New documentary shows the power of flim to highlight social issues

?I am passionate about the role film can play in bringing tough social issues to a wider audience.

I have been privileged to meet some of Britain’s finest filmmakers, including the multi-award winning Ken Loach and Andrea Arnold. What I find remarkable is their real insight into the issues they cover and their passion to give a voice to stories that often go unrepresented in mainstream media.

So I want to champion an award-winning documentary filmed by a first-time director that is having ad hoc screenings around the country and tackles the kind of issues many charity employees are familiar with. ? ?Shed Your Tears and Walk Away is a deeply personal documentary by filmmaker Jez Lewis. A special screening, in association with the charity Drugsline, takes place in London shortly.

The old mill town of Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire has a reputation as a bohemian idyll, a thriving tourist destination and a haven for an artistic community.

Lewis grew up there, and was forced to question this image of the place when he found himself returning there frequently to attend funerals of childhood friends who had developed drink and drug problems or committed suicide.? ?The documentary starts with Lewis’ personal quest for understanding as he asks why people of his generation are killing themselves.

The film then moves into a year-long drama of human tragedy and redemption as the central character, Cass, comes to terms with his own mortality and attempts to lift himself out of his cycle of self-destruction.  

The documentary provides a snapshot of some of the real social and economic problems affecting our society. As I watched a screening of the film I was transported into a world that I personally had never encountered. It was easy to forget that there was a camera there, such was the ability of the director to get the people he was filming to open up in such an honest way.

Frustratingly for the director, it has been a real battle to get the film to a mass audience. Neither the BBC nor Channel 4 has expressed an interest in screening it. Yet this is a film, as depressing and dark as it might be, that provides a real insight into social problems facing our society. Dare I say it – a real example of what has been coined ‘Broken Britain’?

?The special screening of Shed Your Tears and Walk Away is on 9 June at 8.30pm at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, followed by a discussion about the issues raised with Lewis and a representative of the charity.

I hope you will join me to support and champion this film to ensure that is reaches as many people as possible. ?Tickets cost £9 and are available from the ICA Box Office +44 (0)20 7930 3647. For regional screenings you can keep updated via the Facebook page.