Singer-songwriter Myles Smith steps behind the camera, writing and directing the video for his single Hold Me In The Dark - a short, cinematic narrative starring Stephen Graham. And the real power of the film is how it addresses a harrowing subject to create something emotional and moving.

The film follows a father, played by Graham, through the final hours he spends with his dying daughter. He spends his days with her in hospital. Then each evening he returns to his flat and works obsessively on a construction of mirrors and coloured fragments... building toward something only he fully understands.

The ritual looks like a man unravelling. But as the song rises, he carries the finished piece to a rooftop and, as the sun aligns, sends light spilling across the city - a final act of love, and the song’s title turned outward into image.

A Partizan production, Myles Smith's first outing as a director sees him carrying the emotional directness of his songwriting into a new medium. In that respect he is greatly aided by the presence of a great actor in Stephen Graham, and Smith stays close to this central character throughout.

Shot by cinematographer Joel Honeywell, it moves between the muted remove of the hospital, the claustrophobic loop of the flat and the open expanse of the rooftop, using natural light and a slow accumulation of colour to track the father’s emotional state. Production design by Syd Harmony grounds the mirror-and-light build as both a practical and an emotional object, while a restrained central performance from Graham keeps the focus on grief, ritual, and the fear of disappearing.

Graham is joined on screen by Abbie Kay Ashworth and Chizzy Akudolu as well as real working nurses from Luton Hospital, with casting by Kharmel Cochrane. The film was produced by Partizan, with executive producers Danny Herman, Kirsty Richardson and Hannah Walters, and produced by Chris Murdoch.

“What I loved about this concept was the misdirection," says Myles Smith. "At first, you think you’re watching someone unravel, but slowly you realise every strange object and every seemingly irrational decision is actually an act of love. He’s not losing his grip on reality; he’s trying to do something impossible for the person he loves most.”

Executive producer Danny Herman says that Smith arrived with a really clear, personal vision for his own song. "The feeling was already there and our job was to build the right team around him and protect that vision all the way to the screen," he says.

"Myself and producer Chris Murdoch assembled a gang of our favourite HoDs, people we knew would bring the right experience, creativity and care to the project, while helping make it feel as special as it deserved to be," adds Herman. "When you get that kind of synergy on set, where everyone’s serving the same idea, a debut can feel as assured as anything we make.”

With all of his considerable experience, Stephen Graham was also aware that this was a special project that had to be approached in the right way.

"When you're involved in a production like this, especially for a first-time director, it's important to come with an open-mindedness and a willingness to partake completely, a million per cent," he says. "For me, it's imperative that I'm one piece of a beautiful jigsaw every time I embark on any project. It was an absolute team game, and a joy to be part of that collective."