D Is For Distance

Source: Jussi Eerola/Elokuvayhtiö Testifilmi

‘D Is For Distance’

EXCLUSIVE: BFI Distribution has picked up UK filmmakers Christopher Petit and Emma Matthews’s International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) world premiere documentary D Is For Distance for UK-Ireland release.

A theatrical release is planned for spring 2026. 

The documentary is a film essay montage of contemporary footage, archive and cinema history, documenting how Petit and Matthews’ son’s seemingly incurable and debilitating rare form of epilepsy – which wiped out the memory of his childhood – became representative of the woes of the world and how he triumphed against adversity. UK actor Jodhi May narrates.

It was produced by Mika Taanila and Jussi Eerola of Elokuvayhtiö Testifilmi, a Finnish artist-run production company focusing on cinematic art. BFI Distribution directly bought the film from the producers. 

The film was supported by the Finnish Film Foundation and AVEK, in co-production with ZDF in collaboration with ARTE – La Lucarne, in association with Yle.

D Is For Distance’s festival run has also included Thessaloniki Documentary Festival and Jeonju.

Filmmaker Petit’s previous credits include the BFI-backed 1979 cult favourite Radio On. Matthews has worked with Petit since 1998, editing his collaborations with Iain Sinclair, including The Falconer (1998) and Asylum (2000) and Unrequited Love (2006). 

“D Is For Distance was the standout film at IFFR,” said Jason Wood, BFI executive director of programme and audiences. “Chris, Emma and Louis have crafted a moving and poignant look at memory, the moving image and a sobering look at medical bureaucracy. It’s a feast for the senses.”

Mika Taanila of Elokuvayhtiö Testifilmi and the co-producer of the film added: “Chris and Emma have made a compelling film, which opens up from a personal and highly intimate family film into a vista of contemporary society and its dark corners.”

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