Farewell She Goes is a late 18th century story about female friendship, race and women’s rights.

Two young women sneak away from their strict stately home existence to lay their pet canary to rest. One white, one mixed race; these are cousins bonded by more than blood. Stood at the cusp of the ocean, it soon transpires that one of them is pregnant, and they contemplate what should be done.

Why Do They Want To Tell This Story?

Our vision for Farewell She Goes was born from, and inspired by, the life of Dido Elizabeth Belle (1761-1804). Dido was born to an enslaved African woman and white naval officer who sent her to be raised alongside her cousin, Lady Elizabeth Murray in England. As the two women grew up side by side and shunned racial conventions, they defied society and formed a unique bond. This, to us, is where the intrigue lies.

For years, women in film have poured the tea, kissed the lips and been talked at by men. Now, finally, they’ve started talking (PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE, FLEABAG, BOOKSMART). We are creating a film that seeks to help this wave of change grow to a tsunami.

This is a story where two women, their intricacies and complexities as individuals, and their relationship with the world and with each other is unashamedly and deservedly the sole focus. This being a friendship between a white and a mixed-race woman, with their lives inextricably linked, is something that we still seldom see in a modern context – let alone a period film.

The period drama genre has seen waves of interest in the past year, but you can count on one hand the number of period dramas where a black or minority ethnic character is anything more than a maid. Not only is this factually incorrect – for wealthy, independent ethnic minorities existed, as evidenced in the historical reality of Dido Elizabeth Belle – but it is a disservice to the inclusive and expansive stories that we could be telling.

The heart of the story is a friendship between two women, grappling with life changing circumstances, whose secrets lie at the bottom of the ocean and whose hearts lie with each other.

Our plan is to submit Farewell She Goes to as many international film festivals as possible. Once the initial film festival run is complete, we plan to bring the film to art houses and streaming platforms around the globe. The idea is then to use this short as a proof of concept to gain sufficient financial support to shoot the feature-length version.