In a future where medical advances have “cured” the process of ageing, 200-year-old Claire decides she wants to die. Death is a rare occurrence in this world, and a sense of shock and excitement surrounds her decision – not least for Claire herself, who delights in the novelty of her decision and feels it will bring new meaning and poignancy to her life and art.
But as she goes through the government-mandated steps to obtain the authorisation to die, surrounded by her closest family members, she starts to see how easily the world will move on from her – and she is forced to contemplate the true meaning of her decision.
Maria Bayona (Writer/Director)
Maria Martinez Bayona is a writer/director based in London. Originally from Spain, she moved to the UK in 2014 to study the MA in Directing Fiction at the National Film and TV School with the support of a “La Caixa” Scholarship.
Her graduation film MIA premiered at the BFI London Film Festival, was long-listed for the BIFA Best British Short category and won three awards at the RTS Student Awards.
After graduating, she was commissioned to make a short film with Film4, WAKE, which was released on Channel 4 and selected at the Encounters Film Festival and the London Short Film Festival. Her feature THERE IS LIGHT, in partnership with Wellington Films, received development funding from Creative England and the BFI and was part of the BFI NETWORK Weekender 2017.
She is currently in post-production for her new short SUCH SMALL HANDS, an adaptation of a novella by award-winning writer Andrés Barba commissioned by FILM4.
Maria is represented by Sayle Screen.
You can watch MIA on the Creative England watch player.
Emilie and Kamilla Biog (Producers)
Supported by the BFI’s Vision Awards, Elation Pictures is a UK based production outfit, set up by award-winning producers Kamilla Kristiane Hodøl and Emilie Jouffroy.
Kamilla and Emilie’s films have been selected for festivals including Sundance, Cannes, BFI London Film Festival, Clermont-Ferrand, SXSW and Telluride, and their development slate beyond iFeatures includes FANATIC wr. Paddy Campbell dir. Rachna Suri, FOXFINDER wr. Dawn King, THE DAMNED wr. Jamie Hannigan dir. Thordur Palsson and CIARA wr. Rachel De-lahay dir. Clint Dyer with executive producer Andrew Eaton.
Kamilla Hodol (Producer)
Kamilla has produced the BAFTA-nominated short film MANOMAN w./dir. Simon Cartwright, IDA-winning ARCHIPELAGO dir. Benjamin Huguet and Aspen-winning THANKS FOR DANCING wr./dir. Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken. Previously, Kamilla has worked for the BFI as Delegate Service Manager for London Film Festival 2015.
Emilie Jouffroy (Producer)
Emilie Jouffroy has produced several short films including the BAFTA, Sundance and BIFA award-winning EDMOND wr./dir. Nina Gantz. Emilie also produced DIAGNOSIS, a BBC Films-funded short directed by Eva Riley, longlisted for the BIFA and currently available on BBC iPlayer.