Penny Woolcock

In 2006, Antony Gormley was commissioned to make a large figure out of wooden rubbish using volunteers in Margate for the Penny Woolcock film Exodus. Once complete the figure would be burnt to the ground for the film. This documentary short follows the construction and demolition of Gormley's figure.

Peer into the world of contemporary composer John Adams with this documentary that blends performance footage with insightful interviews and commentary from his collaborators and the master himself. Highlights include performances of Adams's Grammy Award-winning operas “Nixon in China” and “El Niño” and excerpts from Penny Woolcock’s film adaptation of “The Death of Klinghoffer”. Works by Steve Reich and Conlon Nancarrow are also performed by the Ensemble InterContemporain at the Théâtre Musical de Paris-Châtelet.

This searing British thriller follows Flash (Dylan Duffus), who's safeguarding his buddy Angel's (Yohance Watson) cash until his release from prison. Now Angel is out -- and Flash is 100 pounds short. He turns to a lowlife named Evil (Tobias Duncan) for help, the first in a series of mistakes. Now, Flash has more than just Angel hunting him down. Directed by Penny Woolcock (Mischief Night), the film co-stars Ohran Whyte and Chris Wilson

Everyone has Halloween, but in Yorkshire, they have Mischief Night, where madness and mayhem rule. In the course of one night, the barriers that separate two families—one white, one Asian—come tumbling down in a blaze of crime, clubbing, love and fireworks—changing all their lives forever.

Everyone has Halloween, but in Yorkshire, they have Mischief Night, where madness and mayhem rule. In the course of one night, the barriers that separate two families—one white, one Asian—come tumbling down in a blaze of crime, clubbing, love and fireworks—changing all their lives forever.

Dog fighting was banned in the UK in 1835, but 180 years later is growing in popularity in inner-cities. This film meets the men who keep the fight in the dog and the dog in the fight.

Five adults with learning disabilities live together in a flat.

Bizet’s rarely heard opera returned to the Met for the first time in a century on New Year’s Eve 2015, in Penny Woolcock’s acclaimed new production. Star soprano Diana Damrau sings Leïla, the virgin priestess at the center of the story. Matthew Polenzani and Mariusz Kwiecien are Nadir and Zurga, rivals for Leïla’s love who have sworn to renounce her to protect their friendship—and who get to sing one of opera’s most celebrated duets, “Au fond du temple saint.” Nicolas Testé is the high priest Nourabad and Gianandrea Noseda conducts Bizet’s supremely romantic score.

The story of Exodus is relocated to the seaside town Margate. Moses lives in the Promised Lands with his adoptive parents, until he finds his mother in the shanty town, Dreamland, where she’s been ghettoised with other ‘undesirables’. He takes on his father, Pharaoh, and leads a radical campaign to liberate the people of Dreamland.

Celia, an Argentinian expatriate, arrives in Newcastle to marry her fiancé, George. Instead of meeting her at the airport, George sends his chauffeur, who drops her off at a local hotel. There she meets up with a standup comedienne and her daughter who provide her with wild diversions whilst she waits for her man. But then Celia learns from them that George has a rather dubious past.

Celia, an Argentinian expatriate, arrives in Newcastle to marry her fiancé, George. Instead of meeting her at the airport, George sends his chauffeur, who drops her off at a local hotel. There she meets up with a standup comedienne and her daughter who provide her with wild diversions whilst she waits for her man. But then Celia learns from them that George has a rather dubious past.

An adaptation from the controversial John Adams opera about the true life incident that took place in the mid 80s. The liner "Achille Lauro" is on a 12-day cruise in the Mediterranean. While the ship is docked in Alexandria, a maid discovers that four of the passengers are actually members of the Palestine Liberation Organization traveling incognito. Startled by their discovery, the PLO cadre is forced to act. They take the passengers on board hostage and demand the release of 50 Palestinian activists held in Israeli jails. As Egyptian, American, Italian, and Palestinian authorities bicker over the best way to handle the situation (and who would negotiate with the terrorists), the kidnappers find themselves dealing with rebellion among their captives, and an argument between the four PLO members and Leon Klinghoffer, a Jewish-American confined to a wheelchair, eventually escalates into violence.

This documentary produced by Rare Day and directed by award-winning filmmaker Penny Woolcock charts the attempts by two warring gangs in inner city Birmingham, the Burger Bar Boys (B21) and the Johnson Crew (B6), to bring peace to their neighbourhoods.

From the Sea to the Land Beyond is a film about the British coast made from 100 years of our film heritage stored in the British Film Institute collection, edited by Penny Woolcock with a soundtrack by British Sea Power

Crippled by his writer's block, Paul enters into a new, exciting relationship with risk-taking Billy and super-sexy Juliette. As it becomes increasingly tangled, however, he must choose one of them over the other.

Crippled by his writer's block, Paul enters into a new, exciting relationship with risk-taking Billy and super-sexy Juliette. As it becomes increasingly tangled, however, he must choose one of them over the other.

Filmmaker Penny Woolcock spent eight months in a parallel world, the world of the homeless, befriending people and finding out where they eat, sleep and socialise. While making her film, Woolcock realised that the very real problems of homeless people have very little to do with the lack of a roof over their heads or a bed to sleep in. Their problems come from their past lives - and are less easy to remedy. Despite the efforts of different charities to move people into homes, the streets are often where they feel safe and what they know best. In this moving documentary, Woolcock gives the seen-but-unheard residents of London's streets a voice.

A modern version of Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'.

“Film questions whether the encouragement of very low paid jobs and schemes - both in general and specifically how they function in the area affected by the closure of the Consett steelworks in 1980 - is a sufficiently visionary response to the question of survival in post-industrial Britain. Local people talk about their experiences, an escapologist performs and a drag act sings. Plus drama sequence in which Bill tells Rose that making a fortune is easy.” - BFI.

It centers on the affable London youngster Daz, who views drug dealing as a way to get quick money to support his needy family.

It centers on the affable London youngster Daz, who views drug dealing as a way to get quick money to support his needy family.

It centers on the affable London youngster Daz, who views drug dealing as a way to get quick money to support his needy family.

The first film in the Tina trilogy, using the actual inhabitants of a tough Leeds council estate in the leading roles. Tina is a single mum who steals to order for her own `shopping' business, her drug-addict boyfriend Aaron is planning the theft of a cow so he can sell the meat, and Tina's father, Don, is the mobster in control of the local drugs trade.

Second in the Tina trilogy of films (Tina Goes Shopping, Mischief Night) set on a tough Leeds housing estate and starring the residents who actually live there in real life. This time Tina is in prison and life on the estate is viewed through her children's eyes.

In Out Of The Rubble, Woolcock shows how planners grappled with the grimmest poverty imaginable in the post-war era, from Brixton to Glasgow, Islington to Birmingham, believing that tower blocks would transform the lives of those living in decaying slums. She follows the cycle of optimism, building and eventual decline, meeting people who 50 years on bear witness to the effects of housing on real families, striking a contemporary chord with the theme of immigration and gentrification affecting working class communities. The irresistible nostalgia of scenes from the 1950s, 60s and 70s is tempered by a realisation of the force of history at work.

A documentary team investigates the day-to-day operation and lives of the residents at a wet house, a hostel for the homeless which allows those living there to continue drinking.

An adaptation from the controversial John Adams opera about the true life incident that took place in the mid 80s. The liner "Achille Lauro" is on a 12-day cruise in the Mediterranean. While the ship is docked in Alexandria, a maid discovers that four of the passengers are actually members of the Palestine Liberation Organization traveling incognito. Startled by their discovery, the PLO cadre is forced to act. They take the passengers on board hostage and demand the release of 50 Palestinian activists held in Israeli jails. As Egyptian, American, Italian, and Palestinian authorities bicker over the best way to handle the situation (and who would negotiate with the terrorists), the kidnappers find themselves dealing with rebellion among their captives, and an argument between the four PLO members and Leon Klinghoffer, a Jewish-American confined to a wheelchair, eventually escalates into violence.

Migrating is seldom an easy solution. It is rather a journey, that begins with a journey. After more than eight years of campaigning, the immigrant cleaners outsourced at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London continue to demand being brought in-house. Limpiadores charts the history of their and others’ campaigns – from winning the London Living Wage to the deportation of nine colleagues, and the day-to-day invisible labour of cleaners on our campus.

Filmmaker Penny Woolcock spent eight months in a parallel world, the world of the homeless, befriending people and finding out where they eat, sleep and socialise. While making her film, Woolcock realised that the very real problems of homeless people have very little to do with the lack of a roof over their heads or a bed to sleep in. Their problems come from their past lives - and are less easy to remedy. Despite the efforts of different charities to move people into homes, the streets are often where they feel safe and what they know best. In this moving documentary, Woolcock gives the seen-but-unheard residents of London's streets a voice.

Second in the Tina trilogy of films (Tina Goes Shopping, Mischief Night) set on a tough Leeds housing estate and starring the residents who actually live there in real life. This time Tina is in prison and life on the estate is viewed through her children's eyes.

The story of Exodus is relocated to the seaside town Margate. Moses lives in the Promised Lands with his adoptive parents, until he finds his mother in the shanty town, Dreamland, where she’s been ghettoised with other ‘undesirables’. He takes on his father, Pharaoh, and leads a radical campaign to liberate the people of Dreamland.

Second in the Tina trilogy of films (Tina Goes Shopping, Mischief Night) set on a tough Leeds housing estate and starring the residents who actually live there in real life. This time Tina is in prison and life on the estate is viewed through her children's eyes.

The first film in the Tina trilogy, using the actual inhabitants of a tough Leeds council estate in the leading roles. Tina is a single mum who steals to order for her own `shopping' business, her drug-addict boyfriend Aaron is planning the theft of a cow so he can sell the meat, and Tina's father, Don, is the mobster in control of the local drugs trade.

A documentary crew investigates the stagnating life of the unemployed in a former mining town in Wales.

A documentary team investigates the day-to-day operation and lives of the residents at a wet house, a hostel for the homeless which allows those living there to continue drinking.