Excellent objective documentary about a British boarding school for children with extreme behavioural problems – and a staff to student ratio of 108 to 40.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2008
Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go 2007
Mulberry Bush in Oxford is a boarding school that caters to children with behavioural problems so extreme no regular school can handle them. Preeminent British documentarian Kim Longinotto (Sisters in Law) records a year in the life of this unique institution where the staff to student ratio stands at 108 to 40. When tempers flare, these kids punch, kick, spit and curse at the superhumanly patient teachers. These are all children whose lives have clearly been deeply messed up. Eight-year-old Alex, distressingly wise beyond his years, has got it sussed: "Nearly every adult gets things wrong." Disabusing him of this conviction is a daunting task. Longinotto focuses her compassionately objective gaze on this sharp, canny and emotionally precarious kid and his classmates. We share in the struggle to patch up past damage and move on. The unfaltering conduct of the remarkable, valiant teachers as they restrain, support and nurture their charges is astounding to behold. — SR