Private Project

Bare Roots

In the depth of winter, an estranged mother and daughter plant a bare root hedge, unearthing the loss and heartbreak they have each buried, and exposing their needs for home, and each other.

  • Ellen McDougall
    Director
  • Ellen McDougall
    Writer
  • Lucy Mainstone
    Producer
  • Linda Bassett
    Key Cast
    "Sue"
    Call The Midwife, East is East, Calendar Girls, Kinky Boots,The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Strike,
  • Charlotte Ritchie
    Key Cast
    "Amy"
    You, Feel Good, Ghosts, Wonka
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    July 31, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    21,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.39:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Ellen McDougall

Ellen has worked as a theatre director for the last 15 years, with productions at major UK theatres including the Donmar Warehouse and Shakespeares' Globe. She was Artistic Director of the Gate Theatre, Notting Hill from 2017-2022. She has written critically acclaimed adaptations of short stories and novels for the stage. This is her first short film.

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Director Statement

This is a story about a mother and daughter who both struggle in their own ways to reach out to each other. Both are experiencing a loss of home, and are grappling with their sense of self. The exhausting physical task of planting a bare root hedge eventually reconnects them with the earth, their shared past, and each other.

The film is about the challenges of asking for help and seeking to be heard, understood and supported, and how often we bury our most vulnerable feelings from the people we love the most. It centres queer and older women.

The cinematography provides a forensic study of the silences and pain in both characters, while giving the audience a close-up study of the physicality of planting and their connection to the earth, foregrounding the value and protection of wild and natural spaces.