Another chance to see

Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go (Documentary)

Starting: 23:40 on Saturday 30th August. Duration: 1 hour and 40 minutes
Showing on BBC 4 (9).
[find out more on this programme from the DigiGuide Library]

Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go - opening

Hold Me Tight - Reviews

Times Online
Independent
Telegraph

Special school caught on camera - from Oxford Mail

Special school caught on camera

By Emma-Kate Lidbury

TV viewers will gain a rare insight into the lives of five children at an Oxfordshire special school when an award-winning documentary is screened tonight.

The film, Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go, followed the children - who have suffered physical, emotional or sexual abuse during their formative years - for 12 months at the Mulberry Bush School, near Standlake.

For 60 years, the school has provided specialist therapeutic care and education to some of the most damaged and challenging children in the country.

Many of the pupils who start school there are chaotic, aggressive and violent and are unmanageable at home and school, so the Mulberry Bush works to transform their lives during its three-year programme.

John Diamond, the school's chief executive, admits the school "took a risk" with the filming process.

Between September 2006 and April last year, award-winning film-maker Kim Longinotto and sound recordist Mary Milton were given access.

advertisement

Mr Diamond said: "At first staff found being observed by the camera intrusive and exposing.

"After some initial excitement, the children seemed to accept Kim and Mary's presence to the point where they became almost invisible.

"The closeness and intimacy of the relationships caught on camera, without interrupting those interactions, is testimony to the process.

"As a school we took a risk with the process. We did not have any final control or influence over the editing or the content of the film."

The film won the Brit Doc Best British Film 2007 award as well as the Joris Ivens Grand Jury Best Film Award 2007.

The school, which caters for five to 12-year-olds takes day pupils as well as boarders. It was deemed "outstanding" by inspectors after Ofsted inspections this year and last year.

The film is due to be shown on BBC Four at 10pm tonight.

From http://www.oxfordmail.net/display.var.2288240.0.special_school_caught_on_camera.php

Hold Me Tight - TV Broadcast

"Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go" is about to have two screenings on BBC4, it will at some point also be broadcast on BBC2. It's a feature length documentary I worked on about the Mulberry Bush School in Oxfordshire. I won't repeat everything here, so to find out all about it check out some of my other blog entries and the home page of my website.

Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go (Documentary)

Starting: 22:00 on Thursday 22nd May. Duration: 1 hour and 40 minutes
Showing on BBC 4 (9).
[find out more on this programme from the DigiGuide Library]

Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go (Documentary)

Starting: 02:15 on Friday 23rd May. Duration: 1 hour and 40 minutes
Showing on BBC 4 (9).
[find out more on this programme from the DigiGuide Library]

Borderlines Film Festival

Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go (PG)

Director: Kim Longinotto
Starring: The children and staff of the Mulberry Bush school
UK, 2007, 1 hour 40 minutes

Wednesday 9 April - BAFTA&SWM Special Gala Drinks 7.30pm followed by Screening 8.15
Thursday 10 April 6.00pm
Friday 11 11.00am
The Courtyard, Hereford

From the best British documentary filmmaker of her generation comes this fascinating insight into the workings of the Mulberry Bush school that caters for troubled kids. Where emotional trauma and violent confrontation are never far away and the staff appear positively saintly. Asking vital questions about how best to deal with difficult children Longinotto, offers no pat answers or facile analysis, just observation of good people helping damaged kids. This is food for thought for anyone who thinks that poor parenting is a crucial social issue. Quietly positive.

On Wednesday 9 April BAFTA and Screen WM are proud to host a special gala screening of Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go in association with Borderlines Film Festival.

In partnership with Screen WM, this event is part of BAFTA in The Regions; a programme of screenings and events throughout England run in partnership with the Regional Screen Agencies.

The BAFTA and Screen WM screening of Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go will be preceded by a drinks reception open to all ticket holders.

Visit www.bafta.org and www.screenwm.co.uk

Screen WM is the regional agency working to support, promote and develop the screen media industry in the West Midlands.

"Remarkable... shot with clarity and human kindness." The Observer

Winner of the Best British Documentary Award at BRITDOC

Text from the Borderlines Website

IDFA award for "Hold Me Tight"

Hold Me Tight, Let me Go has won the Jury prize at this years International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam.

www.idfa.nl
www.variety.com/

Review from Eye for Film

Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go

Reviewed By: Paul Griffiths

There are some uncomfortable moments in Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go, but if you have patience and persevere the film is both moving and rewarding.

That could well be the mantra for the dedicated team of teachers and support workers working at the Mulberry Bush boarding school in Oxford. All the young pupils have been excluded from other schools due to their extreme behaviours, caused by the severe emotional trauma that they have endured and still experience. The staff are frequently on the receiving end of verbal abuse, spitting and physical violence as they help the children to overcome the many challenges they pose to themselves and others. With patience and dedication they work through the violent confrontations to help the children regain control of their behaviour and their opportunities to have more fulfilling, less self-destructive lives.

Sensitively filmed throughout, documentary filmmaker Kim Longinotto observes in equal measure the children’s difficult and more relaxed times to present a rounded portrait of each. She focuses in on a handful of children specifically and her balanced view of the charismatic characters ensures that no one is presented purely as just a problem child, a label. Indeed, filming some with their visiting parents is hugely revealing and highlights that while the child may well act outrageously towards the staff, he or she is still very much an innocent, vulnerable victim in the world of adults. With this tragic understanding in relief, when the hard-won successes, small and large, eventually come for everyone there are some extremely moving and humbling scenes.

The film is the latest addition to Longinotto’s growing body of work, following her well-received Sisters In Law in 2005. Her canon repeatedly shows her skill at capturing the humanity of people and situations in an extremely accessible manner, which is respectful to both her subjects and her audience. Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go is no exception.

A simple, moving documentary.

From Eye for film

Hold me tight, let me go - Observer Review

Jason Solomons
Sunday November 4, 2007
The Observer

Among the documentaries that grabbed my attention was the remarkable Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go by Kim Longinotto, about a school for troublesome children who kick, spit and swear until controlled by the amazing everyday heroics of the teaching staff. It's a very British version of the French hit, Etre et avoir, shot with clarity and human kindness.

(From the write up of the London Film Festival)

Hold Me Tight Let Me Go

"Hold Me Tight Let Me Go" is screening in London as part of the London Film Festival.
See http://www.bfi.org.uk/whatson/lff/ for more details and also the review below.

Director - Kim Longinotto
Sound Recordist - Mary Milton

A moving look at a school for traumatised and violent youngsters

Thu 25 Oct 18:00, NFT1 £8.50
Sat 27 Oct 18:30, Ritzy Cinema £8.50

Mulberry Bush is a boarding school in Oxford that caters for children who have been excluded from regular schools and who suffer from severe emotional trauma. The staff have to endure daily confrontations, a great deal of spitting and swearing from their charges, and valiantly attempt to change the violent and self-destructive patterns of behaviour.

Kim Longinotto (The Day I Will Never Forget, Sisters in Law) draws some fascinating characters and stories from the chaos in the classrooms. With a perfected observational style she captures the humanity of the pupils, their families and the teachers superbly, and, though it is a revealing and moving study, the film is not completely without humour.

As badly behaved as the kids are, it's to the film's credit that the viewer never loses empathy with them. Their relationships with their parents are very telling, while the teachers, skilled, dedicated and impossibly patient, appear positively heroic

Michael Hayden

Other links about the film
British Film Catalogue
BritDoc
Awards Daily