D Is For Distance – Watch the trailer for the new epilepsy documentary

BFI Distribution has released the brand-new UK trailer and poster for the award-winning D is for Distance. The film, which documents a life-changing journey by Louis Petit, is made by his parents, the filmmakers Christopher Petit (Radio On) and Emma Matthews (Arena – Night and Day, BBC). It will be released in UK and Irish cinemas on 3 April. A BFI Player release will follow on 11 May.

D is for Distance is deeply personal and highly moving. Using a montage of contemporary family and travel footage, with archival clips from early cinema history, it dramatically yet poetically illustrates what has happened since Louis Petit, at 12 years old, was suddenly struck with a seemingly incurable and life-threatening rare form of epilepsy, which wiped out his memory of childhood. A rumination on memory and a meditation on cinema, the NHS and family relationships, the film also offers a frank and uncompromising insight into medical bureaucracy and the stigma and ignorance still surrounding epilepsy.

Narrated by actor Jodhi May, D is for Distance is also a celebration of film and music, including Holger Czukay, The Everly Brothers, Ennio Morricone, King Krule and more. Archival footage features the work of pioneering filmmakers the Lumière brothers, Georges Méliès, Percy Stow and Cecil Hepworth.

The film had its world premiere at the IFFR (International Film Festival Rotterdam) in 2025, followed by its UK premiere at the BFI London Film Festival.

D is for Distance will be released in cinemas in the UK and Ireland on 3 April. Chris Petit, Emma Matthews and Louis Petit will be taking part in Q&As in cinemas around the release date, including at BFI Southbank.