Project Detail
Bare Roots
© Brett Lockwood, Fieldwork Productions Ltd
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
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
Categories
Production Status
Production Company
Supported by BFI NETWORK
Fieldwork Productions Ltd
Lucy MainstoneTansy Cottage
Nancegollan
Helston TR13 0AH
Page updates
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