SYNOPSIS

'Bunty' is a film about escape. It tells the story of Bunty, a little old lady who lives alone in a house where the 'Welcome' mat is turned the other way, so it welcomes her out rather than inviting others in. Bunty is frail and wheelchair-bound. Every day, she sits in her chair and stares up at the birds in awe. Every day, she dreams of being up there, with the birds, out of her chair. We find her, at the start of the film, looking up. She tries to imitate, flailing her arms and slowly manoeuvring her rusty legs till she is standing, standing, flapping her arms, moving, moving, flapping, moving, she jumps. She falls. ------------Time passes. Bunty is back in her chair. She has a cone hat on and a sign on the door saying H-A-P-P-Y B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y. Her mood has changed. She is a little disheartened. Resigned, she blows up the balloon. Happy Birthday, Bunty. But wait! What is happening? Slowly, slowly, the balloon is rising, lifting her arm, and then the rest of her, slowly slowly, into the sky. Bunty is delighted. And look! A bird is coming, right there, so close, so close, POP! -----------Time passes. Letters haven fallen, and the sign now says H-A-P-P-B-I-T D-A-Y. Habit day? Bunty is back in her chair. She is angry now. The hat lies discarded on the ground. Enough with looking at the birds all day, she thinks. She has a book. In defiance, she raises it up to her face, to block out the sky and the birds. She begins to read. And as she reads more, her mind is activated, her imagination is triggered, and the book starts to flap. It flaps as if it were a bird itself, and pulls Bunty out of her seat, up, up, into the clouds. -----------Time passes. Bunty is no longer in her chair. The book lies on the ground, near the hat, and the wind slowly turns its pages. More letters have fallen from the sign on the door, and now all that is left is A D-A-Y.