ISLAND
by Steven Eastwood; co-produced
with Paradogs Films
90 mins; 2017
Across the water on the island, four individuals experience the year in which their lives will end. Illness progresses, relationships gently shift, and we are witness to rarely seen and intensely private moments. One person shares their acceptance of death, whilst another is surrounded by a community in shock. ISLAND observes bedside care and the rhythm of breathing. In a pathology lab, microscopic biopsies in close-up show the interior of bodies, our biology. Filmed over 12 months on the Isle of Wight, ISLAND is a life-affirming reflection on the phenomena of dying, portraying the transition away from personhood and observing the last days and hours of life and the moment of death. Like the ferries cyclically arriving and departing in this an enigmatic landscape, the film appears buoyant, afloat. Death is shown to be natural and everyday but also unspeakable and strange.
UK release in September 2018. For bookings please contact info@hakawati.co.uk.
World premiere at the 61st BFI London Film Festival in October 2017; International premiere at Rotterdam International Film Festival 2018, Best Documentary nominee at British Independent Film Awards 2018; Winner of Queen Mary University London’s Public Engagement Award 2018; Winner of Belfast Film Festival’s Maysles Brother’s Award for Observational Documentary.
★★★★★ “A memento mori in a pretty direct form” The Sunday Times
★★★★ “Hauntingly evocative” The Guardian
Supported by Arts Council England, National Lottery Big Lottery Fund, FREEFOLK, CODA, Mountbatten Hospice, FABRICA and Queen Mary University London.
Of Love
& Law
by Hikaru Toda co-produced with
Little Stranger Films
95 mins; 2017
Fumi and Kazu are partners in love and law; they run the first law firm in Japan set up by an openly gay couple. As lawyers driven by their own experience of being outsiders, they attract a range of clients who reveal the hidden diversity of a country that prides itself for collective obedience, politeness and conformity. The lawyers and their misfit clients expose and challenge the archaic status quo that deems them second-class citizens. Against the backdrop of civil liberties under attack, the film asks what it takes to be an individual, what it means to be a minority and what role family plays in our increasingly polarised world.
UK theatrical release 1 March 2019. For bookings please contact info@hakawati.co.uk
For information about the Japanese release visit www.aitohou-movie.com
To book an educational screening in the US complete this form
Winner of Japanese Competition BEST FILM at Tokyo International Film Festival 2017; Winner of Firebird Award for Best Documentary at Hong Kong International Film Festival 2018; Best Documentary nominee at Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2018; Winner of Tokyo Docs pitch 2014.
★★★★★ “One of the loveliest documentaries of the year“ The Evening Standard
★★★★ “Adroitly weaves together the personal and the political“ The Guardian
★★★★ “A heartwarming portrait of a relationship thriving against the odds”
Total Film
“Alternately touching and amusing, uplifting and heartbreaking” Mark Kermode, BFI Player ‘Film of the Week’
Supported by Chicken & Egg Pictures, The Great British Sasakawa Foundation, Daiwa Foundation, Women Make Movies.
WATCH AT HOME:
Even When
I Fall
By Sky Neal & Kate McLarnon
Satya Films & Postcode Films
Produced by Elhum Shakerifar
93 mins, 2018
In Spring 2018, Hakawati distributed the “remarkable” and “uplifting” Even When I Fall through a 12-city Q&A preview tour starting on International Women’s Day (8th March) and nationwide cinema release from 13th April reaching over 45 cities nationwide. Events included partnerships with CircusFest at The Roundhouse, BFI, Women in Film & TV and V&A Museum. Now available to download or own on DVD
Described as the “feelgood film of the week” by the Financial Times, “gripping” by The Times and “sensitive, intimate, graceful” by Total Film. The film has been nominated for the Discovery Award, British Independent Film Awards 2017 and Best Feature Documentary, One World Media Awards 2018.
Even When I Fall tells the incredible story of Nepal’s first circus, set up by survivors of child trafficking. An intimate, beautiful film that harnesses the visual power of circus to give a unique perspective into the complex world of human trafficking.
Nominated for Screen Awards 2018 Film Campaign of the Year
★★★★ “Gripping occasionally dreamlike and unexpectedly uplifting” The Times
★★★★ “Feelgood film of the week”
Financial Times
★★★★ Metro
★★★★ The Observer
Supported by BFI, Sundance, Chicken & Egg Pictures, Fork Films, World View, Bertha Foundation, Doc Society, Women Make Movies.
WATCH AT HOME:
Almost Heaven
by Carol Salter; Rocksalt Films
in association with Hakawati
72mins, 2017
In 2017, Hakawati distributed Berlinale “stand out” Almost Heaven by Carol Salter through a nationwide Q&A tour in partnership with MUBI, where the film was then showcased throughout the month of September. Now available to download in the UK
Winner of Best Documentary, British Independent Film Awards 2017; winner of Best Documentary Feature, Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2018; double nominee at Berlin International Film Festival 2017.
Almost Heaven follows 17-year-old Ying Ling, who is training to become a mortician in one of China’s largest funeral homes. Far from home and terrified of ghosts, she learns to perform spa and beauty treatments for the dead, speaking to them softly as she is watched closely by family members. Learning to navigate the long, lifeless corridors of the crematorium, she forms a close and unexpected friendship with her colleague Jin Hau. Their playful camaraderie makes work bearable, but when Jin Hau suddenly leaves the funeral home, Ying Ling is left to face the harsh realities of the job alone
A tender and life-affirming portrait of a vibrant young woman approaching adulthood.
“The juxtaposition of vibrant youth and mundane death strikes a chord, touching upon something which borders on the metaphysical, sneaking up upon profundity and finding solace and insight in the most unexpected places”
Mark Kermode’s BFI Player Film of the Week - watch here
★★★★ “A poignant study of life and death”
The Sunday Times
★★★★ Time Out
38 classics directed by women’ - BFI
WATCH AT HOME:
