Film Maker Interview - Spotlight
22.07.2014 11:54
Interview with Andrea Niada, director of How We Are Now
What is your film about?
How We Are Now is an observational documentary about looking to the future in old age. It explores how it feels to be old and what that entails by following Peter, a retired actor, who lives with his partner of sixty years, Douglas. Both of their live have become increasingly centered around their old age and Peter has come to have taken on more of a carer’s role for Douglas. As Douglas approaches his eighty third birthday, the couple reflect on their age and changing relationship and offer an intimate view into how old age affects their lives: from getting out of bed in the morning to how they think about the future.
Why should someone want to watch it?
Old age is a phase in life that many people fear and struggle to cope with but it’s something that will affect most of us. The film tackles the subject head on, through an incredibly open and sensitive couple who not only show us the practicalities of what growing old means in intimate detail but who also explain how their perspectives on life and each other has changed.
Why are you doing it? What’s your message?
As someone who has always been afraid of physical decline, old age is a phase in life that fascinates me. In old age, the future becomes increasingly uncertain and we can’t make the same long-term plans we do when we’re younger because the majority of our life is behind us.
I felt that this philosophical aspect of old age is very rarely, if ever, tackled in documentary and yet it’s such an essential part of our lives to confront and explore. If you come to terms with it earlier then I think that you can see the value in being elderly.
The film explores the subject closely and our contributors were incredibly willing to show us very intimate details in their life that a lot of people in their position might have been scared to reveal. In their humour and profound reflection, they demonstrated that though physical decline and lifestyle changes are a large part of growing old, we can face them with great positivity by looking ahead and adapting to our situation.
Who are the Producers/ Cinematographers/ Editors? What is their history and notable credits.
I worked with a small crew of four throughout the process. Any larger and I think it may have been more difficult to achieve as personal an account of old age as we managed. The director of photography is a filmmaker called Toshiyuki Ichihara who worked as a documentary director for Japanese television for years and brought an incredibly sensitive and patient eye to the project.
The sound recordist, Monica Santis, was the film’s editor as well. She’s an Austin based filmmaker who’s worked on a large number of fiction and non-fiction films before including Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life. I know it’s not that common for the editor to be on set but it meant that Monica’s deep understanding of the film was really instrumental when she began post-production and she did an extraordinary job with a large amount of footage to work with.
My producer was Oliver Sunley who’s previous work as a documentary director and producer has been exhibited to national and international audiences. We’d worked on a number of short films together before which really helped the director-producer dialogue but How We Are Now was our first collaboration in about three years.
What gear are you using? Cameras, mikes and editing software.
The film was shot using a Sony PMW-EX3 which is a pretty common camera in documentary filmmaking. We brought a solid Liliput lighting kit and gels with us but ended up only using a Tecpro Felloni LED panel to keep in tune with the naturalism of the film’s observational style. All of the sound was recorded separately from the camera onto a Nagra V using a Sennheiser MKH-416 microphone but later synched to the footage on Avid Media Composer 7 which Monica used to edit the film.
What is your next project?
I’m currently working on a black and white surreal thriller which is due to be shot in the autumn. Oliver will be producing the project which will be shot in a studio on the ARRI ALEXA camera and Toshiyuki and Monica are collaborating together on a short love story called Anabel which is going to be shot in the autumn as well.
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