The Date

Jazmín, a Spanish single mum living in London, is excited: this afternoon she will have her first date in years. Filled with a nervous energy, she wonders what the day will bring – but as the minutes roll by, things do not turn out the way she had hoped… Through a series of carefully composed, unbroken takes, THE DATE presents an intimate, near-silent meditation on loneliness, the need for connection, and the invisible wounds we carry.

Director’s statement:

My original starting point when conceiving THE DATE was the idea of making a minimalist thriller – one that grips the viewer through emotions, rather than through extraneous action.

Often, when watching slow cinema, it's the so-called 'non-narrative' moments which move me the most, while the narrative feels like an impediment to the transcendental experience that the film is weaving. With this in mind, THE DATE represents an attempt to build a whole film on essentially non-narrative moments – and thereby have these moments become the narrative itself. By stripping things down to essentials, THE DATE reaches for an emotional honesty, and one which operates on an almost ontological level.

Conventionally speaking, not much happens in the film. However, on an internal, emotional level, our protagonist undergoes a heart-breaking journey all too familiar from daily life – one which touches on fundamental truths about solitude, our need for connection, and ultimately about what it really means to be human.

— Alex Barrett

LEAD ACTRESS - Jazmín Falak

Jazmín Falak is an Argentine actress with a degree in Humanities and Social Sciences, and an advanced background in Psychology. Her multidisciplinary training combines acting, dance, and acrobatics. Her screen credits include starring in the period drama La Pulpera, as well as roles in major series such as The Kingdom (Netflix), Robo Mundial (Star+), and Buenos Chicos. On stage, she starred in Un cuerpo salvaje and performed in productions including Cielo rojo (CCK) and Si hay alguien ahí que camine. Currently, she continues to work on international film projects while writing and producing her own original content.

DIRECTOR - ALEX BARRETT

Alex Barrett is an award-winning filmmaker from London. Prior to THE DATE (2026), he directed LIFE JUST IS (2012) and LONDON SYMPHONY (2017), both of which were nominated for the Michael Powell Award for Best British Film at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. As writer, Alex's credits include the experimental video piece TWO MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT (2021), which premiered at CPH:DOX, and the multiple award-winning Bulgarian feature film JANUARY (2021), which premiered at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. Alex also served as editor on the award-winning documentary THE LIFE AND DEATHS OF CHRISTOPHER LEE (2024), which premiered at FrightFest 2024 before launching on Sky Arts.

Key Creatives:

Maria Caruana Galizia — Producer

Maria Caruana Galizia grew up in Malta and began her career at Scottish Television as an assistant film editor. She went on to work in the camera and post-production departments on Game of Thrones, Moby Dick and Sinbad.

In 2013 she founded Candle & Bell in the North East of England, building it from her bedroom into a multi-award-winning independent film, television and audio company. Candle & Bell is a three-time recipient of the BBC Small Indie Fund and produced the record-breaking Radio 4 sitcom Tom & Lauren Are Going OOT!.

Her feature credits include SOY NEVENKA (UK producer), TALES FROM THE LODGE (line producer) and MUSCLE (co-producer). THE DATE is her latest feature as producer. In development, Maria is producing SCRUM by Bethan Moore with Film4; GUNNERS, a thriller by Lucy Brydon developed through the OKRE Thriller Lab.

Maria is a BAFTA Connect member and an alumna of Biennale College Cinema, TorinoFilmLab, Edinburgh Talent Lab and the Creative Producers Initiative.

Julie Foy - Producer

Julie was born in Bolton, near Manchester, a proud working-class creative who started her career as an actor, spanning decades of work on stage, television and screen. She then added theatre directing to her resume. This included productions of one woman shows, tours and even the West End.

Julie has always been interested in the magic behind the camera as well as in front, and she continued into film producing. Julie's first short Film was The Silent Child which went on to win the Academy award for ‘Best Live Action Short’ in 2018. Julie has continued to produce films including Bring Back My Bonnie, Glaciers, Chimera, the feature film EVIE, which is streaming on Prime and, of course, The Date.

Nic Wassell - Director of Photography

Nic Wassell is a cinematographer, director, producer, essayist, and the founder of Strange Day Films. His work includes MOVIEDROME: WELCOME TO THE CULT (2025) and VISIONS, DREAMS AND MAGIC: THE UNMADE FILMS OF MICHAEL POWELL (2024), made as the inaugural original films for BFI Player, and the short film THE DISTANT SEA (2016), which won the Jury Prize for Best Short Film at the San Sebastián Horror and Fantasy Film Festival. THE DATE is his debut feature as director of photography.

James McWilliam - Composer

James McWilliam is a London-based composer and orchestrator with 26 years of experience across film, television, and concert music. Having worked with Dario Marianelli, Patrick Doyle, and Hans Zimmer's team at Bleeding Fingers/Sony, his scores have featured on Netflix, BBC, ITV, and Channel 4. For THE DATE, he reunites with director Alex Barrett, following their black-and-white silent film LONDON SYMPHONY, to deliver a brooding and at times abstract score that underpins the film's sinister and unsettling ambiguity.