AFTERLIFE International Feature Competition

Winner of the Audience Award at the Edinburgh Film Festival, few films capture our universal yearning Jar connection as simply and effectively as Alison Peebles’ heartfelt and beautifully crafted AFTERLIFE.

Kenny Brogan (Kevin McKidd), on ambitious journalist is working on a story about a doctor suspected of assisting terminally ill patients with suicide. He is on the verge of a his break, so it is not the best timing when his mother (Lindsay Duncan) is laid low with a twisted ankle, and he is summoned back home so that he con help look after his sister Roberto (Paulo Sage), who has Down syndrome.

Alison Peebles’ debut feature takes on big issues-including euthanasia, disability and familial loyalty-but manages to ovoid Hollywood sentimental melodrama. Peebles and writer Andrea Gibb allow the performances to speak for themselves, which they do most eloquently. AFTERLIFE is on extraordinary first film, propelled by a multi-layered story and excellent acting from McKidd, Duncan and newcomer Sage.