Tim Plester

Scatterbrook Farm is besieged by birdwatchers when the children spot a group of rare choughs.

Currently a primary focus for environmental campaigners in the UK, HS2 is a controversial new high-speed rail line being built from London to the North of England. Documenting a single day on the front line of battles against the HS2 construction, The Battle of Denham Ford tells the story of attempts by HS2 contractors to fell a tree that overhung their compound. A protest camp sits adjacent to the compound, and, hearing of the plan, the activists installed a climber in the tree. As the day unfolds, the film documents as a range of private security contractors, with support from the police and emergency services, try to regain possession of the tree. Raising questions about the relationship between private citizens, corporations, and the state, the film places the viewer on the ground, offering a perspective that is as close to the experience of being there as any film could deliver. – Sheffield Doc/Fest

Unable to face the mother who left her at a young age, BRYNJA (40) takes shelter in a small guesthouse in a village outside Reykjavik. There she befriends MARK (50), a British tourist, who's dealing with his own personal tragedy.

8.8/10

An otherworldly journey through a Europe in decline - a collection of darkly humorous, fantasy tales about ill-fated characters and doomed fortune.

Sequel to the feature film "A Street Cat Named Bob"

Worzel, Susan and John come across Worzel's old friend, Saucy Nancy, a ship's figurehead, in a scrapyard.So Worzel and kids promise to sate her yearnings for the sea.

Mackenzie Crook writes, directs and stars in this new family comedy series about a scarecrow who comes to life, based on the characters created by author Barbara Euphan Todd.

7.7/10

55 Steps is based a the inspiring true story of Eleanor Riese, a mental illness patient herself, who brings a class action suit to give competent mental patients the right to have a say in their medication while they’re in a hospital, and Colette Hughes, the lawyer appointed to her case.

6.9/10
5%

Singer Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bass guitarist John Deacon take the music world by storm when they form the rock 'n' roll band Queen in 1970. Hit songs become instant classics. When Mercury's increasingly wild lifestyle starts to spiral out of control, Queen soon faces its greatest challenge yet – finding a way to keep the band together amid the success and excess.

8/10
6%

'All Small Bodies' is a feminist, sci-fi take on the Grimm tale of Hansel and Gretel. It occurs in the distant future among the ruins of a planetary catastrophe, revealing the abuses of history and technology. In the wake of the chaotic aftermath, there are several resilient survivors including two young girls named Z and Bub. The film follows these curious adolescents who have long been lost and alone in the haunted, other-worldly woods, as they awaken their extrasensory abilities and reclaim their autonomy from a menacing dark presence.

4.6/10

One of the most important English singers of 20th century traditional song, Shirley Collins and her sister Dolly stood at the epicentre of the folk music revival from the 1950s through to the 1970’s. Directors Rob Curry and Tim Plester have created a poetic response to the life-and-times of this totemic musical figure. Four years in the making, and co produced by Fifth Column Films and Burning Bridges, The Ballad of Shirley Collins is the fascinating first release from Fire Films - available to you exclusively through the Lush Player. A captivating study of heritage, posterity and the true ancestral melodies of the people, this heartwarming film revolves around Shirley’s tragic loss of her voice and struggle back to the limelight. And ultimately, it suggests that in these turbulent and increasingly untethered times, we may just need Shirley Collins and all she represents more than ever.

7.6/10
8.8%

Ah, Sweden. Prosperity. Tolerance and equality. ABBA, social democracy and clean fresh air and... snus - the superstrong smokeless tobacco that is forbidden all over Europe. A harmless alternative to smoking according to some. Others might disagree... Things seem to be looking up for small time thief Karsten Lammstrom. His prison time is coming to an end. On the outside waits Annika, his wife to be, and a livelihood: a sightseeing-boat in the Swedish archipelago. What Karsten doesn't need is a Balkan warlord arriving to the prison; notorious Serbian torturer, Zlatko Pavic. When Zlatko takes an interest in Karstens habit to use snus, things take an unexpected turn of events. Karsten ends up facing a grueling moral dilemma.

8.9/10

Captain Webb aka The Greatest Englishman tells the story of Captain Matthew Webb, the first-ever person to successfully swim the English Channel in 1875 equipped only with his moustache, doses of Brandy and a wire wool swimsuit.

5.9/10

A Romanian police officer teams up with a small crew of bank robbers to pull off a heist by convincing everyone at the scene of the crime that they are only filming a movie.

6.9/10
4.6%

Beneath Bruce Garrett's under-confident, overweight exterior, the passionate heart of a salsa king lies dormant. Now, one woman is about to reignite his Latin fire.

6.2/10
5.4%

A collection of films from an eclectic array of contributors commissioned to raise funds for the Bristol independent cinema The Cube.

6.1/10

A young woman who has recently finished university is working a dead-end office job whilst looking for 'the one'. Why can't she find the man of her dreams?

5.2/10

Set in the near future, Lockout follows a falsely convicted ex-government agent , whose one chance at obtaining freedom lies in the dangerous mission of rescuing the President's daughter from rioting convicts at an outer space maximum security prison.

6.1/10
3.7%

As quintessentially homegrown as a game of cricket or a plate of fish-and-chips, Morris dancing is one of Englands most ancient roots traditions. And yet to your average man on the street, its seen as little more than a national joke. And a bad national joke at that. Something to ridicule. Something to be embarrassed about. A heartfelt docu-ballad in praise of birthplace, bloodline and rural brotherhood, WAY OF THE MORRIS follows Tim on a deeply personal journey from the barleyfields of his childhood to the killing fields of The Somme, as he traces the poignant link between the spirited folk revival of the mid-1970s and the true story of the young Adderbury Morris side so decimated by the carnage of the First World War.

7/10
10%

Dave Lizewski is an unnoticed high school student and comic book fan who one day decides to become a super-hero, even though he has no powers, training or meaningful reason to do so.

7.6/10
7.6%

Amy Pond and Rory Williams are trapped on a crashing space liner, and the only way the Eleventh Doctor can rescue them is to save the soul of a lonely old miser. But is Kazran Sardick, the richest man in Sardicktown, beyond redemption? And what is lurking in the fogs of Christmas Eve?

8.5/10

Axl wants to find his long-lost father and rediscover his past. Vera just wants to forget hers as she tries to move on from heartbreak. Their stories come together in the melting-pot of 21st century London.

6.6/10
7.6%

In this blend of historical drama and original source material, the story of this decisive year is remagined, not from the saddles of kings and conquerors, but through the eyes of the ordinary men who fought on their behalf.

6.5/10

A man's search for the existence of life outside our universe takes a remarkable turn when he connects with a recently bereaved family.

6.6/10

In 1303, a ragtag bunch of crooks and ne'er-do-wells plot to take revenge on Edward I, the King of England.

7/10

Control is the biography of Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis, taking his story from schoolboy days of 1973 to his suicide on the eve of the band's first American tour in 1980.

7.7/10
8.8%

A pair of rivaling stage magicians are forced to confront their falling out over a guillotine mishap when they compete in a magic competition.

6/10
3.3%

Intergalactic revolutionaries "Blake's 7" make an eventful late night stop at Newport Pagnell Services on the M1.

5.7/10

Paul Reynolds is a Gatsby-like figure: owner of a magnificent house, the host of great parties, and a collector of interesting people. He persuades Lizzie Thomas, a secretary at a local estate agent's, to come and work for him as his assistant, to bring some order to his chaos. He inspires her with his enthusiasm and imagination, and frustrates her with his apparent carelessness and destructiveness, which culminates in her calling the police as one of his parties is attacked by local troublemakers, seemingly with his tacit approval. But their paths are destined to cross again and again as Lizzie, with the help of some of the people that she met at Paul's house, rises through the changing landscape of corporate Britain. This is the tale of a meaningful and powerful relationship that isn't a love story; it's about those rare people who profoundly influence and shape our lives.

6.8/10

Its All Gone Pete Tong is a comedy following the tragic life of the legendary Frankie Wilde. The story takes us through Frankie's life from being one of the best DJs alive, through a subsequent battle with a hearing disorder, culminating in his mysterious disappearance from the scene.

7.3/10
7.6%

Based on a true story, the movie tells the story of two pigs, named Butch and Sundance, who staged a dramatic escape from an abattoir in January 1998 and remained at large for a week ...

5.9/10

Satirical drama about the residents of a suburban English street, including a racist bully, a single mum who works on a phone-sex line, a gay couple, a pair of spaced-out students, a cross-dressing teenage boy and a newly arrived family from hell.

7.9/10

Happiness was a British sitcom broadcast on BBC2 with dramatic, melancholy overtones written by Paul Whitehouse and David Cummings with Whitehouse in the lead role. There have been two series thus far, the first running in 2001 and the second in 2003. Whitehouse has stated that there will probably not be a third.

7.3/10

This drama documentary tells the story of the Conservative Party's 2016 leadership campaign - how Boris Johnson, having won the referendum and in pole position to be the next PM, handed victory to Theresa May. Based on extensive research and first-person testimonies, this dramatized narrative goes beyond the headlines to lay bare the politicking and positioning, betrayals and blunders of this extraordinary political time. The programme also features key interviews with people who were intimately involved in the campaigns of the main contenders.

The Boat People is a psychological thriller. Jared is taken to the coast by his new girlfriend, Alice. They stay in the seaside cottage she's owed all her life with her sister, Cleo. As soon as he gets there, Jared begins to have haunting dreams.

7.6/10