I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning

Clio Barnard's new film tells the story of five Birmingham friends navigating loss, and life's limitations, finding meaning through humour and family.

Told through the alternating perspectives of five childhood friends from the same housing estate in Birmingham, it is a story about friendship, place, loss, addiction and the ways in which lives, minds, and bodies can be limited by material conditions; it also speaks powerfully to the ways in which humor, loyalty, and family can bestow meaning and life even in the toughest circumstances.

Based on the novel by Kieran Goddard, I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning won the Audience Award in the Directors' Fortnight strand at this year's Cannes Film Festival. The ensemble cast includes Joe Cole (Gangs of London), Anthony Boyle (House of Guinness), Jay Lycurgo (Steve), Daryl McCormack (Wake Up Dead Man) and Lola Petticrew (Say Nothing).