Calais: The Last Border

Director Marc Isaacs installs himself in the lift of a typical English tower block. People start talking to him, and we discover their lives.

Lift

2001

7.3

Travellers

4.8

2003

A very emotional look at the loneliness and heartache often conjured whilst travelling by train.A powerful and stunning piece with a focus on love lost, love found and regret.

Travellers

2003

4.8

Philip and His Seven Wives

6.2

2005

Philip and His Seven Wives (2006) a film made for the BBC’s prestigious Storyville strand, tells the intriguing story of a former messianic rabbi who believes that he communicates directly with God. Isaacs’ captivating and intimate documentary is a portrait of this unconventional family whose lives revolve around faith and obedience to the head of the household.

Philip and His Seven Wives

2005

6.2

Someday My Prince Will Come

2005

An exposed Cumbrian village by the sea surrounded by windmills, fields and factories provides a striking setting for this fairy tale of young love and the loss of childhood innocence. Over one year, the film follows the 9 year-old Laura Anne and her 11 year-old cousin, Steven as they move towards the end of their childhoods. The narrative is told in rhyme by the young female protagonist. As time passes and the seasons change, feelings and memories from all our childhoods are evoked and we wonder what time will make of Laura Anne and Steven.

Someday My Prince Will Come

2005

All White in Barking

5.8

2007

All White in Barking is a compassionate and illuminating documentary probing the attitudes of Barking's white residents toward their new immigrant neighbours. Isaacs is an unseen, but prominent, presence, questioning prejudices and prying at preconceptions with remarkable results to produce a vivid picture of the attitudes and perceptions at the heart of an increasingly multicultural Britain.

All White in Barking

2007

5.8

Men of the City

5.6

2009

In Men of the City, Isaacs takes a more stylised approach to the lives of workers in the City of London during the recent financial meltdown, balancing sensitive portraits of diverse individuals striving to retain their dignity and humanity in the midst of the crisis. Strong human characters are at the heart of all of Isaacs' work, and with these films he continues to create a unique vision of modern Britain.

Men of the City

2009

5.6

Outside the Court

2011

They arrive, they smoke, they wait - armed robbers seeking redemption, life-long thieves, addicts and anxious fathers of wayward children. Hard exteriors hide soft centres, old lives exist in young bodies - ordinary people awaiting judgement on an unlovely stretch of pavement outside a London magistrates' court. Whilst waiting for their cases to be heard they reveal their lives, and the complexities of the human soul are laid bare. Tense and intimate conversations with the filmmaker illuminate stories that the magistrates hear daily. Director Marc Isaacs spent three months outside Highbury Magistrates Court and, in doing so, demonstrates how the eye of the camera has the ability to delve much deeper into character and motivation than the eye of the law. Consequently, the more we get to know the characters in this film, the harder it is to make easy judgements. Whilst the court must judge, the filmmaker need not.

Outside the Court

2011

The Old Man and His Bed

2011

Over a single night, the filmmaker invites the viewer to experience the life of an elderly man tied to his bed.

The Old Man and His Bed

2011

The Road: A Story of Life and Death

5.3

2012

On the oldest Roman road in the capital, filmmaker Marc Isaacs weaves together numerous poignant stories of loss and the search for belonging into a tapestry of the human experience. Keelta a young Irish woman leaves home to build a new life for herself on the road where Billy, the old Irish labourer is struggling to find a meaning to his life. Peggy, a 95 year old Jewish refugee from Vienna and Brigitte, a German born former air hostess, have both suffered bad husbands, whilst Iqbal, an unassuming Indian hotel concierge, awaits the arrival of his wife from Kashmir. A film that forces you to recognise the struggles and preoccupations of its characters as our own.

The Road: A Story of Life and Death

2012

5.3

Outsiders

2014

Our host Ben Ferguson and director Marc Isaacs travel to the Lincolnshire town of Boston to reveal a local story about communal fears about change and immigration.

Outsiders

2014

Touched by Murder

2016

The body of a young Polish woman is found in a suitcase on a London canal adjacent to a block of flats. The filmmakers invite the residents to reflect on how the murder has affected them. Through their stories we are provoked to think about our own relationship to the strangers living in our midst.

Touched by Murder

2016

Men Who Sleep in Trucks

2016

Award winning filmmaker Marc Isaacs explores the secret life of Britain's truckers, discovering an uncharted world of isolation, loneliness and the open road. Finding many of these men sleeping in their own trucks in lay-by car parks and service stations, this film is an intimate and poignant portrayal of modern masculinity on Britain's motorways.

Men Who Sleep in Trucks

2016

Sisters

Two ageing siblings sit next to each other in a pub, waiting for instructions from the filmmaker which never come. They watch the time go passing by.

Sisters

2017

Moments of Silence

Built from the ground up from a series of introspective shots throughout Marc Isaacs's significant body of non-fiction work, Moments of Silence captures people feeling overwhelmed by difficult thoughts, pause and fall silent, seemingly dwelling on their past, contemplating their current ordeals, or worrying about their future.

Moments of Silence

2017

Notes on Bangladesh

The residents of a Bangladeshi village anxiously wait for the heavy monsoon rains to clear. However, the rain continues and catastrophic flooding submerges their crops and houses.

Notes on Bangladesh

2017

Rainy Days

Splices together images from Isaacs's documentaries to create an experimental montage set to a soundtrack.

Rainy Days

2017

A young Indigenous game warden arrests an infamous poacher only to discover that the poacher knows the location of a plane carrying millions of dollars that has crashed in a frozen lake. When a group of criminals and dirty cops are alerted to the poacher’s whereabouts, the warden and the poacher team up to fight back and escape across the treacherous lake before the ice melts.

Icefall

2025

6.3

Rampage: Capital Punishment

6.0

2014

A man takes over a TV station and holds a number of hostages as a political platform to awaken humanity, instead of money.

Rampage: Capital Punishment

2014

6.0

Human Flow

6.9

More than 65 million people around the world have been forced from their homes to escape famine, climate change and war, the greatest displacement since World War II. Filmmaker Ai Weiwei examines the staggering scale of the refugee crisis and its profoundly personal human impact. Over the course of one year in 23 countries, Weiwei follows a chain of urgent human stories that stretch across the globe, including Afghanistan, France, Greece, Germany and Iraq.

Human Flow

2017

6.9

The Class of ‘92

7.1

2013

A detailing of the rise to prominence and global sporting superstardom of six supremely talented young Manchester United football players (David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil and Gary Neville). The film covers the period 1992-1999, culminating in Manchester United's European Cup triumph.

The Class of ‘92

2013

7.1

Purgatory

7.2

1999

An outlaw band flees a posse and rides into Refuge, a small town where no one carries a gun, drinks, or swears. The town is actually Purgatory, and the peaceful inhabitants are all famous dead outlaws and criminals such as Doc Holiday and Wild Bill Hickok who must redeem themselves before gaining admittance to Heaven... or screw up and go to Hell.

Purgatory

1999

7.2

Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV Show

6.4

2014

“Showrunners” is the first ever feature length documentary film to explore the fascinating world of US television showrunners and the creative forces aligned around them. These are the people responsible for creating, writing and overseeing every element of production on one of the United State’s biggest exports – television drama and comedy series. Often described as the most complex job in the entertainment business, a showrunner is the chief writer / producer on a TV series and, in most instances, the show’s creator. Battling daily between art and commerce, showrunners manage every aspect of a TV show’s development and production: creative, financial and logistical.

Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV Show

2014

6.4

Shadow Master

6.7

2022

After being slain by a group of criminals, a man is reborn with animal-like superpowers and makes it his mission to right the wrongs of his city.

Shadow Master

2022

6.7

The System

7.1

2022

When a young soldier, newly returned from war, gets caught up in a drug bust, he is recruited by the authorities to go undercover in a notoriously dangerous prison in order to figure out what is really going on.

The System

2022

7.1

Under the Helmet: The Legacy of Boba Fett

6.9

2021

A special celebrating the origins and legacy of Star Wars' legendary bounty hunter, Boba Fett.

Under the Helmet: The Legacy of Boba Fett

2021

6.9

God Is a Bullet

6.1

2023

Vice detective Bob Hightower finds his ex-wife murdered and daughter kidnapped by a cult. Frustrated by the botched official investigations, he quits the force and infiltrates the cult to hunt down the leader with the help of the cult’s only female victim escapee, Case Hardin.

God Is a Bullet

2023

6.1

Shadow Dancer

5.9

2012

In 1990s Belfast, a woman is forced to betray all she believes in for the sake of her son.

Shadow Dancer

2012

5.9

Darc

6.1

2018

To bring down a global human trafficking ring, an Interpol agent recruits the help of a brutal criminal with inside knowledge of the yakuza.

Darc

2018

6.1

Similar Movies

Refugee

8.3

2018

A harrowing account of Europe's migrant crisis. A family of Syrian refugees separated by the borders of Europe, fight to be reunited as they migrant from Syria to Germany.

Refugee

2018

8.3

When Paul Came Over The Sea

7.8

An unusual friendship in an agitated political context.

When Paul Came Over The Sea

2017

7.8

2017 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Documentary

7.0

No overview available.

2017 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Documentary

2017

7.0

OLO, the Boy from Tibet

2012

A 6-year-old Tibetan boy leaves his family and flees to a refugee camp in northern India.

OLO, the Boy from Tibet

2012

La Gemma té un pla

2021

No overview available.

La Gemma té un pla

2021

Testament

As the war wages on, Ukrainians under everyday threat find ways to live. A soldier returns home, a chaplain grapples with the weight of responsibility, and a mother grieves the loss of her family. These stories, amidst others, are a testament of Ukraine’s history, perseverance and plea to be remembered.

Testament

Thrown into Canada

2022

This documentary explores the history of Canada’s first major migration of non-European and non-white refugees who arrived in 1972 when Ugandan President Idi Amin expelled all South Asians from the country. Their story of struggle and hope became part of Canada’s conversations about refugees and cultural pluralism, and informed the Canadian response to future refugee movements.

Thrown into Canada

2022

Allies Welcome

2023

Three young Afghans find themselves in limbo after being evacuated to the US from Kabul.

Allies Welcome

2023

Because I am

2016

Based on a poem by a Zimbabwean LGBT activist written in response to the gay hate speech that is being perpetuated president Robert Mugabe. The film was shot in South East London UK with a cast of six women from several African countries playing multiple roles in this portrayal of being a lesbian in homophobic Zimbabwe. Five of the actors and the producer are refugees who fled their countries in fear of persecution for their sexuality.

Because I am

2016

Draussen bleiben

2007

No overview available.

Draussen bleiben

2007

The Boy from the River Drina

8.0

2025

Forced to flee Bosnia when he was a child, Irvin returns to his homeland. In the same woods where thirty years earlier people took refuge, he decides to build a small village with his own hands. To restore dignity to this place and to the people who died in the war, to heal his wounds, and to fulfill his desire for redemption. But when he is on the River Drina, Irvin does not stop trying to discover what happened, and what could still happen.

The Boy from the River Drina

2025

8.0

Standed

2019