Country: United Kingdom
Language: English
Year: 2007
Running Time: 100 min

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.

Director	Kim Longinotto
Producer	Roger Graef
Producer	Kim Longinotto
Co- Producer	Richard Klein
Production Company	Jane Bevan
Editor	Ollie Huddleston
Cinematography	Kim Longinotto
Sound	Mary Milton

Special Jury Prize IDFA