CO-PRODUCTIONS
Absinthe was originally set-up to produce in creative partnership with other production companies. Below are some of those productions.
Rudolf Nureyev: Dance to Freedom
Nominated for a BAFTA Award for Specialist Factual 2016 and an RTS Scotland Award for Best Arts Programming 2016
Produced by IWC Media and Absinthe Film Entertainment for the BBC
Dance, espionage and passion come together in this powerful and exciting docudrama that tells the extraordinary story of how Soviet ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev defected to the West in 1961 and became a living legend. Spectacular dance performance is provided by Bolshoi Ballet star Artem Ovcharenko in the role of Nureyev.
The film shows a thrilling recreation of the events in the four months that led to Nureyev's defection at Paris's Le Bourget airport on June 16th 1961, helping to change the course of the Cold War. It shows how those events transformed not only Nureyev's personal fame and fortune, but those of everyone else around him.
Dance to Freedom is a close-focus, multi-layered account of one of the most thrilling intrigues of the 20th century, uniquely told in a mix of revelatory testimony, tense dramatization and spectacular dance performance of Nureyev's roles, offering an original interpretation of why the defection took place. It is a timely reminder of what happens when art and politics collide and how truth can often be more astonishing than fiction.
Son of Sam: The Hunt for a Killer
Produced by Cream Productions in association with Absinthe Film Entertainment for Investigation Discovery
A unique and definitive two hour special that explores and re-examines the remarkable serial murder case that shook New York 40 years ago.
A crazed killer who targeted young couples in parked cars late at night. The story is told by those whose lives were transformed by the tragic events. Surviving victims, the families of the deceased, witnesses and the detectives who dedicated their lives to his capture. Many featured have never before told their stories on camera. Their testimony is combined with extensive archive film about the case, and extraordinary visuals from the crime scenes and other key locations
Justice for MLK: The hunt for James Earl Ray
Produced by Cream Productions in association with Absinthe Film Entertainment for AHC
The death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an event that shook the world, changed the face of America, and sparked one of the largest manhunts in the history of the FBI.
American Heroes Channel (AHC) honors the life and death of Dr. King with a two-hour landmark television event, Justice For MLK: The Hunt For James Earl Ray; with never-before-revealed details about the hunt through new interviews with members of his tight inner circle and those involved in the investigation. This special follows local, federal and international investigators every step of the way as they partake in the ultimate game of cat-and-mouse to hunt down one of the most wanted men in history.
Joe Orton Laid Bare
Interviewees include Kenneth Cranham, Sir Michael Codron, Christopher Hampton, Patricia Routledge, Orton biographer John Lahr and Joe’s sister Leonie.
Produced by IWC Media in association with Absinthe Film Entertainment for BBC2
Joe Orton: Laid Bare celebrates the wit, work, and world of ground-breaking sixties playwright Joe Orton in his own words and those of friends and colleagues.
50 years since his murder at the hands of his lover, Kenneth Halliwell, the film charts Joe’s brief meteoric rise and tragic demise, and celebrates his unique comic voice as well as his significant role in the culture of 60’s swinging London. Antony Sher, Freddie Fox and Jaime Winstone lead an all-star ensemble cast bringing to life excerpts of Orton’s hilarious work for the TV generations, while Bryan Dick plays Orton himself, walking the viewer through the streets Joe inhabited and using his diary to revive the voice of one of Britain’s most controversial comic writers. Meanwhile the film builds to a tense and surprising conclusion as the circumstances of Joe’s death are re-examined and new evidence reveals a sinister and powerful figure at the centre of events that led to his murder.