Hanging On (Film)

HANGING ON (2021) is an award-winning documentary short film made by CosmoSquare Films about the fight to save our homes.

Watch the 10 minute film below or via alfiebarker.com

Hanging On is ‘an experimental doc that spotlights the strength of a community when faced with eviction. [It] reminds us about the struggles of people who are slipping through the cracks of society and what it means to have a home’

~ Alfie Barker, Director. See: https://alfiebarker.com/portfolio/hanging-on

Background

Across 2021, Cosmosquare films brought cranes and camera crew into our quiet estate. The team wanted to capture what home meant to our community and to show the world just how hard we were trying to keep the houses and the community together.

Alfie Barker (director) and Hollie Barker (producer) are the film’s creators. They brought real creativity and sensitivity to this very personal and emotional story. It was such an honour to share the Save Our Homes LS26 fight in this way. Thank you to everyone who helped make it, and to all who take the time to watch it!

Read an interview with Alfie Barker here: Why I made ‘Hanging On’: Director Alfie Barker on the award-winning film about our plight

Hanging On Poster featuring Mark Field. Credit: Scott Woolston.

International Recognition:

HANGING ON had its World Premiere at Sheffield Doc Fest, one of the top three documentary film festivals in the world, in June 2021.

Since then, HANGING ON has been selected for a number of other prestigious festivals and won many awards:

  • Toronto International Film Festival. The festival, one of the largest attended in the world, ran from the 9-18 September 2021. You can watch a TIFF Roundtable Q&A with Alfie Barker on YouTube.
  • The world-famous BFI London Film Festival, where you can watch it for free here between the 6-17 October.
  • Encounters Festival, the UK’s leading short film, animation and VR festival. Watch a filmmaker Q&A with Alfie Barker here. ***AWARD FOR BEST BRITISH SHORT FILM & UK AUDIENCE.
  • Aesthetica Film Festival, an international film festival based in York. ***BEST OF FEST & BEST DOCUMENTARY AWARDS.
  • The Leeds Film Festival, 3-18 November 2021. It’s the largest film festival in England outside of London!
  • UK Film Festival. ***BEST DOC SHORT FILM AWARD.
  • It has also been selected for: Uppsala SFF; Raindance FF, Burning Passions; Norwich IFF, nominated for Best Doc; INTERFILM Berlin International SFF; Leeds IFF, British Shorts; Folkestone Doc FF; London Short FF.

Photo credits: Anastasia Arsentyeva