Past Filmmakers

Joanne Hershfield
The Gillian Film

1. How did you come up with the idea for the film?

I have been gathering video footage over the course of Gillian’s life: her first birthday, her last nursing, her first gymnastics meet, soccer, basketball, and softball, all the plays she’s performed in, horseback riding. In the back of my mind lurked the idea that “someday” I would make a film about Gillian, but that thought was always tempered by reluctance. I was afraid to reveal my own feelings; I didn’t want to exploit her; I wasn’t sure I could represent her in all of her fullness and complexity. Gillian knows I make movies and recently, as we film her various activities, she’s been telling everyone, proudly, that we are making a movie about her—she calls it The Gillian Film. She has made the decision for me.

2. How long did the production process take?

Three Years.

3. What challenges did you experience in the creation of the film?

Creating a balance of voices, mine and Gillian's.

4. When someone has finished watching the film, what do you hope they take away from the experience?

My ultimate aim, in producing this video exploration of one life defined a ´different” [or “exceptional” in current terminology], has been to explore how we might transform our understanding of the meaning and worth of any individual life. I hope people who see the film are able to transform their own ideas about differences.