Maritime produced The Last Days of April and The Snake come to AIFF

The Last Days of April

It began with an Instagram post. At first, April Hubbard had decided to keep her decision to apply for medical assistance in dying within her close circle of friends and family, but then she realized how unique her story was. 

The shame associated with access to MAID inspired Hubbard to post on Instagram about her decision; if it meant lending comfort to someone in a similar situation, it would be worth sharing.

Her post caught the attention of filmmaker siblings Ree and Meaghan Wright, who later reached out to Hubbard to meet. 

They arrived at Hubbard’s Halifax apartment with flowers and food. 

”At the end of that three-hour visit, they said they were looking for projects and felt my story could be a wonderful subject for a documentary,” she says.

​Filming began within a couple of weeks of their initial meeting. By then, Hubbard had received approval for her MAID application.

The documentary follows how her life changed once she had a “safety net” in place.

​MAID is often a controversial topic, especially among people with disabilities. As a disability advocate, Hubbard hopes this documentary will shine a light on the realities of her choice. 

“I hope people, by watching this film, will understand that this is a serious choice that some are making, but it can bring so much peace to an individual who has been suffering for years.” 

“We finally have a way to take back a little bit of our autonomy and to say, ‘No, I’ve fought long enough, and I’m ready to go.’”

The Last Days of April has one showing at the Atlantic International Film Festival on Sept 18.​

The Snake

After a successful premiere at the South by Southwest film festival, actress Susan Kent and filmmaker Jenna MacMillan anticipate their film’s Canadian premiere at AIFF.

Kent and MacMillan became fast friends on the set of Who’s Yer Father in Prince Edward Island, so when MacMillan asked if Kent would work with her, she answered “One hundred per cent.” 

Ultimately, they wanted to make a film about a woman who is striking out in life. 

Kent remembers hearing a story out of New Zealand about a lawyer who fell in love with her client. It caught her eye not because of the story’s salacious nature, but rather because the woman was described as “ungovernable.”

That word stuck with Kent during the writing process as she set out to tell the story of Jamie, an ungovernable woman.​

The film follows Jamie (Susan Kent) who, after a fight with her mother, finds herself evicted, her boyfriend dumps her, and she begins to pursue a relationship with her best friend’s husband. 

For viewers, this film is an inkblot test. Everyone will see something different in the lead character of Jamie. 

The story took a year and a half to craft and many iterations before Kent landed on the final version. 

She credits MacMillan’s guidance during the writing process, likening her to the water’s current behind a boat, propelling its path in the right direction. 

“I’ve often said [this movie] is like a tonal tight grip, because it’s very funny but it does deal with serious themes,” says Kent. 

Their personal friendship and shared vision for the film allowed them to reach creative depths they possibly wouldn’t have achieved otherwise.

“By the time we got to the shoot, I felt like we had our relationship dialled in,” says MacMillan. 

Filming for The Snake took place in Prince Edward Island over the course of just 16 days. As a P.E.I native herself, MacMillan has made it her mission to grow the industry there. 

“It was pretty cool to shoot my first feature as a director in the streets I grew up in.”

The Snake has one showing at the Atlantic International Film Festival on Sept 19.