LANDLINE is a short documentary about the only helpline in the UK for gay farmers. Through a series of recorded telephone conversations and reconstructive visuals, the film uses the helpline as a lens through which to view the experiences of LGBTQ people in the British farming community.
In a world that prizes traditional masculinity and in which ideas of ancestry are fundamental, being gay can be isolating. Suicide rates are extremely high in both young farmers and gay men in particular, and combining these can be a recipe for tragedy. But there are also thriving gay scenes in the most rural of towns, stories of unexpected friendships and relationships, and moments so unlikely that they could only happen in real life. Candid, intimate and shocking, Landline is a snapshot of a group of people bound together by circumstance but so often isolated from each other.
Landline won Best Documentary Short at the 2018 Grierson Awards, as well as the HBO Short Documentary Award and was nominated for Best Documentary at LSFF, Open City Documentary Festival and Berlin British Shorts. The film was also named one of Vimeo's Best Of The Year 2019.
The film was funded by FILM LONDON and produced by PULSE FILMS and FEE FIE FOE.
Directed by MATT HOUGHTON
Produced by Rupert Williams and Alistair Payne-James

2019 | 12 mins