GENERATION 9/11 (CHILDREN OF 9/11)

PBS / CHANNEL 4 / ARTE

***** “Both unspeakably tragic and oddly unsentimental.” - The Daily Mail // “Une réussite, à ne pas manquer.” Ouest-France

GENERATION 9/11 is an intimate and creative two-hour film, driven by the stories and personalities of its protagonists, born in the wake of a global tragedy which, for them, was also deeply personal. But it is also the story an entire generation that has been shaped by the attacks and their aftermath. Combining beautiful original footage with archive, UGC, and experimental remote filming techniques, the film casts a fresh light on a tragedy that, two decades on, is still shaping our world.

GENERATION 9/11 (Children of 9/11) was commissioned by PBS, Channel 4, and Arte France to mark the 20th anniversary of the attacks, and produced by Arrow Pictures. It has been picked up by public television stations around the world.

**** ”Remarkable… never once straying into mawkishness or purience. It was strangely uplifting.” - The Times

**** ”A Powerful Retort to the terrorists behind the attack” - The Telegraph

"GENERATION 9/11" wades into new territory for media depictions of the attack…. feels like a tender coming-of-age story, intimately balances the generational and personal impacts of 9/11 on a group of young people who are uniquely connected in loss.” - Salon.com

“Directed by Liz Mermin, this was a respectful labour of love.” - The Guardian

TEAM QATAR

BBC STORYVILLE

“Absolutely lovely" The Guardian

TEAM QATAR follows five bright and engaging Middle Eastern teens from the world’s richest country as they are initiated into the cutthroat subculture of competitive high-school debate. Guided by two young and charismatic Oxford grads, they're determined to show they aren't the closed-minded extremists they think other kids might imagine them to be – and even more determined to win. An unlikely, surprisingly entertaining window onto the globalised culture of the Arab world and its relation to the West.

Premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. Now streaming on Docsville and available on Amazon.

WINNER Best Feature - Doha Tribeca Film Festival

"Hugely enjoyable" TIME OUT

"Engrossing" SUNDAY HERALD

Featured on Al Jazeera's Fabulous Picture Show

OFFICE TIGERS

BBC STORYVILLE / SUNDANCE CHANNEL

“Mermin’s work is too smart not catch the kinds of East-West ironies she pegged in her previous “The Beauty Academy of Kabul.”… speaks of her curiosity as a filmmaker about her subject.” — VARIETY

A feature-length documentary and mini-series about an office full of young Indian professionals and the executives teaching them the rules of corporate culture. Set in an American-owned out-sourcing company in India, whose clients include the top investment banks in the world, the documentary offers a rare look at cross-cultural corporate training, the lifestyles of young urban professionals in a conservative South Indian city, and at the changes that outsourcing is bringing to India. Comic and dark.

Premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

“Vladimir Nabakov once said satire is a lesson, parody is a game. This fantastic documentary by Liz Mermin is both.” – The London Paper

“Engrossing…. Office Tigers looks at a caste system of a 21st century variety – the kind created when a new elite is formed whose mantra is ‘make more money’”. — TIME OUT

“Horrifyingly fascinating.” – RADIO TIMES

FIRST LADIES: MICHELLE OBAMA

CNN ORIGINAL SERIES

“The astonishingly detailed portraits in “First Ladies” are distinguished in their scholarship, mesmerizing in their drama.” — Wall Street Journal

FIRST LADIES is a 6-part series exploring the experiences of iconic US first ladies, narrated by Robin Wright. Liz directed & wrote an extended episode on Michelle Obama, which launched the series in October 2020 - attracting 2.2 million viewers, 88-92% kept watching through the 90 minute slot.

The film explores how Obama’s life experiences shaped her approach to this uniquely undefined and challenging role. Combining interviews with close colleagues and friends, analysis from historians and writers, a vast amount of archive and atmospheric dramatised scenes, the film reveals lessons Obama learned through a gruelling election campaign and her subsequent work to help young people, inspiring unprecedented devotion but also ugly opposition that presaged the divisions we see across the country today.

The series is being distributed internationally by Fremantle Media and was produced by October Films in London. Liz also directed the episode on Nancy Reagan.

Watch more clips, including this moving section on gun violence, here. Both episodes available on HBO Max.

SHOT IN BOMBAY

BBC STORYVILLE / SUNDANCE CHANNEL

"Sensationally Entertaining" - Metro

With unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to a star-studded, high-octane Bombay gangster movie, SHOT IN BOMBAY tells three entwined stories: the rise of the city’s underworld in the 90s, narrated by ‘Bombay's Dirty Harry'; the tribulations of superstar Sanjay Dutt, on trial for alleged involvement in India’s largest terrorist attack; and a young director’s dogged quest to master the delicate art of making a Bollywood blockbuster.

Cinema release at London’s ICA, many international film festivals including South x Southwest, Sheffield Docfest. Streaming on Docsville.

**** "Absolutely fascinating" - Time Out London

"Her keen eye for ironies and quiet wit make for superior, very entertaining documentary." - The Telegraph

"Riveting" - Financial Times

"Fascinating" - The Times

"Extremely entertaining" - View London

"Mind-blowing" - Total Film 

AMAZING AZERBAIJAN!

YLE / DR

‘Amazing Azerbaijan!’ pulls back the curtain on the glittery facade that this oil-rich nation presented to the world when hosting Eurovision 2012, telling personal stories of human rights abuses to which Europe's leaders have turned a blind eye.

Produced by Crowhill Films, in association with YLE and DR.

Broadcast on nine national public broadcasters before the 2012 Eurovision semi-final. The film opened Brussels edition of One World Film Festival, screened at London’s Frontline Club and many other events and festivals.

The film received a Bertha / Britdoc outreach grant, and was used by Index on Censorship for a campaign around the lack of press freedom in Azerbaijan.