The story of six working-class Wirral teens that shook the British Indie scene
J6 Films is delighted to share that Dreaming of You: The Making of The Coral will have its sold out World Premiere at Sheffield Doc Fest on 21st June. Due to popular demand, additional screenings have now been added on 22nd June for the definitive documentary on the hit Merseyside band The Coral.
โIf youโre going to tell the story of โIf youโre going to tell the story of The Coral, then it would be about growing up. An adventure that led to an album.โ Nick Power, The Coral
Dreaming of You: The Making of The Coral follows the story of six childhood outsiders from Merseyside as they transform into one of the most influential British guitar bands of the new millennium. Their high-energy blend of psychedelic rock ‘n’ roll revitalising the doldrums of the post-Britpop music scene.
Narrated by the band, the film is an immersive experience that creatively combines reconstruction, archive footage, and animation to capture the early 2000s era through the eyes of six northern teenagers, who together created their own strange, endlessly creative escapist universe. As the friends leave their sleepy seaside hometown of Hoylake in pursuit of musical glory, the spotlight eventually finds them but is it fame theyโre after or is it just being together?
With appearances from iconic indie bands The Lightning Seeds, The Zutons and Tramp Attack, Dreaming of You: The Making of The Coral is a dreamscape of friendship, fame and fuzzy guitars. The film commemorates The Coral from their working-class Merseyside roots, through their rise in Liverpool’s Bandwagon Scene, going on to become one of the UK’s most influential bands.
โThe First incarnation of the band was a Ghosthunting businessโ James Skelly, The Coral
For director James Slater, the creative direction for the film was as important as the story itself, speaking on this James said
“I wanted Dreaming of You to be an immersive experienceโone that transports us back to Northwest England in the late โ90s and early 2000s. …The visual aesthetic of the film is further enhanced by the formats used to shoot both the GVs and reconstructionsโMini DV, Hi-8, 16mm, and 8mmโall mediums that were used to document the band at the time. This rich visual tapestry is accompanied not only by the bandโs musical archive but also by a layered sound design that further immerses us in the era, embedding us deeply within the time and place.”
On celebrating the sold out World Premiere at Sheffield Doc Fest, director James Slater commented “Itโs an honour to be part of Sheffield DocFest, especially alongside such an incredible line-up of films. Dreaming of You is a northern coming-of-age story at heart, so it feels especially fitting for the journey to begin here…”.
Screening Details
World Premiere Sat 21 June at 12:30 Showroom
Extended Q&A with director James Slater and the band The Coral.
The Coral formed on the Wirral, Merseyside, in the mid-nineties. Emerging from Liverpoolโs vibrant late-’90s garage rock scene, they quickly caught the attention of Alan Wills, who, captivated by their eclectic sound, founded DeltaSonic Records around them. Their 2001 debut single, Shadows Fall, earned national recognition, and they were soon hailed as pioneers of a new wave of rock โnโ roll energyโan antidote to the stagnation of the post-Britpop era.
Their self-titled 2002 debut album, featuring the now-iconic single Dreaming of You, was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and named the best album of the year by NME. They followed it up with Magic and Medicine (2003), a critical and commercial triumph that topped the UK charts and produced four Top 20 singles, including Pass It On, Bill McCai, and Donโt Think Youโre the First.
Over three decades, The Coral have remained one of the UKโs most enduring and consistently inventive bands. They have released eleven studio albums, including The Invisible Invasion (2005), Roots & Echoes(2007), and Coral Island (2021), blending elements of psychedelic folk, Garage folk, with their own unique brand of haunting dreamlike melody. Their influence can be heard in the work of later British indie acts such as Arctic Monkeys and Blossoms, who credit The Coral with shaping their sound.
Still together after 30 years, The Coral continue to evolve while maintaining their blend of melody, storytelling, and experimental edgeโsecuring their place as one of the most distinctive and influential British bands of their generation.ยญยญ
James Slater
James Slater, Director’s Statement:
In December 2002, my friend Neil showed up at my flat in Toxteth, Liverpool, beaming. Alan Wills, manager of Britainโs hottest new band, The Coral, had calledโ they wanted us, two broke, DIY music video directors, to shoot their next promo.
The single was Donโt Think Youโre The First, a haunting, psychedelic shuffle. The label had planned a ยฃ50k video, but the band, skeptical of industry gloss, scrapped it in favour of our lo-fi, Mini-DV approach. We arrived at the shoot with two camcorders strapped to a plankโour makeshift Steadicam.
The Coral were a gangโinsular, tight-knit, and uninterested in industry games. But once you were in, you were in. That job changed everything. Within weeks, we were in L.A. filming Pass It On, then in Holland for Bill McCai, always just Neil, me, and a spare pair of hands. Our scruffy, no-tech videos somehow fit perfectly between the polished promos on Sonyโs roster.
My filmmaking career started with The Coral, and in many ways, always leads back to them. So when James Skelly approached me to make a film celebrating their debut album, it felt inevitable. I dug out my old Mini-DVtapes, picked up boxes of scrapbooks, and pieced together a story.
Footage of backyard wrestling matches, kung fu films, and Easy Rider remakes (retitled Lazy Rider on the Wirral) revealed a band rooted in friendshipโa group of misfits who just wanted to play music together. In interviews, a clear story emerged: they werenโt chasing fame, they were chasing greatness. Rob Stringer, head of Sony, once told me, They couldโve been massive, but they didnโt want it. He was right. They didnโt want to be the biggestโjust the best.
Even today, artists seek me out because of my work with The Coral. Theyโre one of the most influential British guitar bands of the new millennium, and I hope this film shines a light on a group that deserves far more recognition.
About J6 Films:
J6 Films is a production company and a collective of critically acclaimed directors. ยญ
Director: James Slater
Featuring: The Coral: James Skelly, Paul Duffy, Nick Power, Ian Skelly, Paul Molloy,
Past members: Bill Ryder-Jones, Lee Southall and Alan Wills, Rob Stringer (Sony), Ian Broudie (The Lightning Seeds), Dave McCabe (The Zutons), Supergrass, Oasis
Taskovski Films Sales picks up โRedlight to Limelightโ, directed by Bipuljit Basu.
The film was produced by Nilotpal Majumdar and co-produced by John Webster and Uldis Cekulis, with Emma Hindley and Somnath Gosh acting as executive producers. The film will have its world premiere at Sheffield DocFest in the International First Feature Competition.
Logline: A high-spirited group of Indian sex workers and their families begin making short films to transform their own lives and inspire others.
Synopsis: Redlight to Limelight follows a group of young children who are passionately weaving stories with mothers and sisters through their video production unit called CAM-ON to cultivate a meaningful change in the lives of a special community of sex workers in the brothel of Kalighat, Kolkata.
Keeping aside the ghosts of their grimy reality and who they were, women and children get immersed in an incredible joy of storytelling with a burning desire to turn the brothel into a better place. Woven around the experiences of mothers and sisters, CAM ON embarks on making a new short fiction Nupur, which is often entwined between memories and actuality, takes them through a catharsis when the community premieres the film for a public screening.
With joy and the power of storytelling, artful voices make their grimy universe a liberating space of self-assertion.
Irena Taskovski, CEO & Head of Acquisitions at Taskovski Films:
โRedlight to Limelight is a powerful testament to the healing force of cinema and a celebration of friendship and long-term collaboration. Discovering new Indian talent like Bipuljit Basu and working with long-time partners such as Nilotpal Majumder, who has spent decades nurturing Indian documentary voices through Docedge Kolkata, and dear colleagues like Uldis Cekulis and John Webster is a true privilege.
Set in Kolkataโs most stigmatized red-light district, the film follows the CAM-ON collectiveโs creative journey, revealing stories of resilience and hope. It shows how filmmaking can transform pain into purpose and give marginalised voices dignity and joy.โ
Bipuljit Basu, Director:
โWith Redlight to Limelight, it was essential to let the mothers and children of Kolkataโs red-light district tell their own stories through their own lens. In this process, we uncover a shared desire for dignity and transformation. We partnered with Taskovski Films because they truly understood our visionโthe power of collective creativity to inspire change.โ
Nilotpal Majumdar, Producer:
โTaskovski Films has long been a supporter of bold Indian cinema, with an award-winning catalogue that has inspired us for years. Their deep commitment goes beyond distributionโthey nurture each film with care and vision. Weโre proud to join forces with a team that truly elevates the stories they represent and bring Redlight to Limelight to global audiences.โ
โRedlight to Limelightโ Team at the Sheffield DocFest:
Bipuljit Basu (Director): June 18th – June 23rd
Nilotpal Majumdar (Producer): June 18th – June 23rd
John Webster (Producer): June 18th – June 21st
Uldis Cekulis (Producer): June 18th – June 21st
Somnath Ghosh (Executive Producer): June 18th – June 23rd
Emma Hindley (Executive Producer): June 19th
Screenings:
Thursday, June 19th 21:00 The Light – Screen 6
Saturday, June 21st 17:45 Showroom – Screen 2
BIOGRAPHIES:
BIPULJIT BASU – Director Bipuljit Basu, a Sundance Institute and IDFA grantee, is an emerging filmmaker specializing in Indian factual cinema, reality cinema, and documentaries. His work focuses on bringing lesser-known South Asian marginal stories into mainstream film and media. A postgraduate in Social Development, Bipuljit uncovers unexplored narratives with significant social relevance in popular culture, aiming to create a meaningful impact across broader social spectrums. He firmly believes in showcasing inclusion as a powerful tool for social change.
From 2016 to 2019, Bipuljit also worked as an overseas distributor, bringing carefully curated social-issue-based stories to audiences in North America and Europe. Additionally, Bipuljit served as an Asian jury member at the Science Film Festival, hosted by UNDP and the Goethe Institute, which took place across 94 countries.
NILOTPAL MAJUMDAR – Producer Nilotpal Majumder, a postgraduate from the Film & Television Institute of India, Pune, specializing in Editing, spearheaded the first Asian documentary pitching forum, Docedge-Kolkata, Asian Forum for Documentary. This initiative advances alternative reality storytelling in the region through skill development, incubation, and professional assistance. He has contributed to numerous films as a Director, Cinematographer, and Editor, and has participated in international festivals, forums, and workshops as a jury member, tutor, and mentor.
Formerly, he served as the Dean of the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Government of India. Currently, he is the Director of the Manipur Film & Television Institute in Imphal. In recognition of his outstanding contribution to the culture of global documentary cinema, he was honored with the European Documentary Network Award in 2017.
2Brave Productions, TAG Film, Clin d’Oeil Film will have the World Premiere of their documentary CUBA & ALASKA at Sheffield Documentary Festival.
A raw and intimate profile of two Ukrainian Medics from the frontlines of the war, CUBA & ALASKA captures the funny, the arcane, the painfully tragic and surprisingly warm healing that make up a soldierโs emotional journey during wartime.
Body cams, cell phones, and the interviewerโs camera fill in the story between the constant danger, bouts of survivorsโ guilt, and a longing to โgo backโ โ to return to the life they had when dreams were still possible.
Fueled by the enormously contagious laughter from Cuba, and the dark black humor of Alaska, the two best friends face down the unknown together with a warrior fierceness befitting Thelma & Louise.
Screenings in Sheffield:
World Premiere Day 1
Date: Thu 19 June
Time: 18:15
Venue: Showroom – Screen 4
Followed by a conversation with director Yegor Troyanovsky, protagonists Cuba and Alaska, and editor Joelle Alexis. Moderated by Alexandre Marionneau.
World Premiere Day 2
Date: Sat 21 June
Time: 10:15
Venue: The Light – Screen 9
Followed by a Q&A with director Yegor Troyanovsky, and protagonists Cuba and Alaska.
A film by Yegor Troyanovsky with YULIA โCUBAโ & OLEXANDRA โALASKAโ Produced by OLHA BREGMAN, CHRISTIAN POPP, HANNE PHLYPO editing JOรLLE ALEXIS cinematography SERHIY STETSENKO, YEGOR TROYANOVSKY, VIACHESLAV TSVIETKOV,YEVHENIIA BONDARENKO, FRANรOIS CHAMBE original score FREDERIK VAN DE MOORTEL sound edit & design LUDOVIC VAN PACHTERBEKE, LAURENT MARTIN mix LUCIEN RICHARDSON sound recording ANDRII NIDZELSKYI, XENIA VYNOGRADOVA associate production NATALIA LIBET, ENRICA CAPRA production management OLENA SAVCHENKO, NATHALIE VALLET, ELKE HERTOGS post supervision ANTOINE VERMEESCH grading THOMAS BOUFFIOULX vfx MANON MARTIN graphic design ROMAIN RIHOUX trailer THE PASTRY SHOP poster STUDIO DAOUDI
in co-production with ARTE FRANCE, VRT, RTBF, SUSPILNE UKRAINEฤESKร TELEVIZE, SHELTER PROD
with the support of EURIMAGES CO-PRODUCTION & FILM MARKETING AND AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT, TAX SHELTER OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF BELGIUM, TAXSHELTER.BE & ING, IDFA BERTHA FUND, CREATIVE EUROPE PROGRAMME CO-FUNDED BY THE EUROPEAN UNION, FLANDERS AUDIOVISUAL FUND (VAF), INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SUPPORT (IMS), PROCIREP – SOCIรTร DES PRODUCTEURS, L’ANGOA, UKRAINIAN INSTITUTE, FILMBOOST BY DEUTSCHE FILMAKADEMIE, GรTEBURG FILM FUND, SABAM
Sublime landscapes surrounds a story of the workers historical plights in an Ugandan salt-mining community who navigate broken promises of development.
“With striking imagery, heartfelt reflection and subtle humour underpins a portrait of a salt-mining community who navigate broken promises of development.”
Watch the international premiere at Sheffield DocFest for the Swedish-Ugandan film Katwe followed by a Q&A with the director Nima Shirali.
Join screenings:
Saturday, June 21, 15:30โ17:26 Showroom โ Screen 1
Sunday, June 22, 18:15โ20:11 Showroom โ Screen 2
More information and tickets are available here:๐ https://www.sheffdocfest.com/film/katwe
Rara Avis’ affiliated creative, Arsh ABG is set to debut her EP Launch at her self headlining event, Cake & Cruise Party. This Party will feature some affiliate community member creatives like, Dilo Swagz, Soundboy FA, Kween B and Blue Pinky. Other performance include music by Astral Nova and event hosting by Hype Venom.
Rara Avis Endorsement
Rara Avis is known for fostering and encouraging collaboration between emerging and debutant creatives. We believe that it is one of the best strategies for creative growth. Cross-peer networking is one of the focal ways creatives can support each others’ craft and build a formidable brand. Rara Avis endorses this event by the multi-hyphenated Arsh ABG, who doubles as a photographer and creative entrepreneur. Her sound is unique and tilts towards melancholia but with some upbeat afrobeats balance.
Birthday Celebration and Activities
The event is slated for May 16TH 2025, which intentionally falls on Arsh ABG’s birthday to mark both events.
Activities lined up include games, artist performance, food, dance and more. It starts at 11PM at an undisclosed location at Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria. It promises to be an unforgettable and very electrifying experience especially with the calibre of artists in the lineup.
Ticket
For tickets and reservation contact +2348143849440 or send an inquiry mail to admin@raraavisentertainment.com
