Archives: Films

The Real Selfie Project is a collaboration between Speakit and analogue photobooth pioneers Autofoto.

We have been commissioned to create public engagement projects and exhibitions in partnership with major galleries and institutions including The Photographers Gallery, Autograph, Coal Drops Yard and Hackney Council.

This mixed media storytelling project fuses self-portraiture captured in the intimacy of an original analogue photobooth, with audio recordings to tell the stories and experiences of different communities.

Selected Projects:

The Windrush Generation / Autograph Gallery

A collaboration with Autograph gallery to celebrate The Windrush Generation and contribute to the visual and archival story of the borough’s rich history. The series of portraits and interviews were exhibited on billboards throughout the borough, and in a zine published for Windrush Day. Writer Zita Holbourne wrote this powerful piece “Struggle, Resilience and Struggle’ to accompany the launch.

Portrait of A Pandemic / Coal Drops Yard

A site-specific exhibition commissioned by Coal Drops Yard in London’s Kings Cross, which captured the stories of people in the wake of the first lock-down during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Listen to the stories here

My Future Self / The Photographer’s Gallery

A public engagement initiative with The Photographer’s Gallery to activate the Soho Photography Quarter in London.

SLOW DOWN AND BREATHE…
Enter the ultimate meditative listening experience, inspired by the teachings of the Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh.

Based on the acclaimed documentary ‘Walk With Me’, this soundscape features narration from Benedict Cumberbatch and is introduced by Marc J. Francis, co-director of the award-winning film.

From monastic chants to mindfulness bells and the sounds of nature, listeners will be immersed in this hour-long recording. Escape to the world-famous Plum Village Monastery and find a deep sense of presence within.

‘Walk With Me In Sound’ allows us to gain a new perspective on our lives and the tools to create our very own moments of stillness and calm, wherever we may be.

RELEASE YEAR
2021

CREDITS
Created by: Marc J. Francis
Produced by: Marc J. Francis & Matt Coldrick
Introduced by: Marc J. Francis
Features: Benedict Cumberbatch, Thich Nhat Hanh & Plum Village choir
Executive Producer: Max Pugh

Featuring New York Times best-selling author Elizabeth Gilbert (‘Eat Pray Love’) and her Syrian-American partner Rayya Elias, this deeply intimate film is a no holds barred portrait of a couple in love, who confront the inevitable truth of time running out, after Rayya is diagnosed with inoperable cancer.

RELEASE YEAR
2024

CREDITS
Director: Marc J Francis
Executive Producer: Nick Francis

This film tells the story of how the English National Opera re-imagined Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem – one of the greatest choral works of the 20th century.

With exclusive behind-the-scenes access, Speakit Films follows the Turner-prize winning artist Wolfgang Tillmans as he collaborates with the ENO to turn Britten’s passionate statement about the impact of war, into a critically-acclaimed performance at the London Coliseum.

RELEASE YEAR
2019

CREDITS
Director: Tanya Stephan
Producer: Stephanie Collins
Editor Alexander Fry
Executive Producer: Nick Francis

A Speakit Films production for the BBC

Narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch, Walk With Me is a cinematic journey into the world of mindfulness and the Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh. Filmed over three years and with unprecedented access, this visceral film is a meditation on a community who have given up all their possessions for a monastic life in rural France.

RELEASE YEAR

2017

CREDITS

Directors / Producers: Marc J. Francis & Max Pugh
Exec Producer: Nick Francis
Co-Exec Producers: Himesh Kar, Chade Meng Tan, Will Moore
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Thich Nhat Hanh

PRESS

“Cooling to the mind and soothing to the spirit”
NEW YORK TIMES

“A unique spectacle.”
ROGEREBERT.COM

“Sublime and uplifiting”
LA TIMES

“A moving examination of mortality and life choices.”
VILLAGE VOICE

“Fascinating and profound.”
SCREEN INTERNATIONAL

FESTIVALS

SXSW Official Selection 2017
BFI London Film Festival 2017

The story about one man’s struggle to save his Ethiopian coffee farmers from bankruptcy.
‘Black Gold’ premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to be screened in over 60 international film festivals and was released in over 40 countries around the world. It was the first film to send shockwaves through the global coffee industry, stirring consumers into unprecedented action, and changing the way millions of people and companies think about coffee.

RELEASE YEAR
2006

CREDITS
A Speakit Films production in association with Fulcrum Productions and DocFactory.
Directed and Produced by: Marc J. Francis & Nick Francis
Executive Producer: Christopher Hird
Editor: Hugh Williams | Music: Andreas Kapsalis
Supported by: The Sundance Institute, The UK Film Council, Screen South, Channel 4 Britdoc Foundation

PRESS
“Excellent – angry, good-humoured and essential.”
THE OBSERVER

“Riveting and jaw dropping.”
LA TIMES

“Remarkable”
DAILY TELEGRAPH

“Visually Stunning”
VARIETY

FESTIVALS
Sundance Film Festival Official Selection
Seattle International Film Festival
Hotdocs Documentary Festival
Melbourne International Film Festival

AWARDS
British Independent Film Awards 2007

On the front line of China’s foray into Africa, this landmark observational film tells the story of a Chinese farmer, a road builder and the Zambia’s minister of trade to reveal the expanding footprint of a rising global power.

‘When China Met Africa’ is a multi-broadcast and theatrical project with BBC Storyville, Arte France, VPRO and the Sundance Institute.

RELEASE YEAR
2010

CREDITS
A Speakit Films & Zeta Productions co-production
Written, directed and produced by: Marc Francis and Nick Francis
Executive Producer: Miriana Bojic Walter
Editor: Hugh Williams
Music: Florencia Di Concilio
Executive Producer for Arte: Christilla Huillard Kann and Pierrette Ominetti
Executive Producer for BBC: Nick Fraser
Executive Producer for VPRO: Barbara Truyen

PRESS
“Fascinating”
TOTAL FILM

“Compelling”
EMPIRE

“Eye-opening”
The Guardian

“A rare grass-roots view into one of the
most important economic challenges of our age.”
THE TIMES

FESTIVALS
Full Frame Official Selection 2010
Munich Interntational Film Festival Official Selection 2010
Goteburg Interntational Film Festival Official Selection 2010
Rotterdam Interntational Film Festival Official Selection 2010
Sheffield DocFest Official Selection 2010
IDFA Official Selection 2010

AWARDS
Best Filmmaker Award Margaret Mead International Film Festival
Best Film The Observer Ethical Awards

A short film in collaboration with the team behind “Letters Live”, drawing attention to the hundreds of unaccompanied children living in the Calais refugee camp , many of whom have family in the UK.

RELEASE YEAR
2016

CREDITS
Directors: Nick Francis and Marc J Francis
Producer: Max Pugh
Editor: Whetham Allpress
Music: Tandis Jenhudson
Executive Producer: Adam Ackland, Jamie Byng

Part of series of films for The Guardian about women’s equality, ‘Being Laxmi’ profiles the transgender activist Laxmi Narayan Tripathi who fights for equal rights on behalf of India’s hijra community, many of whom have been victimised or forced into begging or sex work.

RELEASE YEAR
2015

CREDITS
A Speakit Films production in association with The Guardian
Directed by Nick Francis
Producer Jessica Edwards
Executive Producer for The Guardian Lucy Lamble

Published by The Guardian and produced in association with Amnesty International, this two part series, is an intimate portrait of Omar, a 17 year old, stranded in a refugee camp following the 2011 war in Libya.

A Life on Hold offers a unique perspective of one person amongst thousands waiting for a chance to start their life again in a safe country. When war broke in Libya, thousands of refugees from countries such as Somalia, Sudan, and Eritrea, who were living in or transiting through the country at the time, were forced to flee for their lives yet again. Omar was one of thousands of refugees waiting in refugee camps along the Tunisian and Egyptian borders unable to return home.

Rain is Beautiful (https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/video/2012/aug/16/somali-refugee-sweden-video) begins on Omar’s final day in the refugee camp his last day in the camp and we follow up through to his first few days in Sandviken in northern Sweden where he starts a new life.

RELEASE YEAR
2012

CREDITS
Directed by Nick Francis and Marc Silver