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This project successfully funded on 31st May 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
END OF AN EDGE MAN - Documentary Feature Film
London, Greater London, United Kingdom
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Aim
Help us bring this Documentary Feature Film to completion.
Before reading further, please view the trailer above.
A feature documentary about art, ageing and the courage to live differently.
Hear from directors Ben and Joe Dempsey about the film:
For over forty years, Francis O’Dempsey (aka Uncle Frank) has lived alone in rural Wales, entirely on his own terms. Self-taught and fiercely independent, Frank has spent a lifetime creating, not for recognition or reward, but from instinct, curiosity and a deep need to make.
Born in wartime London, Frank has reinvented himself many times: army saxophonist, jazz musician, artist, poet, experimental photographer, smallholder and devoted tree lover. He lives completely outside the digital world, in a handmade creative sanctuary filled with paintings, sculptures, words, music and wood. In a hyper-connected age, his way of life feels quietly radical.
In 2022, now in his mid 80's, Frank allowed us into this hidden world. What began as a simple act of documentation became an intimate portrait of a man who has chosen solitude, creativity and authenticity over convention.
Told in Frank's own words, and shaped by tenderness, tension and humour, 'End of an Edge Man' doesn’t just tell his story, it invites you to 'feel' how he lives, sees and creates. We move with the seasons as Frank reflects on ageing, mortality, creativity and a vanishing way of life. His belief that trees are sentient becomes a poetic expression of connection and environmental hope.
An unexpected health crisis forces Frank to confront the possibility of losing his sanctuary and a lifetime of work. What follows is not just a portrait of one man, but a moving meditation on what we hold onto, what we let go of, and what it truly means to live on your own terms.
Frank’s creative sanctuary is now gone.
But his story has been captured.
'End of an Edge Man' is a deeply human film about creativity, neurodivergent ways of seeing, working-class self-reliance, and the unrelenting pursuit of authenticity, even at a cost.
This production has been entirely self-funded to date. After several years of filming, we now need support to complete the final stages and bring Frank’s story to the screen.
Our campaign has an overall target of £75,000 which will be launched across three funding phases.
Your backing will help us fund:
Phase 1 target: >25K will be used to fund:
Animation R&D - towards the creation of original animated sequences to bring Frank's imaginative inner world to life.
Final editing and picture lock.
Original Music Composition.
Phase 2 target: 25>50K will be used to fund:
Completion of Animation.
All aspects of Post Production for cinema-quality picture & sound.
Phase 3 target: 50>75K
Final Post Production needs including versioning.
Festivals submissions, promotion and distribution.
By supporting 'End of an Edge Man', you’re helping to bring a rare, untold story to audiences, a story that challenges assumptions about ageing, success and what it means to live a fulfilled life.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made