves imprisoned in a squalid medical facility. For Paula her continued survival relies on her basic human function. Escape, on any level, is seemingly impossible as the women are condemned to a life of...

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Love is Blind

Synopsis: Love is Blind finds Alice (SOPHIE ALLEN) in the passionate embrace of a young lover (WILL BEST), as she finally succumbs to temptation. When her husband James (ACE MAHBAZ) returns home early to try and make amends for his recent infidelity and inattention...

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Final Draft

Synopsis: In 1973, the threat of nuclear attack was ever-present. The UK government needed to prepare its citizens for nuclear war, but how? A secret government committee was tasked to write a script for a future filled with widespread panic, death, the destruction of...

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The Boy and The Bus

Synopsis: Soon after the death of his mother, ten year-old Joe and his older father move to the remote village where she wanted to live. When the local bus driver won’t wait for him, Joe stamps out his grief and begins to run. Country: United Kingdom Directed by:...

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Pruned

Synopsis: Pruned is a short animated film about a retired superhero living in a Florida retirement community. When his old nemesis is released from prison and moves in next door, the two resume their old rivalry over their prize-winning rosebushes. Country: Not...

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Lux

Synopsis: AS IT TURNS DARK, WE PRESENCE AN ENCOUNTER THAT WON’T REPEAT ITSELF AGAIN. Country: Peru Directed by:

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Dinner’s served

Synopsis: An old Armenian couple, ARA and SOSSEH, living on the memories of their lives where they used to work as stage actors, are preparing a new-year's eve dinner for the family to reunite. Country: Lebanon Directed by: Tony Partamian

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Homelessness

Synopsis: Homelessness is a short documentary about three characters who share their experience of being homeless, and their journey of recovery. Country: United Kingdom Directed by: Amy Spiteri

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Her Children Mourn

Synopsis: A man and a woman, dressed in funeral black, arrive at a homestead. Both are silent, bottled up, alone. They each enter the barn to work through their thoughts. In the end, both find their way outside - to the fields and garden, and to some kind of peace....

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Intrinsic Moral Evil

Synopsis: Intrinsic Moral Evil seems to be a tale of identity and coming of age. But above all, the three dancers play with the viewer’s perception and expectations. The layered story gradually develops; revealing its last secrets just before the end credits start....

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Cleaner Than Life

Synopsis: Tracey wants to travel, if only she could get the cleaning done. Country: United Kingdom Directed by: Sandra McKellar

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Across Still Water

Synopsis: Losing his sight to an incurable disease 32 year old John must take the next steps in accepting that one day he may go blind completely. Camped in the dark night of the city and guided by schoolboy Ben, John considers his future and casts his line for carp...

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Power State

Synopsis: A bribe tests the will of a union leader as he battles corrupt police and an oppressive government in his fight for justice on the picket lines. Country: Australia Directed by: Joshua Goener

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SEE ME NOW

Synopsis: See Me Now is a fashion film inspired by the quote - "The darker the skin, the uglier they're considered". Upon hearing that, I called upon models and designers of colour to showcase the beauty of dark skin. And to send a message, that beauty comes from...

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TEST

Synopsis: A seemingly unremarkable man spends a day taking a bizarre test at a mysterious facility. Through his day he interacts with the odd, detached employees of the facility, guiding him from section to section, obscuring the intentions or duration of the test....

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Thundercluck: Chicken of Thor

Synopsis: This film chronicles the birth, life, and legacy of Thundercluck, the viking chicken with the power of thunder. Half mortal. Half god. All natural chicken. Country: United States Directed by: Paul A. Tillery IV

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The Home Promised

Synopsis: In one of the last “illegally-constructed” neighbourhoods in Taipei, the residents’ quest for relocation gives birth to a community--a home that they never knew they had. Country: Canada Directed by: Betty Xie

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The Hook (short 10mins)

Synopsis: A washed up fighter gives a boxing lesson that changes his life. Country: United Kingdom Directed by: Nick Flügge

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THANK YOU STAN

Synopsis: A personal animated tribute to the later great soccer legend, Sir Stanley Matthews, on the 100th anniversary of his birth. Country: United States Directed by: Tony White

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Late

Synopsis: This is my life every morning. Country: United States Directed by: Christi Bertelsen

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And The Wind Falls

Synopsis: Desperate to reunite with her daughter, a cash-strapped motel housekeeper finds a potential answer: a dead guest's bag of money. Country: United States Directed by: Shuming He

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The Weeping Mountain

Synopsis: Guillermina is a young colla from the northwest of Argentina. She cant mourn and wants to be free. In her husbands wake she decides to leave the room. She climbs a mountain following a flying condor in the sky. She begins to remember her sad youth with her...

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A Way Out

Synopsis: When aging gangster Vic risks it all to quit the life, he discovers his young protege has been keeping a secret of his own -- one that plunges them both into a deadly cat and mouse game over the course of one car ride. Country: United States Directed by:...

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Access to Work

Synopsis: Jamie's routine is simple, wake up in filth, shower, hire an assistant, dispose of target, dispose of assistant. Repeat. Today will be slightly different... Country: United Kingdom Directed by: Alastair Clayton , Stuart Laws

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Through the Breaking Glass

Synopsis: Alice, already a woman, wakes up in a wonderful land. She does not remember her name neither how she got there. Three stars fall from the sky and become pieces of a broken mirror. A solitary and rainy alley, a little girl in a hospital room and a creature...

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Ardoyne

Synopsis: WINNER: Columbia Gorge International, Film Festival, Lionshead Film Festival, Phoenix Comicon FF, NYCIFF & Philadelphia Independent Film Festival & Oregon International Film Awards. I want to reinvent how documentaries are watched! bseband.com/ardoyne web...

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Man Made Mountains

Synopsis: A collaborative piece between artist Bob Mitchell and film maker Jonny Maxfield. A project set in the stunning industrial landscape of north Wales. Huge photographic images up to 50 ft high displayed as installations in former industrial sites shown with...

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Arrangement of Thorns

Synopsis: When strange things start to occur on the arrival of three new students, Sam takes it upon himself to discover the truth. Country: United Kingdom Directed by: Julian Lambert, Chris Davis

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The Spring

Synopsis: Inspired by the works of Marjane Satrapi and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, The Spring is a film about forced marriage, exploring the illusion of choice within the myth of 'separate but equal'. Set in a world where men and women live in apparently equal, yet parallel...

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the Urge 2 – It Lies Within

Synopsis: During a bizarre series of events a vampire discovers that harmless forest creatures, and even his own body, have turned against him. Country: Canada Directed by: Christopher Angus

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24/7

Synopsis: 24/7 follows Kevin as he reveals his life to the world through a controversial new website ’24/7′. Everything Kevin sees and hears is streamed directly onto the internet. How will Kevin cope when he has no privacy? Country: United Kingdom Directed by: Connor...

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Mrs Kaye

Synopsis: Mrs Kaye is a tense kafkaesque thriller that explores the plight of a woman fighting seemingly unending levels of bureaucracy in the guise of a nameless man. As the film progresses, it becomes a darker reflection of society’s treatment of the individual and...

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Dazzling Shadow

Synopsis: A boy runs into an old man in the park and a woman encounters a homeless man on the street. Country: Korea, Republic of Directed by: Dojun Yoo

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After Eric: Part of That World

Synopsis: This film follows the story of the real Ariel from Disney's The Little Mermaid as she tries to exist as 'Part of That World'. Country: United Kingdom Directed by: Marcus J. Richardson

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Steven caught a Star

Synopsis: The imaginative, nine year old Steven grows up with divorcing parents. The only place he can visit to escape his home situation is his imagination. In his imagination he catches a shooting star in a glass jar which becomes the light in his life. At night...

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Cowboy Ben

Synopsis: Desperate, delusional and destitute, Ben (Shaun Dooley - Broadchurch, The Game, The Woman in Black) meets with his childhood friend Brian (Ramon Tikaram - This Life, Stella, Jupiter Ascending), in a trendy London bar to patch up and catch up on happier...

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Think Ink

Synopsis: An animated film about outcasts and acceptance, a la psychology inkblots. Country: United States Directed by: Wally Chung

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Audio Visual Poison

Synopsis: Audio Visual Poison Experimental Animation Made in Full 2.39:1Cinemascope with surround sound to place the audiences at the centre of the orchestration composed my the director,The experimental abstract visuals interpret the complexity of the score. Country:...

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Notes From There (Notas desde allá)

Synopsis: Pepca and Martine are lovers and dance collaborators torn apart by the immigration arrest of Martine. They must learn to be there, no matter where there is. Country: United States Directed by: Ann Prim

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Centurion Resurrection

Synopsis: A Roman Centurion soldier is resurrected in modern times at the Roman Baths, witnessed by a magnificent Golden Eagle (The Spirit of Rome). As he enters the streets of modern day Bath he is mistaken for a street performer. Country: United Kingdom Directed by:...

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The Wellington

Synopsis: The Wellington used to be a popular Resort Hotel located in a remote place in Switzerland. The hotel is now being managed by the third generation. Ueli has taken over that part for the past 20 years. Ever since then the hotel has gone downhill rapidly....

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T O B

Synopsis: An Award-Winning Experimental short Film inspired by creative process that any artist and musician has to go through in order to produce a master piece. I feel this metamorphosis is some what the same process that the caterpillar has to go through to become...

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Fresh Air

Synopsis: Maudie lives in a care home, where all the residents just want to sleep; but she wants to feel the wind in her face. Unfortunately, fresh air is aparently against the rules. A short animation about independence and not growing up... Country: United Kingdom...

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