Hull Independent Cinema: Burning Bridges

‘Burning Bridges’ is the story of an artist who pushed ever closer to the edges – and then went over.

On freezing cold morning at the end of January 2007, at the back of playing fields in Hull, in littered woodland close to an old boathouse by a river, a runner found an unconscious man and called an ambulance.

The man was in his pyjamas, on the ground next to him was a wooden sword.

His body was heavily bruised – the doctors suggested he could have been kicked and beaten, but that was never investigated. There were reports that he’d been given anti-freeze to drink.

After suffering hypothermia and two heart attacks Paul Burwell, aged 58, was in a coma. Less than a week later his life support was switched off.

Though dog walkers, kids and the local police had regarded him as an eccentric and a drunk, there were obituaries in the Guardian and Independent newspapers.

A new documentary from Hull based Nova Studios, ‘Burning Bridges’ traces the story of Paul Burwell’s life and work through the voices of the people who knew him best, including influential avant garde artists and musicians such as Anne Bean, Richard Wilson, David Toop, Evan Parker, Max Eastley, Steve Beresford, Sylvia Hallet, Carlyle Reedy and many others, as well as close family and friends.

‘Burning Bridges’ is the story of an artist who pushed ever closer to the edges – and then went over.

The film will be followed by a Q&A with director Matt Stephenson, executive producer Michael Barnes-Wynters and a special guest.