About the project.

Deighties is a documentary about the bittersweet reality of growing older, but never letting go of the need for the tenderness of love. Losing a life parter is an unimaginable tragedy that many face, but what becomes of those left behind? No one likes to talk about it, and at times it can seem like no one really cares. As a result, so many elderly people are forced to face the bitterness of being alone.

Our story follows Phil, an 86 year old widower in search of companionship after the tragic loss of his wife. Having to overcome the struggles of the mordern day dating scene, Phil begins to realise that the days of chivalrous courtship from back in his day are long since gone. Phil must now change with the times if he wishes to continue his search for a companion.

Who we are.

When first starting on a film project, you can never imagine the ways in which you may change someone's life. As filmmakers, we all set out to do just that but so rarely does it happen with a student film. 

We are a group of students from the WA Screen Academy in Perth, who made our short documentary with the help of the WAAPA (Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts) Friends of the Academy. 

Deighties was also Executive Produced by award-winning documentarian Cathy Henkel, whose work is notable for its empowering humanitarian messages, and Australian director/Associate Dean of Performance at WAAPA, Andrew Lewis, (Home and Away).

The Deighties Crew consists of:

Mason Fleming - Director

Jessica Lytton - Producer

Pascal Mercay - Writer

Ben Howden - Cinematographer

Danielle Parnaby - Sound Recordist

Annika Moses - Composer

Featuring Phil Whitehouse and Davilia Bleckly

With your help.

The story behind Deighties is one that transends all demographics and cultures, it's a story that is relevant to us all, and with your donation you can help show that the world has not forgotten about our senior generation and that there are those of us who still care. 

Please donate and be a part of a beautiful story.

The money we raise will all go towards film festival submissions so that we may share the joy and warmth of Deighties with the world. We have put a lot of work into making the film as special as it can be, but sadly don't have the funds to distribute it to major film festivals (as they are quite expensive).

Deighties has already been accepted into a limited selection of film festivals, including Feel The Reel International Film Festival in Glasgow, where we won the Best Documentary award, as well as being awarded Best Documentary by Channel 9 at a gala in Perth. We hope that this will just be the beginning of the journey for Deighties, so that the message within our film can be shared by the world.

Raising money is always a challenge, but with your help we will be able to show Deighties to the world!

We would also to say a big thank you to Mahmudul Raz at razmedia.com.au for providing the equipment we used on our shoot. For any video production needs, please visit his website!