Channel 4 Commissioning Editor Aysha Rafael has commissioned 12 x 30 minute First Cut films which will TX early summer.
The First Cut strand showcases original and bold documentary films by up and coming first time directors as part of Channel 4’s continuous commitment to nurturing new and diverse talent. It first launched in 2007 and now in its sixth year. These forthcoming films chronicle a range of fascinating stories from the world’s first IVF lottery, a finishing school for Chinese students in London, Britain’s oldest stand-up comic – to the moving story of the mother of one of Ian Brady’s victims who is making one last plea to him to reveal where her boy is buried.
First Cut Commissioning Editor, Aysha Rafaele said: ‘First Cut continues to be one of the very few platforms on primetime TV for emerging film making talent in the UK. I am proud that Channel 4 continues to showcase and support distinctive singular documentary films and is always open to introducing fresh new opinions and ideas. This new series of First Cut once again delivers a run of thought-provoking films from a variety of talented first-time directors.’
Films for the 2012 run will include:
The Harry Hunters
Since the marriage between Kate Middleton and Prince William, Prince Harry has been thrust into the spotlight as the most eligible bachelor in Britain. Handsome and third in line to the throne, the remaining Prince has become an object of desire for girls across the globe. The Harry Hunters follows five girls on their quest to snag a royal including Cassie who grew up in rural Iowa watching Disney movies and dreaming she would one day marry Prince Harry. She’s done her background research and has a plan – to hit his favourite haunts – from Polo clubs to exclusive Mayfair nightspots. Production Company: Rare Day; Producer and Director: Emily Hughes; Exec Producers: Emily Renshaw-Smith and Peter Dale.
Dear Mr Brady
This sensitive and poignant film tells the story of Winnie Johnson, and her son Keith Bennett who was horrifically murdered by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley in the 1960s. Out of the five victims of the Moors Murderers, only Keith remains buried on Saddleworth Moor. Almost 50 years after Keith’s disappearance, Ian Brady still refuses to say where he buried the 12-year-old boy. Now 78 years-old and recently diagnosed with cancer, Winnie refuses to give up her quest to find and bring home her eldest son and makes one last plea to Ian Brady to tell her where he buried Keith. Dear Mr Brady examines the extraordinary relationship between Manchester Matron Winnie Johnson and Britain’s most notorious serial killer, Ian Brady, and reveals how Winnie has coped with every mother’s worst nightmare. Production Company: Century Films; Producer and Director: John Coffey; Exec Producer: Liesel Evans.
Fraud Lord
Lord Davenport is the extraordinary tale of ‘Fast Eddie’ Davenport and his spectacular fall from grace. How did this titled London socialite end up sentenced to 7 years behind bars? He was already notorious for a lifestyle that was said to include orgies, fast cars, and dodgy property, even before he hit the front pages following his conviction for a multiple-million pound financial fraud. Davenport has property around the world and who could not be impressed by his website which includes a gallery of photographs showing him at parties that were attended by the likes of Mick Jagger and Paris Hilton. It turned out he used the movie star pseudonym James Stewart to execute his multimillion pound con. Production Company: Ronachan Films; Producer and Director: Ruth Reid, Exec Producer: Helen Littleboy.
Stalked
Stalked is the story of how one man became entangled in the murky waters of 21st century sexual manners; and how easily the word of one person can transform your life, causing you to question your own past, and fear your own innermost thoughts. When a single, thirty-something writer living in London awoke to find a woman he’d met just hours earlier saying she loved him, an alarm bell started to ring. Six months later, his life changed for the worse. Told through dramatized sequences and interviews with friends, family, workmates and neighbours, Stalked reveals how a confident young man ends up as a terrified victim. What are the rules of contemporary sexual politics? How does it feel to be transformed on the say-so of one person, from victim to sexual assault suspect? And why does nearly everyone view the idea of a man being stalked by a woman as a joke? Production Company: ACME Films; Producer and Director: Lottie Gammon; Exec Prod: Jaimie D’Cruz.
A Tale of Two Chinas
China has an increasing impact on the UK. The Peking pound now props up the British housing and education market, Chinese hunger for haute couture accounted for a third of the spending in 2010 London Christmas sales and almost half of London’s Canary Wharf apartments are Chinese owned. The largest number of foreign students in the UK are Chinese, but they can find it hard to comprehend British culture. This is where Anglo-Chinese businesswoman Carrie Waley comes in. Carrie escaped to the UK from Beijing and now runs a strict, straight-talking finishing school for Chinese students studying here, eager to learn British customs and snap up the top international jobs, but also to take on the ‘correct’ etiquette, fashion and business persona. The film follows Carrie back to Beijing as she revisits the places of her childhood and hears her mother talking for the first time, about their family’s humiliation and persecution during the Cultural Revolution and asks if China too can reconcile past and present? Production Company: Keo Films; Producer and Director: Frankie Fathers; Exec Producer: Katie Buchanan.
Britain’s Oldest Stand Up
Chelsea Pensioner, 90-year-old Jack Woodward has a dream: to revive his career as a stand-up comic and perform on stage at the Hammersmith Apollo. This film follows Jack on a heart-warming journey as he attempts to make it in the modern world of stand-up comedy. Jack has grown restless and is looking for a challenge and wants to do one last gig to rival them all. His comedy CV is already impressive – he cut his comedy teeth in working men’s clubs in the North, performed on troop ships during WW2 and was a BBC warm-up comic in the 1960s. He complains that comedians today swear too much, but can they actually teach him a thing or two about modern comedy and help him update his act so he can compete with the best of them? For an old dog learning new tricks, the road to the Apollo will be littered with obstacles, both practical and emotional. But the reward will be the opportunity for Jack to feel the buzz of a live audience once again – and to finally achieve a life-long ambition. Production Co: Testimony Films; Producer and Director: Clair Titley; Exec Producer Steve Humphries.
Win a Baby
Fertility problems affect one in seven couples in the UK so when single mother Camille Strachan announced back in July 2011 that she would be launching the world’s first IVF lottery, it caused both a media storm and provoked a huge ethical debate. The scheme comes at a time when more and more people are citing a ‘postcode lottery’ with regards to receiving IVF treatment on the NHS and promises a monthly chance of winning a luxurious all-inclusive fertility treatment package worth £25,000, all for a £20 ticket online. Win a Baby follows Camille as she prepares and launches the first lottery of its type in Britain and meets the people who are planning on entering in the draw. Production Company: Roast Beef Productions; Producer: Danielle Clark; Director: Joseph Martin; Executive Producers: Mike Lerner and Martin Herring
What’s My Body Worth?
Could selling your hair, fingernails or eggs make you rich? Filmmaker Storm Theunissen examines the reality of the body parts industry and embarks on a hilarious yet painful personal journey; trying to sell every bit of her body she legally can from a lap-dance to her own eggs. Setting her sights on Hollywood – the market leader in egg-brokering for IVF – Storm learns that model looks and intelligence could easily net you $15,000. Egg donation must be altruistic in the UK and What’s My Body Worth is a timely contribution to this moral minefield. In April this year, the UK government is tripling the payment for expenses to £750 in a bid to solve a shortage of these donors. The film also follows Storm as she aims to discover whether her body is worth more dead than alive. Production Company: Ronachan Films; Producer and Director: Storm Theunissen; Executive Producers: Monica Garnsey and Angus Macqueen .