A short film about chronic pain isn’t an obvious awards-season frontrunner. And yet, at the 2026 BAFTA Awards, This Is Endometriosis took home a win — and in doing so, put one of the most misunderstood health conditions in the world firmly in the spotlight. Here's what you need to know.
It started as a photography project
Before the idea for the film was conceived, Georgie Wileman was homebound while recovering from repeat surgeries as a result of severe endometriosis and adenomyosis. To fill the time, she began researching the disease, only to find an array of posed stock photos that did nothing to portray its debilitating effects. So, she began documenting her own experience with a series of self portraits, eventually incorporating others into the project as she started to recover.
Then, in 2020, she put a call out for volunteers to develop the project into a film.
What is This Is Endometriosis about?
If the name didn't tell you enough, This Is Endometriosis is a short film that centres Wileman's lived experience of the disease — a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside it, typically causing severe pain, inflammation, fatigue and, in some cases, fertility complications.
It combines self-documented and archival material to tell her story battling the disease, all the while trying to receive recognition, and keep her own life on track. Rather than taking a purely medical approach, the film leans into storytelling. It captures what it actually feels like to live with endometriosis from doctors' appointments where symptoms are minimised, to the exhaustion of explaining your pain again and again, and the invisible toll of navigating daily life while your body feels at odds with you.
In Australia, endometriosis affects roughly one in nine women and people assigned female at birth. The condition is common, but conversations around it and treatment surrounding it has a long way to catch up.
Where to watch This Is Endometriosis
For those wanting to watch the film, you're in luck. This Is Endometriosis is now streaming in full on Vimeo.
