Bare Roots

Directed by Ellen McDougall

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.