Where There is Life

Film (Trailer) – 2017

Where There is Life follows the journey of Margaret Lee, her husband Stephen and their daughter Imogen, after Margaret is diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in late 2010. Director Gwen Isaac (Loading Doc Siouxie & the Virus) follows a family struggling with the impact of the degenerative condition, as they confront the question "how should we live when we are dying?" Imogen was 10 when a defiant Margaret was diagnosed, and Stephen became her full-time carer. The low budget passion project debuted in August 2017, with sellout screenings at the Wellington leg of the NZ International Film Festival.

For me, MND is the worst way I can imagine dying as your body betrays you completely but your mind remains intact. I’ve seen Margaret transcend this prison by allowing herself to soar to amazing heights intellectually and emotionally, she proclaims the illness has been the making of her. And that isn’t to say Margaret doesn’t fear and question, because she does, constantly. Even swearing like a sailor when all she has is tiny head movement into a talking keyboard.
– Director Gwen Isaac