barry crerar and Tara Films are pleased to announce that they have optioned the ground-breaking and critically acclaimed book Matrescence - on the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Motherhood, by award-winning science journalist and author Lucy Jones, to adapt into a feature documentary.
Matrescence, currently in development, will be a co-production led by barry crerar’s Rosie Crerar (Girl, Irene’s Ghost) and Tara Films’ Eleanor Emptage (Blue Road - The Edna O'Brien Story) and directed by Tara Films co-founder and Emmy-nominated director, Kathryn Ferguson, best known for her award-winning documentary, Nothing Compares, about Irish musician Sineád O’Connor. It is being developed with support from Screen Scotland.
The production has been selected as part of the MeetMarket slate at this year’s Sheffield Doc/Fest.
The film rights were acquired from Lucy Jones, who is represented by Clare Israel of David Higham Associates.
Matrescence will be a genre-defying, cinematic documentary that explores the transformative journey of motherhood, adapted from the ground breaking book by Lucy Jones. With powerful visual storytelling, the film will interweave the rigorous scientific research and poetry of Lucy’s writing, with personal stories from a diverse range of contributors to offer a radical and profound examination of maternal metamorphosis. Ultimately the feature aims to spark conversation around the way contemporary Western society treats its mothers, with a view to offer solutions and create lasting change.
Kathryn Ferguson said: “Since becoming a mother myself five years ago it’s been fairly impossible to put the experience into words. Lucy managed to do this in the most remarkable way, and that is why Matresence has become a cult classic in its short existence. We are honoured to turn this book into a powerful cinematic documentary that will strip away the veil of motherhood and focus in on the radical science behind this transition, the systemic failings in mother care and the cosmic alchemy that occurs when life is formed. We are also thrilled to be working with Lucy on this adaptation, and to have partnered with Screen Scotland to develop this project.”
Rosie Crerar said: “I first read Matrescence by Lucy Jones when I was 8 months post-partum with my 2nd child. My personal experience of motherhood has been politicising but until I read Matrescence I felt without the currency, or the means to articulate.
"As we've now started the journey to bring this film to life, I have been struck by how many people have shared this experience of feeling seen by Lucy's words. It confirms the urgency of the need for women's experiences to be studied and shared. I'm thrilled to be partnering with Kathryn and Ellie of Tara Films, filmmakers whose talent, passion and smarts are inspiring, and proud to have been able to originate the project with the support of Screen Scotland as partners at this early stage. Matrescence promises to be an urgent, poetic film that seeks to challenge, provoke and, ultimately, affect change.”
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About Director Kathryn Ferguson
Belfast-born Kathryn Ferguson is an Emmy-nominated director and writer known for her innovative and boundary-pushing documentaries. Her work has been showcased globally, and in 2022, she was awarded the inaugural BFI & Chanel Award for Creative Audacity. In 2018, her short documentary Taking the Waters premiered at Sheffield Doc Fest and was longlisted for a BAFTA. She later collaborated with Passion Pictures in 2021 on the short Space to Be for The Guardian’s documentary series. Her debut feature documentary, Nothing Compares (2022), which explores Sineád O'Connor's artistry and activism, premiered in competition at Sundance, won multiple awards, and garnered over thirty award nominations, including Emmy and Critics Choice. In 2023, Kathryn was selected as a BAFTA Breakthrough. She co-owns Tara Films with producer Eleanor Emptage. Their latest film, Blue Road - The Edna O'Brien Story, launched at TIFF in September 2024, followed by Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes in November 2024.
About barry crerar
barry crerar was established by Rosie Crerar and Ciara Barry in 2016, with the support of a BFI Vision award. With offices in Glasgow & Belfast, the pair produce stories that inspire, provoke and entertain, prioritising female and under-represented voices both in front and behind the camera. The company have a first look deal via BBC’s Small Indie Fund on their film & TV slates in 2024 and 2025, and is a UKGSF23-26 backed company. Their films have played in competition at festivals around the world including premieres at Sundance, Tribeca, and Toronto.
barry crerar has a strong track record of identifying and nurturing distinctive filmmakers and developing authored and impactful stories in both documentary and drama. The experience and dissonance of contemporary motherhood is a common thread in barry crerar’s work. The company co-produced the award-winning feature documentary IRENE’S GHOST, filmmaker Iain Cunningham’s exploration of his own mother’s post-partum psychosis and death when he was just three. barry crerar also produced Adura Onashile’s debut feature GIRL, a story about the tender yet claustrophobic relationship between a mother and daughter. BAFTA and BIFA nominated, GIRL won best narrative feature at Blackstar Film Festival in 2023.
About Tara Films
Tara Films is a production company co-owned by Emmy and PGA Award-nominated, BIFA & IFTA winning filmmakers Kathryn Ferguson and Eleanor Emptage.
The company's first venture began in 2018 with their debut project NOTHING COMPARES - a documentary about the artist Sinéad O’Connor. NOTHING COMPARES premiered at Sundance in January 2022 to critical acclaim, and went on to win multiple international awards. 2025 sees the launch of BLUE ROAD - THE EDNA O’BRIEN STORY directed by Sinead O’Shea - an intimate and career spanning portrait of the acclaimed Irish writer, which is being released in UK cinemas by Modern Films.
Tara is committed to making inspiring, cinematic work that sits at the intersection of the personal and the political. From stories about cultural icons, to life changing events, it will look to shine a light on under represented voices and to make films that matter.