Karina on SpoutBlog

The Time of Their Lives from redbird PRODUCTIONS on Vimeo.

As SXSW 2009 approaches we’ll be asking filmmakers to spill the superficial details about their films, to tell us all the deep personal details of what makes them tick, and –– new this year! –– reveal who they had to sleep with, in the incestuous conspiracy-minded secret society that is the wider SXSW community, in order to get their film programmed at the festival.

Today we take a look at Jocelyn Cammack’s Emerging Visions documentary The Time of Their Lives. Previously screened at Sheffield Doc/Fest, the film follows three female activists –– ages 88 to 102 –– living together in a home for active elderly adults. Watch the trailer above, and read Jocelyn’s answers to The 5 Questions We Ask Everyone below.

Tell us about your movie. Who did you work with, why did you make it? Give us the reductive, 25-word or less, “It’s like [pop culture reference a] meets [pop culture reference b]!” pitch, then explain what the quick and dirty sell leaves out.

Why did I make it? Cos I spent an amazing afternoon talking to 102 year old Hetty who’s more articulate and human and fired up than almost anyone I’ve ever met - and who then told me she wished she were dead. She just got to me - big time - and I think she does the same with everyone.

But the film was a very small affair, me and the producer basically and then later on a few crew days (2 crew + me) and a fabulous editor and composer/sound designer.

So here’s 10 words: It’s Etre et Avoir meets One Foot in the Grave. They may not be a very good 10, thinking about it, cos One Foot in the Grave is a British sitcom about a couple in their 70s that might not have traveled to the US yet. But the film’s a kind of Etre et Avoir at the other end of life. This is old age from the inside - and the really surprising thing is, it’s not so different from what you or I feel; close your eyes and it’s not old faces you see but young minds you hear.

Do you have a day job/a non-filmmaking occupation that raises money for your filmmaking efforts? Tell us about it.

In the past I’ve worked as an AD and as a line producer but now I’m a part-time research student at the Royal College of Art in London - not that that makes any money either of course. If I’d thought about it I’d be researching how to make money. The Time of Their Lives took 2 years to make and for the first year I worked entirely for nothing - in fact most of the second too, come to think of it. It was fantastic once the BBC came on board because we were able to pay for an editor, a few crew days and a post house but it really has been a labour of love for us.

Have you been to SXSW before? If so, tell us about your funniest story from the experience. If not, what are you looking forward to re: the festival and/or the city of Austin?

No, I’ve never even been to Texas before but from what I can tell, being in Austin isn’t like being in Texas anyway. What am I looking forward to? That feeling of not quite knowing how anything really works, you know everything’s a different colour, the buildings smell different, the seats on buses are a different shape, it’s hotter - I love it - being somewhere new before you get used to it and familiarity kicks in. But that’s not going to happen ‘cos I’m only over for 4 days.

Let’s get hypothetical: You’re on death row. The night of your execution, you’re allowed to watch any two films of your choice. What would you pick for your last-night-on-Earth double feature?

Not entirely sure I’d be thinking of watching a film if I was up for being electrocuted after breakfast but - hypothetically - Jacques Tati’s Playtime followed by George Sluizer’s original version of The Vanishing; that might take my mind off it.

There’s been some criticism that the only way to get into SXSW is by being a part of an “incestuous scene where everybody knows everybody.” So who did *you* have to sleep with to get in? Metaphorically or literally: are there any SXSW filmmaker(s) past or present that you’re close with personally and/or professionally, and how have those relationships helped or hurt the process of producing your film and getting it seen?

Well if I’m going to be really, really honest I’d have to confess that I’d never heard of South by Southwest before about 6 weeks ago. Perhaps I shouldn’t have said that, everything’s gone quiet. But the point is it can’t all be nepotism, can it. I think filmmakers work alone far more than people think, I’m not sure there is this big ‘club’ - maybe that’s a producer/financier thing or a US thing.