How producer's grief influenced her short film

Olivia Maiden said she lost her siblings Sam and Florence when she was young

A woman who has created a short film about childhood grief and Jewish identity has said she was partly motivated by the traumatic experience of losing two of her siblings.

Olivia Maiden, from Ealing, London, wrote and produced To Fly or Float – a story set among the Jewish community in late-1970s Birmingham, during the height of the Winter of Discontent.

It follows the story of 10-year-old Eva and her reserved uncle David, portrayed by Ben Caplan, as they try to cope and make sense of a shared loss.

Ms Maiden, who was born in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, said: "Childhood grief is always a theme I've approached in my work – asking the question: 'How do children grieve?'

"I guess I feel more equipped to answer that having lost two siblings myself at a very young age. It is something I'm super-passionate about."

The 23-year-old lost her brother Sam, who was stillborn in 2005, and then her sister Florence died from a rare mitochondrial disease in 2008.

This has led to Ms Maiden featuring childhood grief in several films she has created since graduating The MetFilm School in London.

"I never really properly processed either of their deaths until I was probably about 14 years old," she added.

"Then I decided to make films which to me, in a sense, was a way of processing or a way of grieving."

The film tells the story of a shared loss between Eva and her uncle David, portrayed by Ben Caplan

Directed by Charlotte Peters, the film features the two main characters in the midst of Birmingham in 1979, featuring a backdrop of strikes, power cuts and economic strain.

Ms Maiden said they were determined to film in the city but, due to funding constraints and other logistical difficulties, shooting took place in the south east, mainly around Kent and London.

As someone with a Jewish grandmother, the filmmaker also wanted to shine a light on a rarely-featured Jewish community outside of places like London.

She said she was personally struck by Birmingham's canals early in the process, adding that, despite not being able to film there, the portrayal of the city helped to evoke the film's darker moments.

"The setting and place, I always think, are so important in films," she added. "I kind of treat them like characters themselves."

Olivia Maiden, pictured with the actors who play Sam and Eva, said she was thrilled when she was awarded funding

The film is currently in post-production and has been helped over the line by a £15,000 grant from the Pears Short Film Fund – run by UK Jewish Film.

As well as the funding, Ms Maiden said the organisation supported the team throughout the process, including turning up with food while they were filming.

"They've been absolutely incredibly and that's the sort of community spirit we had throughout," she added.