TRAILER for The Society For The Protection of Unwanted Objects (2’ 30”)
James describes himself as a ‘junk socialist’. He is dedicated to recycling stuff we might otherwise throw away through his shop in Herne Hill, South London. But the stuff comes in much quicker than it goes out and he is filling up garages and lock-ups all over town and amounting huge debts.
A dedicated member of the Labour Party, financial pressures are forcing him to leave the community he feels so much part of. Karen, his long-suffering partner, is trying to help relieve him of what she sees as severe hoarding tendencies. She has leant him money so he can rent a barn in the West Country to alleviate his crisis, but that barn is filling up rapidly too and James has not managed to clear out his other storage units.
Shot over a period of a year and a half, The Society For The Protection Of Unwanted Objects is an intimate and occasionally hilarious story of a relationship, and a study of an idealistic and eccentric vision coming up against the realities of 21st century London.
It is also a film about growing old and the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of our lives.
Featuring James Castle and Karen Livesey. Music by Ed Dowie.
30 mins 2020
Stroud Film Festival 2023
Winner BEST FILM Portobello Film Festival 2022
Winner DOCUMENTARY SHORT Brighton Rocks Festival 2021
