Molly Dineen is one of Britain's most acclaimed, award-winning documentary filmmakers, known for her intimate and probing portrait films. This year the BFI has brought these extraordinary films to DVD for the first time, in three volumes. Volume One contains Home from the Hill (1987), My African Farm (1988), Heart of the Angel (1989) and In the Company of Men (1995). Volume Two is the multi-award-winning series about London Zoo, The Ark (1993). This final volume takes Dineen into different territory – probing more public figures; hereditary peers of the realm in the House of Lords, Geri Halliwell and Tony Blair. It also contains the heartbreaking, BAFTA-Award winning The Lie of the Land.
Geri (1999): Geri Halliwell – the most colourful and outrageous of the Spice Girls – has dramatically left the band. A few days later, Dineen joins her as she seeks solace with family and friends, dodges the paparazzi, and embarks on her new career. This rollercoaster ride is a fascinating insight into the often solitary and unsettling side of fame and celebrity, and the personality behind that infamous Union Jack dress.
The Lords' Tale (2002): Dineen follows one of Parliament's greatest upheavals: the abolition of the hereditary peers. With customary sensitivity, she puts a human face on the constitutional crisis, weaving together the strands of the personal and the public to make one of the most astute political documentaries of the New Labour era.
The Lie of the Land (2007): On the eve of the fox hunting ban, Dineen uncovers the shocking truths of life in the British countryside, where farmers struggle to survive under the weight of government legislation and the national indifference towards rural communities. A BAFTA Best Documentary Award-winner.
The Molly Dineen Collection, Volume 3 will be released on UK DVD by the BFI on 5th December 2011 at the RRP of £19.99.
Extra features will include:
- Party Election Broadcast for the Labour Party (1997, 10 mins): Dineen's candid portrait of Tony Blair is a masterful piece of observational documentary as propaganda;
- Exclusive new documentary featuring previously-unseen footage of Tony Blair on and off duty during his 1997 election campaign;
- New interview with Geri Halliwell and Molly Dineen on the making of Geri;
- New interview with Dineen on the making of The Lords' Tale and The Lie of the Land;
- Illustrated booklet featuring new essays and notes.
|