Invisible | a Portrait of Bristol's Homeless | a short Documentary by Arthur Cauty
1,688A portrait of Bristol’s homeless; a voice for those we often pretend are invisible.
I’ve lived in Bristol for 5 years now (in a house), and have always found myself struck by the number of men and women propped up in shop doorways adorned with blankets and sleeping bags. And more so recently - I don’t know the stats, but the numbers seem to be perpetually rising.
The idea for the film had been in the back of my mind for a while, but was further solidified whilst eating a (completely superfluous) slab of chocolate cake with my girlfriend by Bristol’s harbourside. We were approached by a dishevelled man who must have been around mid-30’s. He politely and apologetically asked if we could spare a little change, but sadly we had already emptied our pockets for the chocolate cake, which was now little more than crumbs. We ended up chatting for a while and even though we were unable to give him any change, he was genuinely thankful that we took the time to talk to him, rather than ignore him like so many do.
And so, for Invisible, I really I just wanted to give these people a voice, without disruption from presenters, narrators, unnecessary statistics, graphics or hyperbole. I wanted to let them speak, about the streets, about their lives, about their dreams and aspirations, and anything else they wanted to speak about.
I filmed this over the course of a few days, and handed out food and drinks to the people I encountered. I hope the film will inspire others to do the same, or at least to stop and listen.
Please feel free to share, embed, send to whoever, and help shine a little light on the extent of this problem.
Festivals & Screenings:
WINNER ‘Best of Bristol’, Bristol Independent Film Festival 2018
WINNER ’Best Documentary' Top Indie Film Awards, June 2018
FINALIST at TMFF The Monthly Film Festival, June 2018
Official Selection, Queen Palm International Film Festival, August 2018
Official Selection, Bath Film Festival, November 2018
Official Selection, UK Screen One Film Festival, April 2019
Chapter Arts, Cardiff, July 2018
The Cube Cinema, Bristol, July 2018
A film by Arthur Cauty
Boom Operator - Christiana White
Dubbing Editor - Reg Flair
Music by Moby
A big thank you to everyone who participated, especially Kimberly, Edward, Matt, Troy, Ian, and Mario.
DC7 Films
Created with:
Sony PXW-FS7
Sony A7S
Panasonic GH4
Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 Art
Sigma 50mm F1.4 Art
Sigma 70-200mm F2.8
Closed captions available. Provided by Rev.
www.arthurcauty.com
#Bristol #Homeless #Documentary