Exploring the highly emotive subject of "Broken Britain", Jez Lewisf shattering documentary, Shed Your Tears and Walk Away is a bold and deeply personal piece of documentary filmmaking about the impact of addiction, unemployment, and homelessness on small town communities.
The beautiful and quirky rural town of Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire, where filmmaker Jez Lewis grew up, is a renowned tourist destination. But in the twenty years since Lewis left, dozens of his friends have died young, through suicide and drug overdoses. When Lewis returns to his home town to find out why so many of his childhood friends are dying, he discovers that there have been five suicides on his street alone.
Beginning with a personal quest for understanding, but moving into a year-long drama of human tragedy and redemption, Lewis re-bonds with his oldest friend Cass, who has recently been told by his doctor that if he continues his current lifestyle, he will be dead in two years. This core narrative carves an upward arc through an intimate study of a place often described as paradise, but which harbours an undertow of lethal hedonism and disillusionment. As people continue to kill themselves during the making of the film, a maelstrom of conflicting values throws up unexpected truths about the human condition.
The antithesis of a love letter to a childhood home, Shed Your Tears and Walk Away is brave, honest and open hearted-filmmaking at its very best.
The beautiful and quirky rural town of Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire, where filmmaker Jez Lewis grew up, is a renowned tourist destination. But in the twenty years since Lewis left, dozens of his friends have died young, through suicide and drug overdoses. When Lewis returns to his home town to find out why so many of his childhood friends are dying, he discovers that there have been five suicides on his street alone.
Beginning with a personal quest for understanding, but moving into a year-long drama of human tragedy and redemption, Lewis re-bonds with his oldest friend Cass, who has recently been told by his doctor that if he continues his current lifestyle, he will be dead in two years. This core narrative carves an upward arc through an intimate study of a place often described as paradise, but which harbours an undertow of lethal hedonism and disillusionment. As people continue to kill themselves during the making of the film, a maelstrom of conflicting values throws up unexpected truths about the human condition.
The antithesis of a love letter to a childhood home, Shed Your Tears and Walk Away is brave, honest and open hearted-filmmaking at its very best.
"Stunning"
Financial Times
"Compelling, heartfelt"
The Guardian
"Touching, personal and important...a must see documentary about big issues"
The Sun
"A raw, genuinely affecting discovery"
Time Out
The Times
Metro
The Sun
Details:
88 mins
RUNNING TIME
15
CERTIFICATE
Directed by: Jez Lewis
Produced by: Rachel Wexler
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