IT was the Cathy Come Home of its day, a single movie which drilled home the reality of down-and-out Britain.

Now the all but forgotten 1990s classic film Safe is to get a rare showing on the big screen more than two decades after its television debut.

Regarded as a lost classic, it told the story of homeless Londoners – with help from homeless people themselves. It also a story that helped launch the careers of actors Kate Hardie and Bobby Carlyle and propelled its director, the late Eastenders director Antonia Bird, to Hollywood.

But because it was made for TV the work was never on general release in the cinemas, despite wining the best "first film" prize at the first Edinburgh International Film Festival in 1993.

It will be shown at the Playhouse in the capital on Tuesday with an introduction from critic and film-maker Mark Cousins and a post-screening chat about the work of Bird, who died in 2013.

Edinburgh-based Cousins was director of the EIFF when he got the film on video. It reduced him to tears and the chance viewing resulting in him teaming up with Bird, Carlyle and novelist Irvine Welsh to form 4-Way Productions.

Homelessness charity Shelter stressed the importance of the work. Writing on the charity's website Keith Bartholemew said said: "Of course when most people think of ‘a British film about homelessness’, they think first of Cathy Come Home, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. There is no question over that film’s importance to British cinema and indeed British culture.

"But how Safe differs is that it’s a story told from the perspective of those facing the trauma of homelessness, whereas Ken Loach tells the story of a descent into homelessness.

He continued, "In the seminal 60s film Cathy learns of the horrors of the homelessness journey and the issues faced when the housing safety net fails, and we the audience learn through her experiences. But Safe is about people already coping (and not coping) with homelessness. They are the protagonists, and it is their story, told from their point of view."

In Susan Kemp’s documentary Antonia Bird: From Eastenders to Hollywood, Carlyle details how the director helped ensure the homeless community represented on screen had a say in the production process - through meetings, discussions and actors' workshops. This has resulted in one of the most authentic depictions of homelessness ever put on screen.

Bird went on to make big screen pictures, such as Mad Love with Drew Barrymore, Face with Robert Carlyle and Ray Winstone and Ravenous, also starring Carlyle.

Safe (Bird, 1993)

Starring: Kate Hardie, Aidan Gillan and Robert Carlyle

Tuesday 16th August, 6.15pm

Filmhouse (Screen Two)