ISRAEL/CANADA | 2022 | 87 minutes | 4K
IN SELECT THEATRES MAY 12
Directed by Ido Mizrahy
Written by Ido Mizrahy & Nir Sa'ar
Produced by Ido Mizrahy, Nir Sa'ar & Paul Cadieux
In the next decade, NASA will send astronauts to Mars for the first time. Separated from Earth, and unable to communicate with ground in real time throughout the three-year journey, crew members will experience extreme isolation that could gravely affect their mental state and the mission. THE LONGEST GOODBYE follows a savvy NASA psychologist tasked with protecting these daring explorers, who are torn between their dream to reach new frontiers and their need to stay connected to home. This conflict, we soon realize, transcends space travel: how do we balance our drive for progress with the deep connection to our roots and each other.
“In his engrossing, heartwarming, and beautifully contemplative documentary, Ido Mizrahy ponders the conflict between our need for connectivity and the urge to explore the unknown. Scientists predict that we will have the ability to send humans to Mars (and to return them safely) within the next decade. Dr. Al Holland, a senior NASA psychologist, studies the effects of prolonged separation of individuals from Earth. The Longest Goodbye offers us an opportunity to witness as Dr. Holland investigates the ways to provide support and coping mechanisms to the red planet-bound explorers in order to prepare them for the actuality of becoming a long-mission astronaut.”
“Absorbing Doc... the questions the documentary and its subjects are asking are compelling, emotionally considered and, with some reaching, universal.”
Ido Mizrahy / Writer & Director
Ido Mizrahy’s narrative and documentary films premiered at SXSW, Tribeca, and New Directors/New Films, among many other festivals, and went on to win a number of awards. His films have been distributed by AMC, Sundance, Netflix, Amazon, and MTV. Mizrahy is currently co-directing a fictional virtual reality experience that’s equal parts family-drama and space-thriller.
Nir Sa'ar / Writer & Producer
Science buff and veteran storyteller, Nir Sa'ar is drawn to the powerful intersection between novel technology and human drama. An award-winning filmmaker and creator of innovative immersive experiences, Sa’ar’s films and new-media work premiered in major film festivals such as Festival de Cannes, Venice, and Busan IFF.
Paul Cadieux / Producer
Paul Cadieux is one of Canada’s leading and most active film and television producers. Among numerous other accolades, he has won a Genie Award for Best Motion Picture for the two-time Oscar‑nominated Les Triplettes de Belleville (Cannes Film Festival).
In his more than three decades as a producer, co-producer, executive producer and distributor, Paul has often preferred to operate out of the limelight while remaining centrally involved in dozens of major Canadian and international projects ranging from children’s animation series, thriller features films, romantic comedies, travel shows, reality programming, international co-productions, feature documentaries and TV series in both English and French.
Through his umbrellas, Megafun Productions Inc. and Filmoption International Inc., along with his extensive in-house equipment rental company and state-of-the-art post-production facilities, Paul has long prided himself on being well-positioned to be able to have a significant impact on projects he feels are both creatively and commercially viable and to provide the missing elements to advance a worthy production.
Among his many award-winning productions, we can find Danae Elon’s P.S. Jerusalem (TIFF and Berlin 2015), Shimon Dotan’s The Settlers (Sundance 2016) and Left Behind America for PBS/Frontline, Advocate and GAZA, both selected at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, as well as Ido Mizrahy’s The Longest Goodbye (Sundance 2023) and Tünde Skovrán’s Who I Am Not (SXSW 2023).
Anyone looking for a pattern in Paul Cadieux’s varied production and distribution work will invariably note that quality, high production value, respecting budgets and matching the marketplace’s needs are consistent qualities of his overall creative and commercial output.
In a field where the dual elements of creative passion and experienced production know-how almost always go hand-in-hand, Paul Cadieux brings a wealth of both to any and all productions he puts his full commitment, heart, experience and resources behind.
Valda Witt / Executive Producer
Valda Witt is an independent producer and investor based in New York City. Her narrative and documentary features have premiered at Tribeca, Venice, Oldenburg, and Hot Docs. Valda serves as president of the Browning School. She began her career in management consulting at McKinsey & Co. and has an MBA from the Wharton School.