D is for Distance is a deeply personal, formally adventurous documentary that blends present‑day family and travel footage with early cinema archival material to tell the story of Louis Petit, whose rare childhood epilepsy erased his memories and reshaped his life and art. Through this intimate family portrait, the film reflects on memory, cinema, medical institutions and the everyday turbulence of family life, while directly confronting medical bureaucracy and the enduring stigma around epilepsy.
A portrait of Louis Petit: memory, illness and art
At the age of 12, Louis Petit was struck by a rare and life‑threatening form of epilepsy that effectively wiped out his childhood memories, drawing a stark line between a “before” and “after” for him and his family. The film traces this journey from the onset of seizures through years of hospital stays, confusing or conflicting diagnoses and the emotional toll of being told to “grieve for the child he once was.”
Now 22 and based in London, Louis is portrayed as an artist on the rise, with his paintings, drawings and etchings—directly inspired by his experiences of illness, memory loss and recovery—prominently woven into the film. Among the key moments is an exhibition at the Velrose Gallery during the BFI London Film Festival, where his work is presented in dialogue with the documentary itself, underscoring how art becomes a tool to process trauma and reclaim narrative.A trailer and clips from the film are available on YouTube:
Cinema, archives and sound: a multi‑layered film language
“D is for Distance” is constructed as an essay‑film montage, moving fluidly between contemporary family footage, archival home movies, fragments of early film history and sequences that evoke Louis’s fractured memories. The documentary incorporates material from pioneering filmmakers such as the Lumière brothers and Georges Méliès, placing Louis’s story within a broader reflection on cinema’s role in capturing time, illusion and reality.
The film is narrated with calm clarity by Jodhi May, whose voice provides a steady throughline amid an editing style critics have described as free‑associative, poetic and densely layered. The soundtrack mixes music by Holger Czukay, The Everly Brothers, Ennio Morricone and King Krule, creating a sonic collage that mirrors the shifting emotional registers of the film, and it culminates in stunning Arctic Circle imagery shot by cinematographer Jussi Eerola, closing on a visual tribute to the timeless, borderless power of cinema.
Themes: from bureaucracy and stigma to resilience
Alongside its intimate focus on Louis, the documentary offers a quietly furious critique of the medical system, particularly Britain’s NHS, depicting encounters with inflexible procedures, limited empathy and institutional refusal to provide treatments such as medical cannabis despite their reported effectiveness for Louis. It lays bare the bureaucratic obstacles families face when navigating rare conditions, and the persistent social stigma around epilepsy, which often leaves patients and relatives feeling isolated and misunderstood.
The film weaves this critique into a broader web of themes—drugs, departure, discord, distrust, despair, discovery, disability, diagnosis and more—mirroring the complexity of Louis’s journey. Yet, despite the weight of these subjects, reviewers note that the documentary resists pure despair, leaving space for hope, creativity and familial resilience, and showing how art, humour and love can coexist with trauma.
Filmmakers, collaborators and production
“D is for Distance” marks a reunion between Christopher Petit and the BFI, which had previously backed his 1979 cult road movie Radio On. Petit’s distinguished career includes features such as Chinese Boxes, numerous essay films and long‑standing collaborations with writer Iain Sinclair, alongside the authorship of 11 novels, securing his status as a key figure in British independent cinema and literature.
The film is co‑directed by Emma Matthews, who has edited most of Petit’s work since 1998 and co‑directed Arena – Night and Day (BBC) with Anthony Wall. Matthews brings decades of experience in award‑winning arts documentaries focused on music and culture, helping shape “D is for Distance” into a formally rich, emotionally attuned work that balances experimental form with accessibility.
Production is handled by the Finnish artist‑run company Elokuvayhtiö Testifilmi, under producers Mika Taanila and Jussi Eerola, with support from the Finnish Film Foundation and AVEK. The film is co‑produced by ZDF and ARTE – La Lucarne, in association with Yle, signalling strong European backing for this singular, cross‑border documentary project.
An intimate and universal journey
Critics have described “D is for Distance” as a strange, beautiful and profoundly moving meditation on memory, truth, illness and family bonds. By drawing from Louis’s lived experience and from his parents’ perspective, the film becomes both a poetic interpretation of a true story and a call for greater understanding and support for people living with epilepsy.
This extraordinary documentary offers an intimate, emotional and artistically daring journey that is likely to resonate deeply with audiences, inviting them to reflect on how we remember, how we care and how we continue to find beauty and connection in the shadow of trauma.
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