FILM fans are being giving the chance to turn a unique story into a finished movie.

Local director Karen Guthrie's new film, The Closer We Get, allows viewers to witness the intimacy of a family - her own. As the main characters live through the aftermath of her mother Ann's stroke, what family members know about each other and themselves radically changes, with the stroke becoming a life-raft for the entire family.

Shot over two and a half years, Karen has put the film together with long-term collaborator Nina Pope as co-producer and director of photography.

Now beginning its editing stage, Karen and Nina are inviting those who may have experienced any of the issues in the film to help turn the raw footage into a finished film. Using crowdfunding platform Indiegogo, they have until January 18 to raise the £15,000 needed to bring the compelling story to fruition. To date 135 people have already backed the project.

Karen and Nina are offering a range of 'benefits' to anyone who donates directly to the production’s costs, from online access to the final film, to meeting the filmmakers, enjoying a month of baking from Ann’s own recipe archive or holidaying in a Lake District woodland hideaway where much of The Closer We Get was written.

Karen's moving portrayal of her parents gives a glimpse into lives many may recognise in their own families - illness, death, insecurities and the love and duty that holds families together. Karen shows these changes to the viewer at the time she learns of them - and changes her role from that of a dutiful daughter and filmmaker, to the conduit of the story. Karen questions all that she knows about where she comes from, as she learns of the true fallibility of her parents, and how this survives even the most devastating revelations.

Visit www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-closer-we-get.