CANTILENA PICTURES
Rebecca founded the Northern Irish film production company Cantilena Pictures in 2021. Now operating across NI and London, its films champion music-driven, disability/neurodiversity and women’s stories, spotlighting underrepresented voices both in front of and behind the camera. As a neurodivergent woman who is passionate about accessibility & inclusivity on film sets, Rebecca is committed to working with majority disabled/neurodiverse and female creatives on all of her films.
Cantilena Pictures has completed two award-winning short films to date: Music to Die For (2024) and Resonance (2021). Additionally, it has a slate of short films in development in collaboration with other writers/directors, details of which can be found below. Follow the Cantilena Pictures Instagram page for all project updates.
Music to Die For
YEAR: 2024
GENRE: Drama, Musical
FILMING LOCATION: Derry, Ireland
LOGLINE: A Northern Irish pianist seeks redemption for an attack on his former band during the Troubles when he encounters of the bandmates at a gig years later
WRITER / DIRECTOR / PRODUCER / ORIGINAL MUSIC & SONGS: Rebecca Doherty
AWARDS: Best International Short (Lonely Seal International Film Festival 2025); Best Woman Short Film (Chandler International Film Festival 2025); Best Story - Drama (Jane Austen International Film Festival 2025); Best Indie Short (Buzzin’ Shorts Film Festival 2024).
17 additional award nominations, 25 screenings at festivals across Ireland, the UK and US.
WATCH BELOW:
Resonance
YEAR: 2021
GENRE: Drama
FILMING LOCATION: Derry, Ireland
LOGLINE: Two women in a piano lesson play pieces about the people they have lost in their lives while they struggle to articulate their grief and move on from their pasts.
WRITER / DIRECTOR / CO-PRODUCER / ORIGINAL MUSIC: Rebecca Doherty.
Supported by Arts Council NI and Eastside London.
PREMIERE: North East International Film Festival 2022 (BIFA-qualifying)
NOMINATIONS: Best Northern Irish Short Film, Best Original Score (The British Short Film Awards 2021); Horizon Award (International Sound & Film Music Festival 2022).
WATCH BELOW:
SHORT FILM SLATE
Pre-Production
GENRE: Social-issue drama
BUDGET: £25,000
FILMING LOCATION: London, UK
SHOOT DATES: TBD (Q4 2026 / Q1 2027)
LOGLINE: A young woman with ADHD, placed back on probation at work, is left to salvage an unexpected company disaster, revealing that a lack of understanding from others might be her biggest struggle of all.
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Shayna Langford
PRODUCER: Rebecca Doherty, Cantilena Pictures
Follow the film’s Instagram page for more updates
Deficit
Hannah
In Development
GENRE: Period/Historical, Drama
FILMING LOCATION / SHOOT DATES: TDB (UK)
LOGLINE: In Devon, 1939, a musically gifted Kindertransport girl must choose to assimilate into her English family or leave for America with the past she longs to forget.
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Anya Ostrovskaia
PRODUCER: Rebecca Doherty, Cantilena Pictures
In The Bracken
In Development
GENRE: Period/Historical Drama
FILMING LOCATION: TDB (UK)
SHOOT DATES: Summer 2027
LOGLINE: In the 14th century English countryside, a young woman faces a terrible choice when her lover asks her to hide him from certain death.
Written by Harry Baker and loosely based on Child Ballad 213 ‘Sir James the Rose’.
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Harry Baker
PRODUCER: Rebecca Doherty, Cantilena Pictures
