Sleeping Rough

Bristol24/7 will be running a series of articles throughout Homelessness Awareness Week, February 24 – March 3, to highlight an issue that has rocketed in the last year alone, the problems people face and what communities can do to help.

Catherine is a care leaver who moved in with her boyfriend, but when the relationship became abusive, found she had no one to turn to – so she escaped onto the streets.

The harrowing tale is one of three real life stories depicted in a new docu-drama Sleeping Rough by Bristol–based filmmaker Owain Astles, who set out to show the human lives behind the shocking statistics on homelessness.

“Obviously it’s a very visual issue and becoming more so,” says the director of Pastles Productions Ltd.

“I noticed that, but I also noticed people’s derogatory attitudes to homelessness so I suppose I went in with a bit of an agenda to change perceptions.”

Owain Astles set out to change perceptions of homelessness

The film that will be screened at a sold-out event at Watershed on Monday is the culmination of more than 100 interviews, conducted all around the country over the course of a year and works to highlight the rise and many causes homelessness.

It follows three characters:

Jack, an engineer who, through a chain of events, loses his job, his flat and his family.

Eva, an immigrant who, to avoid being deported, accepts a job where she is underpaid, overworked and exploited before she makes her escape onto the streets.

And Catherine, a young woman who leaves an emotionally abusive relationship, but finds there is no one she can turn to.

A short snippet of the film:

“What was most important to me was making sure it was real, that it did not come across as fake and that it was doing stories justice,” continues Owain.

The former University of Bristol student worked with different charities and organisations in the creation of the film, including the Big Issue and Cardboard Citizens, a theatre group that makes productions for and with homeless people.

“Most of the actors are from Cardboard Citizens and have experience of homelessness,” explains Owain. “And the film documents real events and real voices.

“We included a storyline about modern slavery and exploitation after speaking to three different immigrants – two of whom had been exploited – so they were a small minority overall, but their stories really resonated.

Stokes Croft features in the film

“We worked with Crisis Centre Ministries and the women’s shelter and spoke to a lot of women and got their stories.

“One woman said she wanted to highlight the plight of people coming out of care.

“There are two homeless demographics that are rising – female and young people. There are also differences between men and women – relationship breakdown is a big factor for both, but for a lot of women, it’s escaping abusive relationships.”

The project started with a pilot documentary created from interviews with people sleeping rough on the streets of Bristol one Saturday night.

Owain said it got such a positive reaction, he ended up putting the call out for volunteers willing to conduct interviews to feed into the final film – the response he received was huge.

The film’s co-producer Melita Cameron-Wood started helping out on a voluntary basis and got so involved, she came on board in a key role.

The film follows the stories of three characters

Owain says: “From the interviews, I learnt more about the different causes of homelessness. I went in thinking I knew about this and then realised I knew nothing.

“What has been really special is that people have watched it and identified with it – people with experience of homelessness themselves have come up to me and said they can really relate to it.”

Filming Sleeping Rough

The director and producer has himself had to sleep rough a few times and spent a while sofa-surfing, admitting he is incredibly lucky to have people he can depend on – something that many people don’t have.

“Whoever you are, even if you are really secure, it’s so easy to become homeless,” he says.

“That was one of the things that was a bit of a shock when I did the interviews – how many former students and young people were on the streets.”

Sleeping Rough scene

Sleeping Rough will be shown at festivals and events in Bristol and beyond. It is also going out to schools to help educate young people about the issue and the warning signs that someone might be at risk of homelessness, as well as what resources and support is available.

Read more: Bristol’s young ‘hidden homeless crisis’