Sandra Oh Faces Death for a Noble Cause in ‘Can I Get a Witness?’ Trailer

Using storytelling as a potent weapon to lobby for legislative changes and increase awareness of the grave threats confronting the earth, filmmakers have been instrumental in the battle against global warming. Canadian-Japanese filmmaker Ann Marie Fleming is one of the most recent contributors to this cause. She shares her most recent creation, ‘Can I Get A Witness?’, a utopian sci-fi fable. Fleming and Sandra Oh, who previously collaborated on the animated movie ‘Window Horses’, are reunited in the movie. With a trailer already out ahead of its September 2024 Toronto International Film Festival premiere, ‘Can I Get A Witness?’ is now scheduled to open in cinemas across the United States.

Environmental conservation is at the heart of the thought-provoking movie ‘Can I Get A Witness?’ The narrative centers on Sandra Oh’s character Ellie, who lives with her teenage daughter Kiah (Keira Jang). In a future society where photography and printing are prohibited, Kiah is preparing to become a documentarian. Her job is to use drawings and animations to document end-of-life rites. 

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Daniel (Joel Oulette), a young man in charge of overseeing the planning of these rituals, is matched with Kiah. Working next to him, Kiah finds it difficult to handle the emotional strain of her job, particularly when she realizes that her own mother is dying.

Key elements of Fleming’s film, which criticizes the drastic methods used in the fight against climate change, are revealed in the trailer. On this future planet, poverty has been eliminated worldwide, and there is peace in the atmosphere. But this has a high price: for the sake of the larger good, humanity must live with communal sacrifices. Declaring that no one is permitted to live above the age of fifty is the most drastic action. Kiah, the main character, starts to doubt this harsh reality after witnessing an elderly man defy the norm and yearn for an alternative.

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Fleming’s audacious concept and the cast’s outstanding performances have earned the movie accolades. Joel Oulette portrays her coworker, Daniel, while Keira Jang makes her movie debut as Kiah. The film is produced by Fleming, Raymond Massey, and Ruth Vincent, with executive producers Haydn Wazelle and Sandra Oh. Ben Immanue plays Peter.

‘Can I Get A Witness?’ will make its Canadian premiere on 14th March, 2025, and soon be available in a few U.S. theatres. 

–Farheen Ali