THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES

 

Documentary, UK 2009 (75 min. / 57 min.)
Director: Jocelyn Cammack
Production: RedBird Production
World Sales: Rise and Shine World Sales UG

With a combined age of almost 300, Hetty, Rose and Alison live in a home for the ‘active elderly’ and regularly share their impassioned concerns on everything from terrorism to global warming – not to mention the meaning of life, death and sex. Rose, 101, is the oldest newspaper columnist in the world; Hetty, 102, is still marching against war; and Alison, 88, Communist Party member has turned self-styled ‘establishment lady’. But despite their unstoppable enthusiasm and disarming humour, all three women are not simply ready for death – they actively want to die. Surprising, poignant and at times very funny, THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES reveals the everyday mystery of how very old people experience life and the intense challenges that old age brings. Like first-hand witnesses reporting back from the edge of their own mortality, Hetty, Rose and Alison tell us things of which no-one ever speaks.

Festivals (Selection)
DOKLeipzig 2009/Germany, Bergen International Film Festival 2009/Norway, Cinéma Du Réel 2010/France, Sheffield Documentary Festival 2009/UK, Canada International Film Festival 2010/Can, Open City London 2011