Forced into homelessness after her release from prison, Chrissie searches for love and connection in places where neither is freely offered. Set in the forgotten edges of British society, Love Me, Hold Me, Always is an unflinching 15-minute short that explores poverty, loneliness and unconditional love with rare honesty.

The film marks a significant step for director Hardey Speight, who spent years working in the industry as an assistant director before launching his own production company.

“It’s always been my ambition to be a feature film-maker,” he explains, “but you get taken off in different tangents… I had four kids and I was still working as an AD doing 13-hour days. There was no space.”

Speight’s fascination with people on the fringes is deeply personal. “You walk past people and you see a homeless guy… and you go, there’s a whole life in that guy. It’s a tragedy that he’s ended up where he is. I grew up in that world. A part of me never left.”

The project was shot on a Sony Venice, entirely self-financed and produced on a low budget through Speight’s Cardiff-based company, Black Lab Film. “If we have the time, we can do it,” he says, “but that’s the thing, you need to come out of the day-job space and make room.” Shooting took place over three weeks in sporadic bursts, working around lead actor Iona Champain’s final days at drama school. “There was urgency — we only had so much time… and there’s nothing like that for getting things done.”

Despite the tough subject matter, the film is not bleak. The tenderness of the central character — and her determination to find meaning in the margins — gives the short a surprising emotional pull. “She’s surviving in a world that is loveless… but she’s still looking for unconditional love.”

Speight confirms that the short is also a proof of concept for a larger feature.