It is a post-industrial film in which the apocalypse never happens, an environmental film with a gentle but dark humour. It is called “Can I get a witness?” and will premiere in London on 17 September at Curzon Bloomsbury. Two days later, on the 19th, it will be released in selected cinemas in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Sara Harvey
Set in the near-future, the planet is healing and the world has recalibrated to sustainable societies with smaller carbon footprints. People live happy, modest lives. This is made possible because the World came to an Agreement and everyone has committed to a new global expiry date – human life will end at age 50. Or have they?
Featuring rising stars Keira Jang (winner of the Vancouver Film Critics Circle’s One to Watch Award at the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards at the 2024) in her debut feature film role as Kiah, and Joel Oulette (“Trickster”, Best Lead Actor nomination for 2021 Canadian Screen Awards) as Daniel, “Can I get a witness?” speaks to the concerns and questions of many of today’s young people about what to do about the climate crisis, and what lengths to go to.
The film is written, directed and produced by independent Canadian director and artist Ann Marie Fleming (“Window horses, the poetic Persian epiphany of Rosie Ming”, 2016, Fleming and Sandra Oh first collaborated).
According to Ann Marie “Can I get a witness?” is a “post-industrial movie where the apocalypse never happened. Like a live-action Miyazaki, this is a pastoral take on the climate crisis with a cottagecore aesthetic. It’s an environmental film with gentle, yet dark humour.”
And asked why 50, Fleming replies: “Because it hurts”.
For Isra Al Kassi, co-founder of TAPE (a company dedicated to the production, distribution and exhibition of filmswith the mission to collaborate closely with new audiences and filmmakers in creating conversations across the creative sector), one of the first films they screened was Ann Marie Fleming’s “Window horses”.
“We loved it for its poetry, animation and storytelling,” she says, adding that “Can I get a witness?”, is “a powerfully emotional and deeply relevant story that tells an urgent story of our time in a beautifully poetic and kind way”.
The team involved in the film is diverse: Sleepy Dog Films, Massey Productions, Vincent & Kay Productions, Dada Ibis Productions. Director: Ann Marie Fleming. Producer: Ann Marie Fleming, Raymond Massey, Ruth Vincent. Executive Produced by Haydn Wazelle, Sandra Oh. Associate Producer/Sustainability Coordinator: Devon Ellis-Durity. Associate Producer: Tony Papa. Screenplay: Ann Marie Fleming. Director of Photography: C. Kim Miles. Production Design: Cheryl Marion. Costume Design: Angela Bright. Editor: Justin Li. Illustrations: Prashant Miranda. Animation: Kevin Langdale. Music: Brent Belke
(Photos provided by Sara Harvey Publicity)
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