Having already been accepted at the 30th Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, American Documentary Film Festival and Film Fund,16th Picture This…Film Festival and 10th National Film Festival for Talented Youth, LFS graduate Andrea Niada’s documentary, HOW WE ARE NOW, is no stranger to the festival circuit.
Now, the well-travelled documentary can add the Tacoma Film Festival (TFF) and New Orleans Film Festival (NOFF) to the long list. Critically, the recipient of the New Orleans Film Festival’s Documentary Short Award will be eligible for consideration in the Documentary Short Subject category of the Academy Awards®.
HOW WE ARE NOW is a documentary that follows Peter, a retired actor, who lives with his partner of sixty years, Douglas. Both in their eighties, Peter has taken more of a carer's role for Douglas. As Douglas approaches his eighty-third birthday, the couple reflect on their age and changing relationship.
Since shooting the documentary ended, Douglas has sadly passed away and will be missed greatly by the crew of the film, with whom he had become a dear friend. Aside from Andrea Niada (Director), the remainder of the LFS crew consisted of Oliver Sunley (Producer), Monica Santis (Sound Recordist & Editor), Joe Watts (Sound Mixer), Alex Grigoras (Colourist) and Toshiyuki Ichihara (Cinematographer).
Buy tickets here for screenings at New Orleans Film Festival on 16th and 19th October, and here to see HOW WE ARE NOW at the Tacoma Film Festival on Saturday 8th October.
Director Andrea Niada had these words to say during an interview with Ben Corbett:
What is the most important thing you’ve learnt from your time at the London Film School?
"Having a small budget, little time and certain shooting restrictions can push you creatively in a way that freedom doesn't. I also learnt that making a film is half the battle, the other half is constantly taking the initiative to market it and have it seen, without forgetting that we need to keep making films! The school's old director, Ben Gibson, told me something which has stuck with me this whole time - 'Try very hard to forget each last film, actually write it off in your mind, and work on the next, only with what you’ve learned from the shortcomings of the last one. Move relentlessly forward’."
What attracted you to the characters in HOW WE ARE NOW?
"Their humour, honesty, affection and the love they had for each other were quite overwhelming and we became close friends during and after shooting the documentary. They became like a second set of grandparents. Sadly Douglas passed away last year but we were given the very moving task of designing the booklet for his funeral, which was a very emotional experience."
What does it feel like to be within touching distance of an Oscar nomination?
"It's obviously very exciting! We are being very realistic however and to be long-listed we have to win best documentary at NOFF. The competition is tough, so we're hopeful, but really we're just extremely happy and grateful that a documentary we made during school has come this far!"
FESTIVAL INFORMATION
The Tacoma Film Festival has been going for 11 years strong, sharing the best of contemporary independent film and media, with special emphasis on stories from the Pacific Northwest. TFF is also the host of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film, screening and sharing the work of this up-and-coming group. Whilst TFF was voted one of the “Top 50 Film Festivals Worth The Entry Fee”, New Orleans Film Festival was voted one of the “Top 25 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee”. NOFF attempts to instil a feeling of camaraderie amongst its attendees through receptions, parties and one-on-one mentoring sessions. Last year, the festival offered jury awards of over $80,000 to films in seven categories, screened more than 200 films over eight days and reached an audience of 25,000 people.
Written by Ben Corbett
Photo Credit: Andrea Niada