Directing
An anthology series of various plays and dramatic performances.
A new academy school in a Yorkshire mill town merges the lives and cultures of the largely divided white and Asian community
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.
It centers on the affable London youngster Daz, who views drug dealing as a way to get quick money to support his needy family.
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
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.
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.
“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.
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.
A modern version of Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A documentary crew investigates the stagnating life of the unemployed in a former mining town in Wales.
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.
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.
