Institute of Contemporary Arts

Rushes: The Documentary Category

For factual work by filmmakers from around the world and under 12 minutes.

Sheltered Lives
Dir. Tim Band, UK, 9m 59s
It is a story that remained untold for more over 60 years; a civilian disaster during World War II that shocked a close-knit community in London’s East End into silence. This documentary film captures the vivid memories of the few remaining survivors of the Bethnal Green Tube disaster on March 3, 1943.

Legend: A Film About Greg Garing
Dir. Emily Branham, (Work and Serve Productions) USA, 7m 57s
In his 20s, singer-songwriter Greg Garing played alongside every country and bluegrass superstar on the Nashville Opry scene. Now, at 43, his doctors give him a year to live and he's forced to confront a lifelong secret.

Best In The Land
Dir. James Herd, (University of Portsmouth) UK, 5m 46s
This documentary looks into the community surrounding Portsmouth Football Club and how recent affairs have affected the strength of it. ‘Our main objective is to decipher just to what extent the football club relies on the community and vice-versa.’

This is Real
Dir. Mat Sheldon, (Crushfilm Ltd) UK, 1m 54s
This is real is a poetic 'spoken word' expression of what it is like to be a teenager in East London, written and performed by a diverse mix of local young non actors. Music is 'UK' by Mercury Prize nominated Burial.

The Rushes
Dir. Jo Gewirtz, Sarah Mottershead, Miek Teunissen, UK, 5m 42s
Following the life and hobby of Mr. Rush, an octogenarian corn-dolly maker. About married life, and how our hobbies and passions can keep us going and enthused for life, even as the years go by.

Skateistan: To Live And Skate Kabul
Dir. Orlando Von Einsiedel, (Grain Media) UK, 9m 15s
Skateistan: To Live And Skate Kabul is a beautiful and moving short film that follows the lives of two young skateboarders from Afghanistan who attend the Skateistan charity project. Juxtaposing the harsh reality of life in Kabul with the hopes and ambitions of the country’s children, the film is a touching ray of light from a country only ever in the news for all the wrong reasons.

Flotsam & Jetsam
Dir. Sam Walkerdine, UK, 13m 4s
Flotsam & Jetsam is a documentary based around the beachcombers of Texel, one of the largest Frisian Islands just north of mainland Holland. Because of Texel’s geographical position, tidal system and strong north-westerly winds, an estimated 2 tons of flotsam and jetsam is washed up on the beaches a day.

Street Art Collides With Reality
Dir. Shafiur Rahman, (Six Oranges) UK, 3m 54s
Street art in the happening Shoreditch scene unexpectedly reflects some sad social realities of 21st century London.

Ps Your Mystery Sender
Dir. Benjamin Wigley, (Artdocs & Scottish Documentary Institute) UK, 9m 10s
The search for the meaning behind the unwrapped and unusual objects that Paul Smith, the fashion designer, has been receiving in the post for the last 20 years, from a mystery person.

Museum Of Miracles
Dir. Rita Ribas, UK/Portugal, 5m 53s
Set around a small shrine in Portugal this short documentary follows the daily rituals of an archivist who has spent 15 years cataloguing and displaying the various objects that devotees offer to the local Saint in the hope that their prayers will be answered.

Painful Bliss
Dir. Caitlan O’Connor, (Wa Screen Academy) Australia, 5m
The human experience of pain is rarely embraced. When individuals indulge in pain, they are deemed unusual, ill or obscene.

Locomotive
Dir. Geoffrey Feinberg, (Weathered Features) USA, 5m 10s
New York - city of sounds, few are soothing. Coming from a small farming town in the Mid-West, struggling to hold on in this new environment and in the eye of the storm as a bike messenger, Nathan has an antidote to the sirens, the garbage trucks and the drills.

Manuel De Los Santos
Dir. Peter Montgomery, UK, 3m 48s
Growing up in the Dominican Republic, Manuel de los Santos played baseball from a young age and by 2003 was planning to turn professional, but a motorcycle accident changed his life forever when he lost his left leg above the knee. Following his accident Manuel moved to France and took up golf, this documentary portrait is his story.

Relentless Short Stories: Frank Turner – The Road
Dir. James Henry, (Love Commercial Production Co.) UK, 5m 34s
Passionate punk, travelling troubadour and songwriter extraordinaire, Frank Turner is the enigmatic star of The Road – The first film of 2011 for Short Stories, proudly released by Relentless Energy Drink.

In Sickness And In Health: Donating A Kidney To My Husband
Dir. Rachel Stevenson, (Guardian News & Media) UK, 13m 43s
The extraordinary story of a woman who underwent major organ surgery to save her husband's life. 

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