Meet the Filmmakers: Terence Davies--'Of Time and the City'

Over the next few weeks, we at IDA will be introducing our community to the filmmakers whose work will be represented in the DocuWeek^TM Theatrical Documentary Showcase, August 8-14 in New York City and August 22-28 in Los Angeles. We asked the filmmakers to share the stories behind their films-the inspirations, the challenges and obstacles, the goals and objectives, the reactions to their films so far.

So, to continue this series of conversations, here is Terence Davies, director of Of Time and the City.

Synopsis: Of Time and the City is a heartfelt, lyrical and bitingly humorous personal perspective on the process of change and time. The result is a love song and a eulogy to director Terence Davies' birthplace, Liverpool.

IDA: How did you get started in documentary filmmaking?

Terence Davies: Entirely by accident. [Producer] Sol Papadopoulus rang me out of the blue and pitched me the idea.

IDA: What inspired you to make Of Time and the City?

TD: I wanted to contrast the Liverpool that I grew up in with the Liverpool of today, which I don't know.

IDA: What were some of the challenges and obstacles in making this film, and how did you overcome them?

TD: Amassing and trawling through hours of archive material gathered from many sources, forming it into some kind of a structure, and then deciding what we had to shoot ourselves. The only way to overcome the issues was to spend hours upon hours in the editing suite with my editor staring at the footage over and over again until it all made some sort of sense, which we could then structure and take forward.

IDA: How did your vision for the film change over the course of the pre-production, production and post-production processes?

TD: I started with a rough architecture of the piece, but then, like all projects, fiction or nonfiction, it began to evolve of its own accord. In the end, the subtext and the shape of the piece arose naturally.

IDA: As you've screened Of Time and the City-whether on the festival circuit, or in screening rooms, or in living rooms-how have audiences reacted to the film? What has been most surprising or unexpected about their reactions?

TD: The reactions have been astonishing everywhere and completely unexpected. The film was made with very modest intentions and a very modest budget.

IDA: What docs or docmakers have served as inspirations for you?

TD: Humphrey Jennings' Listen To Britain (1941)...Christopher Nupen for his documentaries on famous composers (particularly Sibelius).

Of Time and the City will be screening at the Village East Cinema in New York and the Arclight Hollywood.

To view the DocuWeek schedule in New York City, visit
http://www.documentary.org/content/docuweek-new-york.

To purchase tickets to DocuWeek NY, visit www.villageeastcinema.com and www.ifccenter.com.

To view the DocuWeek schedule in Los Angeles, visit http://www.documentary.org/content/docuweek-los-angeles.

To purchase tickets to DocuWeek at the ArcLight Hollywood, visit www.arclightcinemas.com.