British Shorts | 2020

Did you have any apprehension about making such a personal film?

Naively, no. But in hindsight, I should have. It was incredibly difficult to make, even though it’s only 12 minutes long! I think my certainty (which has never faltered) that these were beautiful characters with a fascinating story, temporarily blinded me to the fact that making a film is really tough – especially when you have such a close personal attachment to the people in it and a tight deadline. But we got there in the end!

How did you pitch the idea to your Aunt & Uncle, did they have any doubts about taking part? 

They couldn’t understand why their lives were interesting enough to be made into a film; but that’s them to a tee, humble and unassuming. They’d do anything for their family so they were willing to take part; at first I was filming them as part of an assessment at uni, so I think they just thought they were helping me get a good grade. But I always knew their story was universally appealing and I always planned for it to reach wider audiences; I certainly don’t think my aunt and uncle expected it to go this far! It premiered internationally at DOC NYC and I took my aunt to New York with me because that’s truly a once in a lifetime kind of experience. It’s a memory I’ll hold dear forever.

What would you say have been some of the biggest lessons you’ve taken from making That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore?

I shot the film entirely by myself, and fell into most of the pitfalls that inexperienced shooters fall into! For instance shooting when there wasn’t enough light, or not holding a shot long enough… the list goes on. I cursed myself many a time in the edit, dealing with my own shoddy footage! Having said that, many people who have seen the film tell me it’s ‘beautifully shot’ – so I think the quality of a film is in the eye of the beholder. The story matters more than the aesthetic for me.

Have you always had a passion for filmmaking?

No, but I’ve always had a passion for telling stories. I used to write my own magazines featuring ‘real life stories’ and agony aunt columns (all stories and letters fabricated by me), and release them weekly for members of my family to read (the magazines were all hand drawn so I’d get them to pass the same copy round themselves). When I was a teenager, I started interning as a journalist and I wrote features for national newspapers from quite a young age. I found my way into TV via advertising (I was a Commercial Producer for many years); but I always thought Directing was something that other people did. The only Directors I ever worked with in advertising were male and they knew everything about cameras and scripts etc, which I found quite intimidating. I knew deep down I wanted to make documentaries but it took me a long time to go for it. Eventually, I decided to take out two loans and go back to university to learn camera, editing, story, documentary theory… it was a good decision for me. I found my passion.

How has your approach to your films changed since you started out?

I’ve grown in confidence; I now understand that my style of filmmaking and my individual voice have a valid place in this world. I have something to contribute: my films are personal, empathetic, moving and funny, and in some cases they have had a social impact (my first film We Are All Here, about the suicide of a 21 year old rapper from Scotland, has raised thousands of pounds for mental health charities and is now being used as part of mental health curriculum at universities). I also feel far less intimidated; filmmaking is still really hard, mentally and financially, and there are times when you think ‘Why am I doing this?’ – but now, I know it’s OK not to know everything. I know that the struggle is part of the process and that it’s worth it in the end.

What has been the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

Be kind. My parents instilled that in me from a very young age.

Do you have any advice you would offer someone thinking about getting into filmmaking?

Don’t be deterred, and don’t be disheartened when you hit hurdles, because that’s par for the course. Watch and read what you can, especially in your areas of interest. Identify the parts of the film industry that you don’t understand and work on getting to grips with them; whether that’s attending talks or trawling Google. Take every opportunity to learn. But also collaborate with others – you can’t know everything, and your weak spots will be someone else’s specialism. It’s a joy to work with a team who all have different talents and watch your vision come alive before your eyes.

What are you currently working on?

I have two longer documentary projects in development, working with some very wonderful characters, and I hope to get both into production this year. I am pitching on some documentary-style commercial projects as a Director, which is new and exciting. And I continue to campaign for mental health awareness and tour We Are All Here around schools and universities in order to get young people talking about mental health. The social impact campaign around the film has been powerful and I hope to achieve the same with That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore, raising awareness about brain injury and disability, and perhaps changing the way we see and treat certain people in society.

And finally, what message do you want your audiences to take away from this film? 

I think it’s important for audiences to take away their own message from the film: some might think about their lives/relationships and the choices they make; others might take comfort if they too are affected by the isolation of caring for someone with a long term illness… I think the best I can hope for is that the film stays with people and encourages them to live life to the fullest, because it can all change in an instant. That’s not meant to sound morbid – I just mean we shouldn’t sweat the small stuff, and we should find the beauty in every day. In these troubling times it’s important to take care of ourselves and others.

Read original article in The New Current

Can Lindsay’s love for her husband Paul sustain her through the trauma of his brain injury, which leaves him in a perpetual loop of memory loss and joke-telling?

Interview with Director Hannah Currie

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

I have wanted to make this film for a long time. Ten years ago, my uncle Paul suffered a brain injury and the series of complications that followed left him with neurological side effects – including short term memory loss and, fascinatingly, the propensity to tell jokes repeatedly. My aunt Lindsay has stood by him through very challenging times – even when friends and family members have peeled away, she has stayed. They live in the remote Wicklow Mountains of Ireland which makes things even more isolated. I was interested in their relationship and her incredible resilience.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

At its heart, the film is about love and identity and I think we can all relate to those themes deeply. But more than that, Lindsay and Paul are just the sweetest, funniest characters and I think you’ll enjoy spending ten minutes with them! The film straddles the line between laughter and tears, because their life is a little like that. The humour can help ease the trauma but it can also exaggerate it sometimes too, because it is a noticeable part of Paul’s injury.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

The film is highly personal – you can hear my interaction with Lindsay and Paul from behind the camera and you can feel the trust and love between us. But the themes at play are highly universal: love, relationships, identity. What happens to these things when you can’t remember? What can we learn from two people who have been tested to their limits and keep on going?

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?

The film was made as part of Scottish Documentary Institute’s Bridging the Gap Scheme, therefore it underwent three months of intensive development before I pitched it for funding. Twelve films underwent development and then five received funding to go into production, and I was lucky enough to be one of those five. The film changed a lot during that time. There were things I wanted to include – like some of the friction caused by my uncle’s maladaptive health behaviours (he smokes and drinks and he shouldn’t); and the difficult financial situation they find themselves in because Paul can no longer work like he used to… but the remit of the Bridging the Gap scheme is to make a short film approximately ten minutes in length, and it quickly became apparent that I would need a much longer film to cover all of the complexities of their relationship. It is my intention to develop and make a longer film in the future.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

The feedback has been unexpectedly wonderful. Making a film about my family was much more difficult than I’d anticipated, and when I finished it I thought it was terrible. But then I started to hear from film festivals that I could only dream of being a part of and they wanted to show my film! (Thanks to Scottish Documentary Institute for distributing the film). Then, we heard words that the film was nominated for a BAFTA Scotland award – the ultimate honour! The ceremony is on 3rd November. In terms of personal feedback, people just seem to love my characters, which is wonderful because I love them too and I’m proud to share them with the world.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

Absolutely. I am highly self-critical and I really convinced myself the film was no good, but now I accept that I was being too hard on myself. I am looking forward to watching the film with audiences and viewing it through their eyes. The best experience of making films is watching them with other people and feeling their reaction first hand.

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

I am grateful for any and all opportunities to talk about the film and it’s so lovely to be a part of the global filmmaker community – a dream come true – so I was delighted to hear from We Are Moving Stories. What a cool platform! I’m privileged to be a part of it.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

All of the above! I’m brand new to this game so I’m very happy to hear from anyone who is interested in helping me move my film projects forward and get them seen by wider audiences. I have two further documentaries in development, which I believe are very strong; plus another completed film (the award-winning We Are All Here, which tells the story of the suicide of 21-year-old Glasgow rapper Lumo). And, as mentioned, I have hopes and ambitions to develop That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore into a longer film.

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

A warm, fuzzy, heartfelt one, which leaves people thinking about love, family, relationships and resilience. Maybe someone in the audience will go home that night and hug their nearest and dearest a little bit tighter – that would be just fine.

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

If your partner was to change irreversibly, would you stay or would you go?

Would you like to add anything else?

I am bringing my aunty to DOCNYC and Cucalorus with me to watch the film and partake in the Q&A. She is very excited – these festivals are a long way from the abandoned farmland where she lives. She works tirelessly as a nurse and never gets holidays, so it means the world to me to bring her along on this adventure. So if you see the film, or see us, please come and say hi and tell us what you think!

What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?

My Producer Beth and I are working on our next project, a documentary about a self-taught painter from Glasgow called Ross Muir who has overcome tragedy to become one of Scotland’s most successful artists. He is wickedly funny and highly entertaining to spend time with; but his story is not a simple one and sometimes his demons threaten to undermine his success.

Read the original article on We Are Moving Stories