Cutting Edge

15 September 2011

Britain's Most Extreme Hoarder

 

 

Undercover Cop

With exclusive access to Mark Kennedy, Britain's most controversial undercover police officer, this gripping and revelatory documentary tells the definitive, inside story of Mark Stone/Kennedy.

Directed by Bafta-winner Brian Hill and narrated by Kennedy, Cutting Edge also features interviews with the police to reconstruct the story of how Mark Kennedy went from being a regular south London police officer with a wife and two children, to becoming Mark Stone. This was Mark the environmental campaigner, militant activist and undercover cop who broke into power stations, learned how to make bombs, infiltrated groups hell bent on attacking major corporations and stood arm in arm with anti-capitalist anarchists. He also had a relationship with a female activist for four years and was even beaten up by fellow police officers unaware he was undercover and all the time he was feeding intelligence back to his handlers.

Now, with his cover blown only a few months ago, he lives in fear for his life. He is separated from his wife and family. The woman he fell deeply in love with as Mark Stone never wants to see him again. For the first time, Kennedy is returning to face up to himself, his actions and to the people who claim he betrayed them.

 

Britain's Best Penny Pincher (w/t)

This Cutting Edge is an entertaining and revealing look at the lives of the country's thriftiest people. From frugal families obsessed by discount vouchers and competitions to a penny-pinching bride who's determined that her wedding day will cost less than the price of the average wedding dress. Britain's Best Penny Pincher (w/t) offers a warm and revealing insight into the lives of people who take watching the pennies to new extremes. With the cost of living rising and the world economy faltering, perhaps these penny wise people have valuable lessons for us all.

 

Trip Advisors

The British hospitality industry is under attack. Businesses the length and breadth of the country are being assaulted by ever more nit-picking and abusive reviews. It's bad for their livelihoods and even worse for their sanity.

But it's not the professional critics who are reviewing their hosts, it's a nation of virtual AA Gills and Michael Winners who are using the Trip Advisor website to get their own back on hotels and restaurants. With more than 40 million users a month, Trip Advisor is the largest and most powerful travel guide in the world.

But is it a force for good that gives the customer a voice, or an abuse of power that undermines businesses and ruins lives? How long will Britain's small businesses cope with relentless criticism before they pack it all in? This Cutting Edge film reveals Britain's most meticulous Trip Advisors and meet some of the hoteliers and restaurateurs at war with the site.

 

Britain's Most Extreme Hoarder (w/t)

In a pretty English village in the stockbroker belt of Surrey lives the infamous Mr Wallace. On paper he's a millionaire but despite his wealth he lives in abject poverty, unable to afford a decent pair of shoes. He owns a detached bungalow on a large plot of land, a four-bedroom semi-detached house and a separate double garage, all of which are literally stuffed from floor to ceiling with newspapers and other household items.

Mr Wallace is arguably the UK's most extreme hoarder and his home has become a death trap. It is so packed that he has to crawl over mountains of papers and magazines simply to move from room to room and he has to sleep sitting on piles of junk. Film-maker Christian Trumble gets unique access into his intriguing home, where no one has ever ventured. 

 

The Craiglist Killings (w/t)

In one of the worst serial killings in American history, 13 bodies were discovered dumped on an isolated stretch of coast road in Long Island, a road that leads to a wealthy gated community. Four of them were sex workers who had advertised on the American internet site, Craigslist.

With access to families of the victims and another Craigslist escort who disappeared in the same location, this film pieces together a crime that exposes a darker side of middle class white America. No killer has been found, so now the families have begun their own hunt to find justice for their daughters' brutal murders.

Mari Gilbert, mother of Shannan Gilbert, one of the first to go missing: 'Someone in that community knows something. And they have to start talking. I won't stop until I find out what happened to my daughter.'

 

Production company

Undercover Cop - Century Films

Britain's Best Penny Pincher (w/t) - Raw TV

Britain's Most Extreme Hoarder (w/t) and Trip Advisors - RDF Television, part of Zodiak Media Group

The Craiglist Killings (w/t) - Blast! Films