Community
Artist Profile
Kate Voet & Victor Maes
Kate Voet is a Belgian film director and screenwriter from Brussels, having studied English
literature and linguistics, theater studies and film directing at the University of Amsterdam,
LUCA School of Arts in Brussels and The New School in New York City. With her film
projects in development, she participated in several workshops and markets such as Torino
Film Lab, the Venice Gap Financing Market and IDFA Doclab Forum.
After her short films Les Homards Immortels and The Tears of Things toured festivals
around the world, she wrote and directed A Long Goodbye together with Victor Maes
— an interactive VR film which lets you step into the shoes of Ida, a 72-year-old pianist
living with dementia. A Long Goodbye had its world premiere in competition at the 82nd
Venice Film Festival, where the film was awarded a prestigious lion (Venice Immersive
Achievement Prize). A Long Goodbye went on to screen at Film Fest Gent, Thessaloniki
Film Festival, IDFA, FIPADOC, Clermont Ferrand and SXSW, and will continue to travel
around the world in 2026. She is now working on various projects in development, among
which two fiction feature films.
katevoet.com
Victor Maes graduated from LUCA School of Arts Brussels’ film program in 2015, and
took courses in advanced cinematography at the Global Cinematography Institute in Los
Angeles.
He’s been working as a camera assistant on feature films and commercials (Close, Girl,
Holly, De Patrick, Nobody has to Know, The Wolf, the fox and the Leopard) since 2016.
As a cinematographer he works on various film projects, alternating between fiction and
documentary as well as commercials ones. ‘Ever since, I have been flying,’ the documentary
by Swiss-Turkish filmmaker Aylin Gökmen which he shot, premiered at Locarno and
Toronto in 2023.
Furthermore, he’s interested in exploring new technology, like VR and games, as well
as revisiting analogue film. Originally he graduated as a director with a short animation film,
which led to ‘A Long Goodbye’, the animated, interactive VR experience about Ida, an elderly
pianist living with dementia, which he co-wrote and co-directed with Kate Voet. ‘A Long
Goodbye’ premiered at the 82nd Venice Film Festival where it was awarded with a lion for the
Venice Immersive Achievement Prize. So far the project has continued to travel to Film Fest
Gent, Thessaloniki Film Festival, IDFA, Clermont Ferrand, FIPADOC and SXSW among other
festivals, winning several more awards.
victormaes.com
Artwork
A Long Goodbye
A Long Goodbye tells the story of Ida, a 72-year-old pianist living with dementia. In this animated, interactive VR experience, we walk in Ida’s shoes. We experience a day in her life, as her reality is fading. The apartment, where she spent a lifetime with her beloved husband Daniel, first feels empty and undefined. When we interact with objects and play the tape recordings of her husband, her playful world gradually comes to life, as if drawn in paint before our eyes.
Like pieces of a puzzle, memories and conversations help Ida to rediscover herself. But we also discover Daniel’s struggles, as he hopes to stay connected and realizes their remaining time together may be short. A Long Goodbye is a poetic experience about the impact of dementia, but above all it is about love and the long goodbye of two lovers who shared a life together.
Running Time: 35 Min
Credits:
Written & directed by Kate Voet & Victor Maes
Cast Elizabeth Counsell (UK), Richard Wells (UK), Marlies Heuer (NL), Derek de Lint (NL)
Composer Joep Beving
CG supervisor Gael Chaize
Art director Daniel Balage
Digital art studio Velvet Flare
Lead developer Frederik Smolders for Polygoat
〷◠‿◠〷 This project is part of our festival track "MUNICH Beyond" supported by Film Fernseh Fonds Bayern (FFF).
