Cinephil Boards Sales On Human Composting Doc ‘The Life We Leave’ & Unveils Clip – SXSW

EXCLUSIVE: Cinephil has acquired worldwide sales rights to JJ Gerber’s The Life We Leave and also unveiled a first clip ahead of its world premiere in SXSW’s documentary feature competition this week.

The feature documentary explores how the world needs to rethink deathcare through the prism of human composting, a process where innovation, grief, and legacy intersect.

It takes its cue from 2019 Washington state legislation making it the first place in the world to legalize human composting, which in turn spurred entrepreneur Micah Truman to risk everything to build Return Home, the world’s first large-scale terramation facility.

As resistance from the conventional deathcare industry mounts, Micah is forced to pivot, learning that caring for grieving families is just as essential as building a sustainable business. Alongside funeral directors Brie Smith and Katey Houston, the film explores a “double bottom line,” where compassion and environmental responsibility must coexist.

The Life We Leave is the feature directorial debut of Gerber, who is best known in the non-fiction world as a producer with credits including the 2024 Primetime Emmy–nominated film Omoiyari: A Song Film by Kishi Bashi.

He is joined in the production by Academy Award–winning producer Melanie Miller (Navalny, Blink) and producers Clementine Briand and Ann Rogers of Humble Heart Films.

Emmy-winning Rocky Collins (Summer of Soul, Youth v Gov), as well as Mark Reed and Emmy Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated David J. Cornfield and Linda A. Cornfield (Chasing Coral, Porcelain War) serve as Executive Producers. 

“This film began as a deeply personal effort to process my own grief after a transactional experience with the funeral industry,” said Gerber.

“My hope is that The Life We Leave offers a reframing of how we accept mortality, one rooted not in fear, but in care, connection, and continuity. In examining how we tend to the dead, we’re also challenged to think about how we care for the living and the world we leave behind. I’m thrilled to be partnering with Cinephil to bring the film to partners and audiences around the globe.”

The doc joins a Cinephil slate also featuring CPH:DOX selected Molly vs the Machines as well as Berlinale Forum 2026 title River Dreams, upcoming film Shalom by Meital Zvieli  and hot 2025 festival title Farruquito: A Flamenco Dynasty.

“We’re proud to board The Life We Leave, a timely, surprisingly humorous and intimate film about challenging tradition with humanity. Powerfully reframing what it means to honor life, how we say goodbye and how we live on,” said Cinephil co-Managing Directors Shoshi Korman and Suzanne Nodale.

The Live We Leave is a Movement Content and Fishbowl Films production, in association with Humble Heart Films.

In additional credits, co-producers include Andrew Burton and Kyle Seago, with Elisa Bonora, Paddy McCaughey, and Diane Becker serving as Co-Executive Producers, while the film is also produced in association with SIFF.

It features an original score by William Ryan Fritch, cinematography by Kyle Seago, supervising editing by Elisa Bonora, ACE BFE, and is edited by Sandy Jeglum and Giordano Bonora Groome.

As Cinephil gear up to introduce the film to domestic and international buyers at SXSW 2026 check out the key art below.