TCFF: Can I Get a Witness?

Synopsis: In the near-future, climate change is mitigated, global poverty is eradicated, and all species on the planet can live in relative peace and equality. The world has walked back on consumption and technology, and recalibrated to sustainable societies with smaller carbon footprints. People live happy, modest lives. This is made possible because the World has agreed that human life ends at 50. Fresh out of school, Kiah (Keira Jang), a gifted artist, lives at home with her doting mother, Ellie (Sandra Oh). It’s Kiah’s first day of work as a “Documentor,” a Witness who draws End-of-Life (EOL) protocols for the New World Order. Ellie, an ex-Documentor herself, tries to prepare her daughter for the job but Kiah is not receptive. Daniel (Joel Oulette), Kiah’s Documentor mentor, shows up at the door. He is upbeat, practical and has a personal history that makes him wise beyond his years. He is going to take her through the stages of the EOL protocols, from meeting the soon-to-be-departed, to making sure they understand the process, and helping them choose and customize their preferred EOL ceremony. It all starts with the delivery of a beautiful box. Kiah has never witnessed death. Under Daniel’s no-nonsense instruction, she tries her hand at her first set of EOL drawings of the 50-year-olds who stoically repress their feelings. While Kiah and Daniel were born after THE AGREEMENT, Kiah’s subjects all remember a world where medicine, infrastructure and money could keep people alive upwards of 90. But now everyone is committed to this new global expiry date. Or are they? Kiah’s drawings literally come to life - animate off the page - expressing the underlying emotions of the moment. At home, Ellie is getting her own things in order. She wants Kiah to know that true planetary equality - the cause she fought so hard for as a youth - is worth dying for. Does another lesson await?