Project Detail

Shed Your Tears And Walk Away

Synopsis

The small UK town of Hebden Bridge, where film-maker Jez Lewis grew up, is a beautiful and quirky rural idyll. But while it is paradise to many, it is purgatory to others. In the twenty years since he left, dozens of Jez's old friends have died young, many of them through suicide and drug overdoses.

Beginning with a personal quest for understanding, the film moves into a year-long drama of human tragedy and redemption as Jez re-bonds with his oldest friend Cass.

Coming to terms with his own imminent mortality, Cass attempts to lift himself out of the cycle of self-destruction he has lived amidst for so long. Around this emerges an intimate study of a place claimed to be the funkiest town in Europe, but which harbours an undertow of lethal hedonism and disillusionment. As young people continue to die by their own hands, a maelstrom of conflicting values throws up unexpected truths about the human condition, whilst Jez finds himself drawn inexorably into the action.

Filmed among friends, with absolutely unrestricted access, Shed Your Tears And Walk Away is a searingly authentic portrayal of a marginalised and overlooked people who seem to have lost their survival instinct.

Details

Year
2010
Type of project
Features
Running time
88 mins
Format
HDCAM
Director
Jez Lewis 1st Feature
Producer
Nick Broomfield
Executive Producer
Nick Broomfield
Editor
Miranda Watts
Screenwriter
Jez Lewis
Director of Photography
Jez Lewis
Sound
Jez Lewis
Composer
Roger McBrien
Principal cast
Graeme Cassidy, Michael Silcock, Liam Jones, Simon Heyes, Christian Denneny

Production Status

Production Company

Bungalow Town Productions Ltd

Southmore Cottage
Long Green
Wortham
Suffolk IP22 1PU
UK

T +44 (0)1379 898 797

Sales Company

Bungalow Town Productions Ltd

Southmore Cottage
Long Green
Wortham
Suffolk IP22 1PU
UK

T +44 (0)1379 898 797

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