‘The Wizard of Oz’ Was a Big Reference for Doc ‘A Want in Her.’ Now Its Creator Is Moving Into Fiction.

Myrid Carten has joined the 2026 UK BAFTA Breakthrough cohort after her debut documentary, *A Want in Her*, won three British Independent Film Awards. The film follows Carten’s search for her missing mother, Nuala, through family conflict, a house dispute and a history shaped by mental illness and addiction. Its recognition has helped bring wider attention to a story Carten says is rarely told: the experience of children growing up with a parent affected by addiction.

Carten made the film as its writer, director and cinematographer, and appears in it herself. It premiered at IDFA in 2024, and she says she initially hoped only that it would reach some cinemas; audiences’ response to its experimental approach has exceeded her expectations. Through BAFTA Breakthrough, she hopes to meet filmmakers and producers and learn from their experience as she moves towards making fiction films while maintaining her artistic integrity.