Output details

Paper Hearts is a short film.

Paper Hearts is a 10 minute short film about a homeless father who wants to conceal his homelessness from his 10 year old son.

In this research, Brown’s objective was to explore the representation of the lived experience of homelessness through fictional film. The process involved spending three months personally interacting and filming documentary material with rough sleepers in Derby in order to develop a “grounded” understanding (Glaser and Strauss 1967) of their lived experience. Although the film engages with the wider social context of homelessness, Brown’s aim from a research perspective was to explore, through fiction, how homelessness impacts on the individual relationship between a homeless father and his son. This theme arose directly from Brown’s qualitative research on the streets, through which he discovered that many homeless men choose not to reveal their living status to their family and, in particular, their children.

Paper Hearts stars Gary Cargill (Route Irish, Kicks) and newcomer, Dylan Goodall, who trained at the acclaimed Television Workshop, Nottingham. The film was nominated for Best Short Film at the BAFTA qualifying Rushes Soho Shorts Festival 2011, Best UK Short at the Oscar qualifying Leeds International Film Festival 2011 and Best Short Film at the Royal Television Society West Awards 2012. The project received funding from IdeasTap’s Big Ideas Fund in late 2009. Kevin Spacey was one of the panellists who selected the project for funding and he presented Rob Brown with a cheque for £5,000 at the Old Vic in London in front of an audience of press and industry.

Paper Hearts premiered at the ICA in July 2011 and in competition at the Rushes Soho Shorts Festival.

Year of publication: 2011