El Documental del mes - HOLD ME TIGHT, LET ME GO - el Documental del mes

For the forty children who call it home, Mulberry Bush is their last chance. Excluded from school for extreme behaviour, and often having suffered severe emotional trauma, they are given three years at the Oxford boarding school to try to turn their lives around. Acclaimed documentary maker Kim Longinotto has once again turned her compassionate lens onto people living in extraordinary circumstances. The fragile young boys at the heart of her film lash out in shockingly extreme ways -- hitting, swearing and spitting their way through the misery of their blighted childhoods. Endlessly patient and determined staff members verbally reason with the boys, whilst often having to restrain them physically. Hold me tight, let me go is ultimately a heartbreaking, engrossing study of dysfunction - of what happens when families break down. It also pays witness to the tremendous influence that adults hold - for bad and for good - upon growing children.

Internationally acclaimed director Kim Longinotto is one of the pre-eminent documentary filmmakers working today, renowned for creating extraordinary human portraits and tackling controversial topics with sensitivity and compassion. Longinotto's films have won international acclaim and dozens of premiere awards at festivals worldwide. Highlights include the Amnesty International DOEN Award at IDFA and Best Doc UK Spotlight at Hot Docs for The day I will never forget; the Grand Prize for Best Documentary San Francisco Int'l Film Festival and Silver Hugo Award at the Chicago International Film Festival for Divorce Iranian Syle; Best Documentary at Films de Femmes, Creteil for Dreamgirls; and Outstanding Documentary at the SF Gay and Lesbian Film Festival for Shinjuku Boys. Longinotto studied camera and directing at England's National Film School, where she made Pride of place, a critical look at her boarding school, and Theatre Girls, documenting a hostel for homeless women. After the NFS she worked as the cameraperson on a variety of documentaries for TV. In 1986, Longinotto formed the production company Twentieth Century Vixen with Claire Hunt. Together they made Fireraiser, Eat the Kimono, Hidden faces, the internationally acclaimed, collaborative documentary with/about Egyptian women and The good wife of Tokyo. Throughout this time, she made a series of ten broadcast and non-broadcast videos on special needs issues, including Tragic but brave for Channel 4. Sisters in law, set in Kumba, Cameroon, premiered and won two prizes at Cannes. Her latest film, Hold me tight, let me go, won Best British feature Documentary at Britdoc 2007.

• Jury special award - International Film Festival of Amsterdam (IDFA), The Netherlands, 2007
• Best English documentary - Britdoc, United Kingdom, 2007
• Best documentary film - Britspotting, Berlin, 2008
• Best documentary film - Bird Eye View, United Kingdom, 2008 HotDocs, Canada, 2008
• HotDocs, Canadá, 2008
• Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, Greece, 2008