A Long Goodbye tells the story of Ida, a 72-year-old pianist living with dementia. In this animated, interactive VR experience, we walk in Ida’s shoes, experiencing a day in her life, as her reality is fading. The apartment, where she spent a lifetime with her beloved husband Daniel, first feels empty and undefined. When we interact with objects and play the tape recordings of her husband, her playful world gradually comes to life, as if drawn in paint before our eyes. Like pieces of a puzzle, memories and conversations help Ida to rediscover herself. But we also discover Daniel’s struggles, as he hopes to stay connected and realizes their remaining time together may be short. A Long Goodbye is a poetic experience about the impact of dementia, but above all, it is about love and the long goodbye of two lovers who shared a life together.
Cast/Avec
Elizabeth Counsell
Richard Wells
Marlies Heuer
Derek de Lint
Screenplay
Kate Voet
Victor Maes
Music
Joep Beving
Production
TARANTULA LUXEMBOURG (LU)
Cassette for timescapes (BE)
Valk Productions (NL)
Trailer and photos
Venice Immersive Achievement Award, 82nd Venice Film Festival // Venice immersive competition, 2025, it
Kate Voet
Kate Voet is a film director and screenwriter of fiction projects. She studied directing and English literature in Amsterdam, New York, and Brussels. Her projects have been selected for development labs and markets such as the Venice Gap-Financing Market, Torino Film Lab, and IDFA Doclab Forum. Her short films Les Homards Immortels (2017) and The Tears of Things (2021) toured festivals internationally and received several awards.
Victor Maes graduated from LUCA School of Arts Brussels’ film program with a short animation film and studied cinematography at the Global Cinematography Institute in Los Angeles. He has been working as a camera assistant on feature films since 2016 (Close & Girl by Lukas Dhont, Holly by Fien Troch). As a cinematographer, he recently shot Ever Since, I Have Been Flying by Aylin Gökmen (Locarno & Toronto IFF ’23).
