Meet the Filmmakers

Matilda Hay

Director, Producer

Matilda is a documentary filmmaker and journalist from London, UK. Her first documentary, Carry Me Home, about the relationship between humans and pigeons, was nominated for Best Documentary at the Imperial War Museum Short Film Festival 2015. She has since worked for broadcasters such as the BBC, Channel 4, and Netflix, and made short films for several non-profits. Her photojournalism work on women freezing their eggs has been published in the Washington Post, National Geographic, and exhibited at the United Nations, and her story on therapy dogs in Connecticut police forces won a Public Media Journalists Association Award in 2024 (freelance category). She is particularly interested in stories of love, loss, and resilience, as well as the power of human connection in the face of adversity.

Rachel Clara Reed

Editor, Producer

Rachel Clara Reed is a documentary film editor, director, and story consultant exploring identity, displacement, resilience, grief, and culture. Her debut feature, All We Carry, premiered at Palm Springs International Film Festival 2024 and won multiple awards, including the Kathleen Bryan Edwards Award for Human Rights at Full Frame and Best Documentary at The Indies. She also edited Music for Mushrooms, a film about music, plant medicine, and personal transformation. Her short film Somali Night Fever (The Guardian) was long-listed for a One World Media Award and has over a million views. A member of Brown Girls Doc Mafia and several film networks, she is based in London and also works as a trained death doula and accredited mediator, hosting death dinners to help people reflect on life through conversations about mortality.

Meet the Musicians

George Xiaoyuan Fu

Pianist

Chinese-American pianist George Xiaoyuan Fu is a dynamic and visionary artist, praised as “one of the most exciting pianists of our time” (The Arts Desk). Winner of the 2024 BBC Music Magazine Newcomer Award, he is gaining international recognition for his fearless interpretations and “phenomenal technique with a profound sense of interpretative clarity” (Apple Music). He has performed at major venues worldwide, including Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, and the Kennedy Center, with broadcasts on BBC Radio 3, NPR, and PBS. A sought-after soloist and chamber musician, he is also a founding member of Trio Zimbalist. A Harvard graduate and Royal Academy of Music alumnus, his acclaimed debut album MIRRORS was praised for its intelligent programming and emotional depth, earning a 5 star review from BBC Music Magazine.

Lotte Betts-Dean

Mezzo-Soprano

Australian mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean is renowned for her “irrepressible sense of drama and unmissable, urgent musicality” (The Guardian). Her versatile repertoire spans contemporary, chamber, early music, art song, opera, and cross-genre collaborations. She has premiered and recorded works by leading contemporary composers, including Michael Finnissy and Stuart MacRae, and recently debuted at the Bayerische Staatsoper and Grand Théâtre de Genève. A former Young Artist at Britten Pears Arts and Oxford Lieder, Lotte has curated innovative programs, including her acclaimed Voice Electric project. Winner of the 2024 Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist Award, she is also an Ambassador for Donne and an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, recognized for her contributions to music.