cinema of noise

Some time after the death of their mother, two sisters Phoebe and Dot, both performance artists, have returned to their family home on the Isle of Wight, a large house crammed full of Edwardian bohemian memorabilia and accumulated family clutter. Before selling the house, they are working on a site specific piece which will reflect their troubled childhood memories and their mother’s work as a composer; she wrote music for both pianola and music box which included songs using the words of the Victorian poet, Mary Coleridge whose poem A Clever Woman becomes the title of the film.

The action takes place over one day when the sisters’ producer/curator, Monica comes to visit. With them all is Tom, a young man who has been house-sitting; he is also an accomplished musician and the sisters have started to get him involved in their project. As the day progresses the sisters rehearse some of their mother songs and work on dramatising various aspects of her life including her complicated marriage and serial infidelity; this produces a heightened and haunting atmosphere which, coupled with an unexpected connection between Tom and Monica, leads to dramatic revelations and an explosive and poignant conclusion.


100 mins • 5.1 sound mix

Director: Jon Sanders

Re-recording Mixer: Raoul Brand

Sound Editor: Rob Szeliga


http://acleverwoman.com

Joy and Harry are trying to have a baby. One night, Joy swallows a spider in her sleep. When Joy subsequently develops an insatiable appetite for flies, it dawns on her that there may be more than one way of becoming a mother.

© C24 Films 2022 in association with Goldfinch First Flights

15 mins • 5.1 / stereo mix

Directed by Celine Cotran

Sound Designer: Rob Szeliga & John Cohen

In rural Austria, young women are the primary spectators of hypermasculine Krampus folklore traditions. Welding documentary footage with the imaginary, Ember descends into the apocalyptic world of modern Krampus rituals through the eyes of a lone female.

4 mins • 5.1 / stereo mix

Directed by Nathalie Seidl

Sound Designer: Rob Szeliga

A political prisoner in Iran is accused of murdering a government’s official during a demonstration. He is being interrogated by a Doctor/ interrogator. Tension begins to raise between them when the Dr insists that the prisoner's mind has been manipulated by the enemy forces and needs to be cured with an antidote.

10 mins • 5.1 mix

Director: Ethan Jahan

Sound Design: Rob Szeliga, John Cohen

Music Editor: Rob Szeliga

Sara and her neighbours open the doors of their everyday lives for us, in a middle-class district of Baghdad. Where, marked by the physical and moral mutilations saddened by the war, and in front of the extreme ambient violence, each tries to find the thread of their existence.

More information to follow.

110 mins • 5.1 mix

Director: Maysoon Pachachi

Sound Supervisor: André Stiebe

Re-recording Mixer: Raoul Brand

Sound Effects Editor / Re-recording Mixer: Rob Szeliga

Sound Effects Editor: John Cohen

More information to follow.

GG Studio information in Italian here.

18 mins • 5.1 / stereo mix

Directed by Domenico De Orsi

Sound Designer: Rob Szeliga

With nowhere else to go, Tom (Anson Boon) and his mother, Elaine (Charlie Murphy), return to her childhood home in Ireland. While exploring, Tom makes a disturbing discovery in the nearby seasonal lake that forces him into a troubling personal dilemma.

After meeting the father (Michael McElhatton) and daughter (Emma Mackey), from the neighbouring farm, their complex web of secrets and lies are revealed to pull Tom and Elaine into a violent confrontation with the darkest parts of human nature.

93 mins • 5.1 / Stereo mix

Director: Phil Sheerin

Music Editor and Mixer: Rob Szeliga

Sound Editor (Uncredited): Rob Szeliga

Maggie's encounter with the father of the boy who assaulted her teenage daughter tests her instinctive ‘rise above’ response to its limit.

10 mins • 5.1 / stereo mix

Produced by Earleatha Oppon and Martha Hood.

Written and directed by Georgia Goggin.

Sound Designer: Rob Szeliga

A deadman wakes up to discover he is a vampire only to struggle to follow through with his dreams of escape.

14 mins • 5.1 / Stereo mix

Director: Daniel Butler

Sound Designer: Rob Szeliga

Glasgow East End. 1984. A high-stakes drugs turf war ensues in the city known as the Glasgow Ice Cream Wars, Carol finds herself and her son embroiled in this dark underworld as her life spirals out of control.

More information to follow soon.

Production Company: Elation Pictures in coproduction with Pia Pressure for BBC Films

14 mins • 5.1 / Stereo mix

Director: Rachna Suri
Sound Design: Rob Szeliga and John Cohen

In the summer of 1930, after thousands of years of habitation, the St Kildans made the difficult decision to abandon their remote island home in the North Atlantic Ocean, and adjust to life on the mainland.

The modern world had made its presence known, and severed a tie to an ancient way of life, bringing an end to an incredible story of survival.

7 mins • Stereo mix

Director: Stuart Hacksaw

Sound Designer: Rob Szeliga

Relocated to the seaside town of Margate, Kent, Layla is a 60-year-old Syrian refugee, who balances working the sweetshop at the local funfair with looking after her young granddaughter. Unable to build relationships with the British population around her, she finally makes a connection with a young boy, Femi, who teaches her to skateboard.

A late-in-life, coming-of-age drama and an examination of migrant culture in the UK, the film stars Wafa al Shalati as Layla and Ritaj Mdalal as Ritaj, both themselves refugees who arrived in the UK from Syria in 2016. 'Layla' is their first role.
 

17 mins • 5.1 / Stereo mix

Director: Celine Cotran

Supervising Sound Editor: Rob Szeliga

Dialogue Editor: John Cohen

A spoken word film from rising poet Russeni Fisher, following a young man on his way home in the early hours, so consumed by his own worries that he doesn't notice somebody needs his help.

8 mins • Stereo mix

Director: Georgia Goggin

Sound Designer: Rob Szeliga

The epic love story of Layla and Majnun originated as an Arabic Bedouin love story, migrated into the Persian epic Shahnameh, was emancipated by the great romantic poet Nizami, and from there travelled to Delhi via Amir Khusro. Since then, it has been adapted by different cultures, languages, and artistic formats, finding new life among a new generation of readers each time.

Majnun [2019] is a proof-of-a-concept film that combines music, dance and calligraphy. The short film presents an overview of a much larger work that explores the epic love story.

More information here.

3.30 mins • Stereo mix

Director: Soraya Syed

Sound Designer: Rob Szeliga

Faraz’s quiet life working at an isolated petrol station is turned upside down when his ageing father, Malik, begins to speak in a long-forgotten language and insists on returning back home. More information here.

Screening at Cannes Film Festival 2019 as part of the the festival’s Critics Week section.

Online review from vaguevisages.com here.

* Sep 2020 update: now online at the channel 4 shorts page here *

17 mins • 5.1 / Stereo mix

Director: Moin Hussain

Supervising Sound Editor: Rob Szeliga

Dialogue Editor: John Cohen

A heart-broken man asks a mysterious woman to be his ex for one night. She agrees and leads him down a labyrinthine path where it’s unclear what is real and what is imaginary. As they journey deeper it is uncertain whether this will lead to their emancipation or annihilation.

15 mins • 5.1 / Stereo mix

Director: Charlie Cattrall

Sound Designer: Rob Szeliga

A South Korean mother and daughter are in London (UK) for 10-year-old Hyun-ah’s ballet tour. Hyun-ah wants to be free from her mother’s pressure, neither of them understand each other. Tension simmers as events unfold before, during and after a show.

Short of the week May 2019 info here.

http://filmlondon.org.uk/perfect-turn
 

14 mins • 5.1 / Stereo mix

Director: Minha Kim

Sound Designer: John Cohen

Re-recording Mixer: Rob Szeliga

Rahmi is a young Romanian Muslim man living in London with his mother and younger brother Cemil. His mother runs a family home that recalls their roots near the Black Sea, and speaks Romanian with her sons. Cemil has lived most of his life in London and, unlike Rahmi, is keen to prove to his teenage peers that he belongs. In the absence of their father, Rahmi is head of the family - and the bridge between the family's roots and their adopted home. But Rahmi has a secret. The double life he leads is catching up with him and soon he will discover that even the whitest of lies can shake his foundations to the core. 



15 mins • 5.1 / Stereo mix

Director: Christopher Manning

Supervising Sound Editor: Rob Szeliga

Dialogue Editor: John Cohen


Recent online review at intomore.com here.

The Sermon is a short ‘Folk Horror’ dealing with sexuality, faith and oppression shot on 35mm film in the tradition of such films as 'The Wickerman' (Robin Hardy, 1973) , 'The Blood On Satan's Claw' ( Piers Haggard, 1971) & 'The Witchfinder General’ (Michael Reeves, 1968). These British films from the late Sixties and early Seventies that inspired me, have become known as the ‘Unholy Trinity’ and are characterized, in general, by isolated communities that have created their own societal rules often dominated by a strong male figure and ending with an explosive act of violence or a 'Happening'. So the Sermon is not only meant to be an engaging drama about our protagonist Ella's secret life, but also a political fable which seeks to reflect, through metaphor, the current British and US socio-political climate. Written in a frustrated daze after the double whammy of Brexit and the Election of Donald Trump, the film is set in a kind of 'nowhere time', a parallel reality almost like a dream that could be in the past or perhaps, if we are not careful, our future - Writer/Director, Dean Puckett.

More information at: www.thesermonfilm.com

Article: We Don't Go Back, an appendix: The Sermon

Behind the scenes documentary: https://vimeo.com/298189496
 

10 mins • 5.1 / Stereo mix

Director: Dean Puckett

Sound Designer: Rob Szeliga

Based on the children’s novel by the best-selling author Enid Richemont, The Time Tree is a story that combines coming-of-age with magical realism.

1596. Anne, a deaf girl, bullied by the maids and mistresses who look after her, finds solace when she comes across a magical tree: a portal to the present, where she meets Jo and Rachel, who help her overcome her disability in a way she could never have imagined. 


 

17 mins • 5.1 / Stereo mix

Director: Celine Cotran

Supervising Sound Editor: Rob Szeliga

Sound Editor: John Cohen

A dyslexic boy inadvertently shows a bully that it isn’t ‘soppy’ to love your Granddad and like spending time with him…

More information to follow shortly.

http://waxfilms.co.uk/

10 mins • 5.1 / Stereo mix

Director: Annabel Vine

Supervising Sound Editor: Rob Szeliga

Sound Designer: John Cohen

An allegorical drama about a boy's first experience of the shifting nature of identity and the turmoil of adolescents.
 

17 mins • 5.1 / Stereo mix

Director: David Alamouti

Sound Designer: Rob Szeliga

When a tragic accident leaves Sarah grieving for her deaf partner Rob, she is forced to track down and engage with his estranged hearing father. To lay the man she loves to rest, Sarah must overcome a barrier far greater than language.

April 2018 update: To Know Him [2018] is now online here

Behind the scenes video located here.

Escape Films / Pencil Trick Productions / The British Sign Language Broadcasting Trust (BSLBT)

28 mins • 5.1 / Stereo mix

Director: Ted Evans

Sound Designer: Rob Szeliga

Dialogue Editor: John Cohen

Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio enter a modern day house party, where we encounter different Shakespeare characters all linked through the same story. A one shot short that packs in an emotive Shakespeare journey - the debut short from Helen Crosse.
 

10 mins • 5.1 / Stereo mix

Director: Helen Crosse

Sound Designer: Rob Szeliga

When Harun, a second-generation British-Afghan man who grew up in London, can't seem to find love through Western-style dating, he decides to use his culture's methods to arrange a marriage.

But his potential love interest, Samira, is a recent refugee to London, and their first meeting - at a stylish sushi restaurant, no less - is also her very first date ever. Their differences leads to a small collision of expectations and perspectives, but what it opens up in the tension offers a glimmer of hope for the would-be couple.
 

15 mins • 5.1 / Stereo mix

Director: Elham Ehsas & Azeem Bhati

Sound Designer: Rob Szeliga

A girl finds herself in an intense relationship, and struggles to rid herself of a growing obsession with her lover, yet she suffers from a mysterious deficiency that has fractured her strength

29 mins • 5.1 mix

Director: Nassrin Nasser

Sound Designer: Rob Szeliga & John Cohen

Re-recording Mixer: Rob Szeliga & John Cohen

A private video of Maria goes viral during a volleyball class in a school in Lima; the city where cyber bullying is becoming more common and where bullies abuse fellow students without fear of retribution because teachers normally blame the victim. In Peru most bullying occurs between the ages of eleven and fifteen.

10 mins • 5.1 / Stereo mix

Director: Peiman Zekavat

Sound Designer: Rob Szeliga

A remote fishing village on the scenic British coast. Eve unexpectedly returns to her family home, hoping to reconcile with her estranged sister Frankie. As secrets from the past gradually expose the complexity of their relationship, Eve’s restraint attempts to reconnect with Frankie seem all in vain. Stuck in the middle of this enigmatic conflict is Aiden, Frankie’s teenage Down’s syndrome son. The boy connects with Eve, which complicates the dynamics between the sisters even further. With Eve’s condition deteriorating, her perception of the world around becomes distorted and intensifies dramatically. Will the sisters be able to put the past behind and come together in the moment of crisis?

More information to follow shortly.
 

15 mins • 5.1 mix

Director: Artur Zaremba

Sound Designer: Rob Szeliga

The true story of Ahmad, a seven year old Afghan refugee, who fled from his home with his brother to find safety in Europe. He’s trapped in the back of a refrigerated lorry along with fourteen other refugees trying to reach the UK, when the air inside begins to run out. As the other men’s efforts to escape fail, it falls to Ahmad to try to save them all.

OKSIJAN is written and directed by Emmy award-winner Edward Watts (Escape from Isis 2015), shot by Michael Paleodimos, the cinematographer of 2016 Academy Award-winning short “Stutterer” and stars Ella Purnell (Miss Peregrine's School for Peculiar Children 2016).

https://www.oksijanfilm.com

18 mins • 5.1 mix

Director: Edward Watts

Sound Designer: Rob Szeliga

Sound Effects: John Cohen

Maura's got a way with words, but has lost her way with guys.

More information here.

10 mins • 5.1 mix

Director: Aoife Nic Ardghail

Sound Editor: Rob Szeliga

More information to follow...

37 mins • 5.1 mix

Director: Ethan Jahan

Sound Designer: John Cohen, Rob Szeliga

Bitter Sea is a short film by writer-director Fateme Ahmadi (Berlinale Talent 2017) and produced by Emma Parsons (Touching The Void, Captive), starring ADA Condeescu (If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle, Loverboy, EU Shooting Star 2013). It was commissioned by Film London and awarded production funding in association with the BFI Net.Work and Creative Skillset.

15 mins • 5.1 mix

Director: Fateme Ahmadi

Sound Designer: Rob Szeliga

Re-recording Mixer: Rob Szeliga

Josh is in a care home far from his mother. He finds solace in the one true friend he's made there, Kyle. On Kyle's birthday Josh has plans to do something special when a phone call from his mum changes everything. Josh breaks out of the care home to help her hour of need, but what she needs isn't what Josh expects and he embarks on a dangerous journey and finally learns who is the true dependent – him, the child or his mother, the adult.

Full film online here.

17.45 mins • 5.1 mix

Director: Phil Sheerin

Sound Designer: Rob Szeliga

Re-recording Mixer: Peter Warnock & Rob Szeliga

Escape Films • BFI

A catwalk model escapes her superficial environment to indulge in a paraphilic phone-relationship with a stranger, feeding her desire of being tormented.

Full film available online here.

18 mins • 5.1 mix

Director: Christophe Streule

Sound Designer: Rob Szeliga

Re-recording Mixer: Rob Szeliga

Openfield Production

Outside a remote farm house a man attempts to fix a Landrover. In the distance a stranger approaches. THIS FAR UP blends animation and landscape to explore the last moments of a life...

11 mins • 5.1 mix

Director: Ewan Jones Morris

Sound Designer: Rob Szeliga

Re-recording Mixer: Peter Warnock

BFI • Film Cymru Wales
WINNER: BAFTA Film Cymru Wales - Best Short Film 2017

Three estranged siblings reunite after the death of their father. Amidst secrets and recriminations, is there a hope for reconciliation? Starring Lia Williams, Marianne Oldham and Justin Salinger.

30 mins • 5.1 mix

Director: Roberto Oliveri

Sound Editor: Rob Szeliga

Re-recording Mixer: Rob Szeliga

In an attempt to revisit a creative collaboration and revive his marriage, a theatre director brings together a group of performers to spend a week with him and his wife in an isolated, mountainous part of southern France. As the work progresses, fiction and reality become blurred and there is a constant tension between the characters' own lives and the nature of the work - an investigation into the changing nature of love. The couple are haunted by memories and dreams which, in the end, threaten not only the venture but the marriage itself. All this is underpinned by a sense of melancholy, reflected in the songs and music performed, and in the dramatic and implacably beautiful landscape.

“Will it come like a change in the weather...... O tell me the truth about love” - WH Auden

100 mins • 5.1 sound mix

Director: Jon Sanders

Re-recording Mixer: Peter Warnock

Sound Editor: Rob Szeliga

http://www.achangeintheweatherfilm.com

http://film.britishcouncil.org/a-change-in-the-weather

Trapped in a hostile and unsettling yet serene world, Bret Rodgers - an ex-soldier at odds with himself and his surroundings - sets out to quell his inner turmoil the only way he knows how.

3:28 mins • Stereo mix

Director: Nakay Kpaka

Sound Design: Rob Szeliga

Boheam Films

Circles is a Comedy/Horror which follows a pair of paranormal investigators as they discover a string of crop circles in their very own backyard of Totnes, Devon. Martine works on Paignton pier and is keen to leave her life of crushing boredom. Andy had a successful DVD series in the 90's called 'Crop Circle Cosmic Consiousness' but when two old men named Doug and Dave told the world that all you needed to make a crop circle was wooden boards a bit of old rope and some imagination, people stopped believing. Will they be the first to gather evidence of extraterrestrial life and prove the world wrong, or are Andy and Martine the real Aliens? 

 One of 15 shorts selected for production funding through Creative England/BFI Networks ishorts Scheme

15 mins • 5.1 sound mix

Director: Dean Puckett

Sound Editor: Rob Szeliga

Re-recording Mixer: Rob Szeliga

CBBC TV Series

Eleven-year-old Jamie Johnson is a seriously gifted footballer capable of going all the way, but after his dad recently walked out on them Jamie and his mum were forced to move house.

Now Jamie has to start at a new school mid-term. With his amazing footballing talents Jamie should have no problem fitting in with the cool kids but new friend Jack is disgusted when she witnesses him being cruel to the geeky Boggie. Jamie eventually makes amends but in the process makes a serious enemy of school bully, Dillon. When the horrified Jamie witnesses his mum getting close to a work colleague, it makes him all the more determined to track down his missing dad...

BBC Iplayer to view all three episodes

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/shows/jamie-johnson

Supervising Sound Editor: Dario Swade
ADR Editor: Rob Szeliga

Glasgow, Scotland. Now. In the tough edged south of the city young members of the South Asian community try to find a way to be true to themselves.

Farooq, a jaded radio DJ is reinvigorated by the prospect of love and adventure. Haroun, a violent young man, in being open about his sexuality, finally discovers a connection with someone that is worth fighting for. Aaqil, tries to come to terms with a future without his daughter, now that his partner has discovered the truth about his past. How will they sustain themselves in this uncompromising part of the city? And all the while, in the park, as young Jaz makes his way, the spirit of hip hop seems to be enabling young teenagers to make a different future.

41 mins • 5.1 mix

Director: Lalitha Rajan

Sound Designer: Rob Szeliga

Dialogue Editor: John Cohen

Foley Recordist: Thomas Blazukas

Music Editor: Rob Szeliga

Re-recording Mixer: Rob Szeliga and John Cohen

www.glaswasiantales.com

A janitor walks through a long, dark corridor at night, closing a number of doors on his way.  But the job is not as easy as it seems, since someone – or something – is intent on keeping them open.

Watch it online here

The series, entitled A Moment of Horror, consists of six individual episodes and will premiere throughout the festival which begins on 27th August 2015. All films will then be available exclusively on All 4 at www.all4.com/shorts. [Source: Film4.com]

5.25 mins • 5.1 Theatrical & Stereo Web mix

Director: Weronika Tofilska

Sound Editor: Rob Szeliga

Re-recording Mixer: Rob Szeliga

Film4 • FrightFest

TINA, a troubled teenage girl, is attracted to DANA, an Afghani girl, whom Tina imagines is oppressively victimised by her controlling substance abusing father, KARIM. Initially, we trust Tina and admire her protectiveness of Dana from the other kids at school and on the violent estate, but as we watch their friendship blossom we come to suspect that something is off.

www.balconyshortfilm.com

Watch the film at the BFI London Film Festival 2015
 

Balcony is a Film London Commissioned Project, selected from 621 applications. Balcony has been awarded production funding and the team is currently going through mentoring from the lovely people at Film London.

http://filmlondon.org.uk/londoncalling2015
 

17 mins • 5.1 sound mix

Director: Toby Fell-Holden

Sound Editor: Rob Szeliga

Re-recording Mixer: Rob Szeliga

A portrait of a soldier with survivor's guilt; unable to adapt he destroys everything he loves.

20 mins • 5.1 sound mix

Director: Phil Sheerin

Sound Editor/Designer: Rob Szeliga

Re-recording Mixer: Rob Szeliga

Muni is a schoolgirl who lives by the river. Her family want her to marry a much older man, Sami. Both are unsure. Muni protests but when her mother insists, she runs away. Muni has to choose between freedom and her family, Sami, between honour and desire.

12 mins • 5.1 sound mix

Director: Emma Lindley

Sound Editor: Rob Szeliga

Directors UK Challenge ALEXA (sponsored by ARRI)

Every night before she goes to bed, Evy listens to a self-help tape that aims to tackle her crippling anxiety disorder. But while having a bath, her anxieties take on a horribly physical form…

Watch it online here

The series, entitled A Moment of Horror, consists of six individual episodes and will premiere throughout the festival which begins on 27th August 2015. All films will then be available exclusively on All 4 at www.all4.com/shorts. [Source: Film4.com]

3.41 mins • 5.1 Theatrical & Stereo Web mix

Director: Rose Glass

Sound Editor: Rob Szeliga

Re-recording Mixer: Rob Szeliga

Film4 • FrightFest
 

One party in a relationship has finally plucked up the courage to express his unhappiness. But that conversation will take a unusual shape. As our couple begin an emotionally charged and brutally honest game of Scrabble, both will get more than they bargained for.

www.boxfly.co.uk

5 mins • 5.1 / LTRT / stereo mix

Director: Tim Beckmann & John Schwab

Sound Editor: Rob Malone & Rob Szeliga

Re-recording Mixer: Rob Malone & Rob Szeliga

A true story set over a single night. We follow Leo into a world of violence and manipulation as he foolishly tries to do what he thinks is right.

SKIN examines many cinema conceits as it explores the relationship between the audience and the act of voyeurism.

16:30 mins • 5.1 sound mix

Director: Phil Sheerin

Sound Editor/Designer: Rob Szeliga

Re-recording Mixer: Rob Szeliga

Glyn is a 10 year-old Welsh boy who lives in an isolated area and dreams to become an astronaut. He finds refuge in a caravan adjacent to his house to escape from his authoritarian dad. Glyn's friend Rhodri is moving from the area and soon Glyn will be alone again.

11:52 mins • LTRT / Stereo sound mix

Director: Yann Gorriz

Supervising Sound Editor: Rob Malone

Re-recording Mixer: Ben Hensor

Dialogue Editor: Rob Szeliga

Foley: Rob Turner, Florentin Tudor

Chime Audio Post-Production Sound

Blue is a jazz singer from London. She's an artistic soul who wears an irreversible pain from her recent divorce, doing her very best to be both a mother and an artist. As her daughter Jessica is about to turn 10, Blue arranges a surprise birthday party, but the guests don't show. Chaos ensues as Blue hits the streets of London to invite strangers to the party.

10 mins • LTRT / 5.1 sound mix

Director: Ani Laurie

Sound Recordist: Rob Szeliga

Sound Editor/Designer: Rob Szeliga

Re-recording Mixer: Rob Szeliga

9:34 mins • LTRT sound mix

Director: Pete Blakemore, David Pimm, Ruby Slater

Sound Editor/Designer: Rob Szeliga

Re-recording Mixer: Rob Szeliga

This vimeo video is password-protected. Please contact me to view.

Centering on a twelve year old boy and his involvement in a horrific event, 'When all innocence is lost' delves into the human reaction to feelings of guilt, regret, and our own loss of innocence.
 

2:43 mins • Stereo mix

Director: Oliver Woodward

Sound Design: Rob Szeliga