This selection of films takes us through the journeys of characters facing addiction, violence, grief, Scottish mountains and the insurgents of Afghanistan in order to get to where they need to be in life.
A Life’s Journey Trailer!
BALLAST
Written & Directed by Jesse Gilbert
Produced by Kalyani Pathak
Country: Ireland
Language: English / Irish Gaelic
Duration: 15 mins
Fiction // Drama // Student
Ballast tells the story of Michael, a man living in the rural west of Ireland. In his self-imposed isolation he spends his days building something in his workshop with only his dog for companionship.
CHASING THE VEIN
Written & Directed by Serena Chloe Gardner
Produced by Nasreen Cullen
Country: UK
Language: English
Duration: 6 mins
Documentary
Chasing the Vein is a short documentary about the life of Lyn, a heroin user since the age of fifteen. In her own words, the film explores sections of her life in detail through her early years, her addiction to heroin, her long-term partner Mick, and how she lives now. This is a unique look into the life of someone who lives with addiction on a daily basis. She discusses the long-term effects that drug addiction has on your physical and mental wellbeing, going cold turkey, the various heroin substitutes and the private prescription process that operated in the mid-1980s.
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ELEPHANTBIRD
BEST STUDENT FILM AWARD WINNER
Written & Directed by Amir Masoud Soheili
Produced by Amir Masoud Soheili & Seyed Jalal Rohani
Country: Afghanistan
Language: Persian
Duration: 15 mins
Fiction // Drama // International
A minibus is on a journey across the mountains to Kabul and each passenger has a reason to take this journey. One old man is traveling to give a turkey to his grandchild as his last wish before dying, but the main road is blocked by insurgents. When they decide to use an unsecure alternative road, they soon realise the possibility of running into danger has not gone away.
EXODUS
Written, Directed & Produced by Oliver Stiller
Country: Germany / Mexico
Language: Spanish
Duration: 20 mins
Documentary // International
In October 2018, 7000 people from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador fled the rampant gang-crime and the precarious economic situation in their home countries. They joined together in a massive trek with one goal: to cross Mexico and enter the USA. Exodus introduces the people of the first caravan of Central Americans who left everything behind but their faith in God to start a thousands-of-kilometers-long journey into the unknown. The lawyer and human-rights activist Dr. Edgardo Buscaglia offers insights to this event and examines the political structures of the states of Central America with regard to the exodus of the population.
HALCYON
Written & Directed by Nigel Smith
Produced by Ellie Walsh
Country: UK
Language: English
Duration: 3 mins
Animation // Student
Halcyon: an evocation of the unseen world of an English stream at dawn. A fully-painted rotoscoped multiplane animation made using a rostrum camera, lightbox and wet-on-wet inks with sound recorded on location in Bristol and Gloucestershire. Inverted colours and original music create a trance-like nature experience reminiscent of natural mindfulness and slow cinema.
PROJECT 282
Written & Directed by Paddy Bartram & Will March
Produced by Paddy Bartram, Will March & Aaron Rolph
Country: UK
Language: English
Duration: 10 mins
Documentary
‘Project 282’ is a film about Emily Scott’s challenge to climb all of Scotland’s Munros (mountains over 3,000 feet) in a continuous round, cycling between them unassisted. After university Emily started a promising finance career in London, but has since changed her path in life and chosen to pursue what she loves. Endurance challenges and mountain culture are two of those things and these are key aspects of Emily’s endeavour.