Fractured Families
A programme of National Film and Television School fiction and documentary films connected by the theme of challenging family dynamics, curated by Caroline Seddon.
Kin (2008)
The story follows Frank, who is assisted by care worker Sally, he spends his time going to the pub and watching his favourite football team on TV. One day Frank receives a call from his sister asking him to go and visit his sick mother. Forced to confront a life he’s long forgotten, Frank is finally able to close the door to a difficult past.
Ela (2007)
Ela witnesses the death of her older brother on her way to school, but she struggles to really feel any emotion during the funeral or any time after. She really does miss him though, and she is reminded of her brother when after school one day, her brother's friends chase her and grab her pigtails like her brother used to do.
Sea Monsters (2003)
Alan returns to his sea-side home for his mother's birthday. While he loves his mother, his relationship with his father is strained. Learning that his paternal grandfather has passed away, he confronts his father about his failings as a parent. Things escalate, and Alan and his father have a vicious physical fight in the ocean.
Lighthouse (2010)
A family leaves their house one day with items belonging to the father of the family who isn't around anymore. Taking the items to the dump they embark on a journey to a lighthouse. Dealing with their struggles in different ways, they eventually work through their issues and decide to go back home on a note of positivity.
Love Me Tender (2014)
Set in a British coastal town during the off-season, Love Me Tender presents a fragment of time in the lives of three men in their twenties. It is a touching look into the lives of these working-class men trying to better themselves after trying times. Exploring family, personal growth and masculinity.
Alan and Samir (2005)
Two half-brothers, Alan and Samir reunite for a night out, involving meeting two female acquaintances of Alan's for a party. The differences between the brothers, who have grown up in separate cultures becomes increasingly apparent as the night progresses.
Sweet Maddie Stone (2016)
Maddie is a 16 year old living in a small council flat in Yorkshire with her hard working mother. Maddie idolises her frequently absent criminal father, and when he is convicted of a brutal attack and put behind bars, she desperately tries to save her dad with the small amount of money she has earned to put towards bail.
Noah’s Canoe (2011)
Ever since Noah was a little kid he's wanted to work with his Dad building canoes, but he was incapacitated by physical illness. This is the story of Noah's transformation as he tries to realize his lifelong dream of going to work with father. However, life isn't so simple and Noah has a much more complex and intriguing road to travel.
Volume (2012)
Sam lives in a place where everything is polished and secrets are cleaned up and kept. So when Georgina goes missing, everyone acts like nothing happened. But Sam can't stop thinking about her, the enigma who lived next door. As Sam drifts back into his memories of Georgina, he comes to realise he may know more than he wants to remember.
Until the River Runs Red (2010)
This BAFTA winner for best short film in 2010 is the story of 16 year old Chloe, the only daughter of God. She travels around with her parents and spends her days roaming the secluded countryside, searching for the mythical 'Red River'. As her story unfolds we realise the horrific truth of what brought them there.
A Stone on My Heart (1996)
Having lived away from her family in England for fourteen years, the filmmaker returns to India for her younger brother's arranged marriage. She soon discovers her parents' plans for her future and confronts her own inability to fulfil them. This is a universal story about the effects of migration and change.
Acta Non Verba (2017)
On the 6th October in 2012, a Swiss banker, Michel Yagchi, committed suicide in the basement of his house in Geneva. Three years later his son, Yvann, decides to start investigating his father’s mysterious suicide, tracing this story, he confronts his family, and his father’s friends and colleagues.
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