''Dolls'' is a British short film written and directed by Susan Luciani, narrated by

Charles Dance Walter Charles Dance (born 10 October 1946) is an English actor. He is known for playing intimidating, authoritarian characters and villains. Dance started his career on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) before appearing in film an ...

and starring

Joanna Lumley Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an Indian-born British actress, presenter, author, television producer, activist and former model. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulo ...

and

Denis Lawson Denis Stamper Lawson (born 27 September 1947) is a Scottish actor. He is known for his roles as Wedge Antilles in the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy (1977–1983) and as John Jarndyce in the television miniseries ''Bleak House'' (2005), the l ...

. Broadcast on

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and Sky TV, the film was officially selected to play in International film festivals Spain, Italy, France, Cyprus, Africa and Japan and the United States. It was also shown at Roguerunner Screenings and at the 2006

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

and was selected to feature as part of the

British Society of Cinematographers The British Society of Cinematographers (abbreviated B.S.C. or BSC) is an organisation formed in 1949 by Bert Easey (23 August 1901 – 28 February 1973), the then head of the Denham and Pinewood studio camera departments, to represent British c ...

' New Film Maker Night at

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...

Plot

Inspired by a story that appeared in a 1950s newspaper, the film shows a year in the life of a young girl, Mouche. Deemed too skinny to make a living at the

Moulin Rouge Moulin Rouge (, ; ) is a cabaret in Paris, on Boulevard de Clichy, at Place Blanche, the intersection of, and terminus of Rue Blanche. In 1889, the Moulin Rouge was co-founded by Charles Zidler and Joseph Oller, who also owned the Olympia (Par ...

, Mouche is cast out and saved from suicide by a group of puppets travelling from town to town performing street puppet shows. She joins them on their journey and together they become attraction, earning more money than they previously made. The puppets become Mouche's beloved family, yet behind them lurks a cruel and abusive man who is desperately in love with her. "It would have all been so perfect if not for the puppeteer." Mouche must choose to stay for the love of the puppets, or leave to escape the wrath of the puppeteer.

Reviews

*"I thought Dolls was just extraordinary. One of the keys of making short films, you want to create your own universe, have your own voice and this film has a spectacularly different significant, coloured voice. I’ve not seen a short film like it before." - ''Jeremy Howe, Head of Short Films,

'' *"Extraordinary in its inventiveness and economy of light. The lighting evokes the mood perfectly." - ''Alex Thomson
BSC
' *"This film is captivating" - ''

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

International Film Festival'' *"Susan Luciani is an inventive and imaginative writer, very cinematic. ''Dolls'' is undeniably a vibrant and original short." - ''

Film Four Film4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned by Channel Four Television Corporation launched on 1 November 1998, dedicated to broadcasting films. The standard-definition channel is available on Freeview and Freesat ...

External links

Double Barrel Productions FilmsEsmé Bianco's website
2006 films British drama short films 2006 short films Puppet films British television films {{short-film-stub