Inspired by true events, this powerful multi-award winning short film explores the varying facets of grief and the way in which it pulls us apart and brings us together. When tragedy strikes, Ruby (writer-director-producer Cat White) finds herself turning to the water for comfort. In the frigid waters of a nearby lake, she turns to wild swimming in search of answers. By swimming each day at dawn and forming an unlikely friendship with fellow swimmer Gloria (Olivier Award winning British actor Celia Imrie), Ruby learns to accept her grief and the grief of those around her.
Selected for over fifty film festivals worldwide, Fifty-Four Days has garnered nominations and awards at BAFTA, Oscar and BIFA qualifying festivals most recently including Best Narrative Short at the 2024 Diversity in Cannes Showcase sponsored by the BFI and Viola Davis' JuVee Productions. Other accolades include Best Short Film winner at British Urban Film Festival, Best Narrative Short nominee at Pan African Film Festival, Best Midlands Film winner at Beeston Film Festival, Best Narrative Short winner at Roxbury International Film Festival, Best Diaspora Short nominee at the Africa Movie Academy Awards, Best Short Film runner up at 225 Film Club and multiple other wins including Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography.
Cat is an award-winning actor, author, director, filmmaker and gender advisor for the United Nations. She is also founder and CEO of Kusini Productions. She has been honoured as a member of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2022, longlisted for AllBright’s ‘Innovative Trailblazer Award’, heralded as one of 'Five Activists Who Should Be On Your Radar' by the Trouble Club (previous speakers including Gloria Steneim and Margaret Atwood) and is a BAFTA connect member. Cat can be seen in Amazon Prime’s Ten Percent, Channel 4's Threesome and the latest Black Mirror. She recently joined the Royal Shakespeare Company on Sir Gregory Doran’s swansong production of Cymbeline. Her debut book This Thread of Gold, named by the New Statesman as an essential book for 2023, as the i's non-fiction book of the month and "extraordinary" by Afua Hirsch, was published to critical acclaim in the UK in June 2023 by Dialogue Books and in America in 2024 from Penguin Random House. She was selected by Meta for their illustrious Author Programme. She recently announced that she has adapted the final chapter of This Thread of Gold for screen and will direct it as a short film starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw. xclusively announced in Variety, the project was awarded funding from the Uncertain Kingdom’s Belief Grant, was ‘Honourably Mentioned’ by Jodie Whittaker and Primetime’s Empower fund and is being produced by Emmy® winning & BAFTA nominated Lupus Films. She is a proud ambassador for PAPYRUS, the UK's national charity for the prevention of young suicide and a proud mentor on The Page One Project. She is currently in pre-production for her debut feature film. Cat is represented by Curtis Brown Talent.
