You Can Live Forever is now showing in cinemas nationwide and on digital.
In this sensitive and affecting coming-of-age drama, lesbian teenager Jaime is sent to live with her devout Jehovah’s Witness relatives after her father’s death. There, she makes an instant and unexpected connection with Marike, the daughter of a prominent Witness Elder, and the two begin a secret, unspoken romance. But when their attraction becomes too obvious to hide, the pair must face their desires and choose whether to stay wedded to their faith or break free from those around them. Sarah Watts’ and Mark Slutsky’s delicate exploration of religion, belief and sexual orientation is based on Watts’ experiences as a teenager, and that lived experience shines through on screen. You Can Live Forever isn’t your typical story of sexuality and love in a closed religious community; no sweeping judgements are made in its exploration of belief as Watts and Slutsky explore the uneasy intersection between religion, faith, sexual orientation and the opportunity or denial of self-actualization and freedom.
Co-director Sarah Watts said about her film: “I grew up gay in a Jehovah’s Witness community in a small northern town. As a teenager, I was eager to see a story with a character who even remotely resembled me on the movie screen. But I was always disappointed. When there were lesbian characters they were inevitably used as plot points and usually died tragic deaths. I was so desperate for representation that I spent all the money I’d been saving for a trip to Europe to fly to Vancouver so I could see Bound on the big screen. When I met Mark and explained my upbringing to him, he immediately understood my point of view. For years, we worked together to create a film that could honour my own background and the experiences of other young people in a similar predicament. You Can Live Forever is the movie I always wanted to see as a teenager.”
