Project Detail

Bare Roots

Synopsis

Amy reluctantly returns home to the windy clifftop in North Cornwall where she grew up, after a break-up with her partner Jess has left her homeless. She hopes her mum, Sue, will be pleasantly surprised at the chance for them to reconnect.
But Sue isn't good with surprises, and has other things on her mind. She is preparing to plant a bare root hedge, her final act of resistance against the second home development that will surround her home, concreting over her memories and erasing her past.
They start early: digging in the hedge is backbreaking work.
When Amy finally manages to tell Sue about her loss, Sue is lost for words. They doggedly continue planting, gradually finding a rhythm together in the silence.
As night falls, and exhaustion sets in, Sue returns to the house, and Amy is left in the field, digging the last trench for the remaining plants. Alone, they each find a way to reach out across the silence, the years of separation, and their losses, towards each other.
Official Selection Encounters Film Festival 2025
Official Selection Aesthetica Film Festival 2025

Details

Year: 2025
Type of project: Shorts
Running time: 15 min
Format: Digital
Director: Ellen McDougall
Producer: Lucy Mainstone
Executive Producer: Nadia Attia
Editor: Holly Bourdillon
Screenwriter: Ellen McDougall
Director of Photography: Amber Amare
Production Designer: Lauren Clark
Sound: Dajain Daley, Claire Stevens
Composer: Màth Roberts, Annie Chown
Principal cast: Linda Bassett, Charlotte Ritchie
Associate Producer: Tom Stuart
Casting Director: Anna Cooper CDG
First Assistant Director: Emily Hester
Script Supervisor: Peter Clarke
Costume Designer: Eleanor Gow
Production Design Trainee: Natacha Simpson
First Assistant Camera: Kyle Richardson
Second Assistant Camera: Jamie Coupland
Second Assistant Camera: Charlie Davies
Key Grip: Sam Hill
Grip: Adam Colwell
Gaffer: James Adair
DIT: Josh Burbridge
Lighting Trainee: Aidan Brook
Sound Trainee: Alex Payne
Access Coordinator: Paul Smith
Stills Photographer: Brett Lockwood
Driver: Gilly Roche
Driver: Liam Mainstone
Catering: Thomas Moore
Catering: Lyra Waters
Sound Designer: Claire Stevens
Colourist and Online Editor: Berta Valverde
Deliverables: Winston Tjia
Sound Design Trainee: Ella Gorman

Genre

Climate / Environment Drama LGBTQIA+ Woman Director

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

Supported by BFI NETWORK

Fieldwork Productions Ltd

Lucy Mainstone
Tansy Cottage
Nancegollan
Helston TR13 0AH

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