About four months ago I got an email from Christine at Almost Fearless about being featured in their documentary, The Wireless Generation. I loved the sound of their project and, having read Christine’s blog for many years, I was flattered to be approached. I told her I was in!
Christine and her husband Drew have been wandering around the world filming people from their documentary for the past year. I was expecting a visit from them in July but after being on the road non-stop, with a baby in tow, no less, they changed their plans and headed to Chiang Mai to decompress for awhile.
So after a slight delay, Drew, the husband part of the operation, arrived in Kigali last week. After a few days of Yellow Fever Vaccination recovery (and after I recovered from a nasty cough) we met a couple of days ago finally in one of my favourite cafes in Kigali and got down to business.
I’ve been a bit nervous about this whole process, to be honest. I’m not a massive self-promoter type and felt a bit uneasy about being caught on film forever and ever. But I feel like I don’t really step outside my comfort zone too often these days so I was looking at it as a challenge.
The interview itself seemed to go pretty well. I don’t think I made myself sound too much like an idiot or an asshole. Drew asked lots of good questions and made the process pretty relaxing and easy. I’ll be curious to see how they edit down an hour of me talking about various topics into however long my spot in the film will be. It’s also pretty interesting to see the other types of shots he’s been taking and seeing them all patched together will be pretty interesting as well. I’m curious about how Kigali’s going to look on film and what sorts of shots he’s been getting around town. It’s pretty cool to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the documentary process. It looks like hard work!
So I guess stay tuned for the documentary to come out at some point next year. It seems like collecting the interviews is only half the battle and there’s a lot more to be done. But I’ll let you know when I make my cinematic debut! Unless I end up on the cutting room floor… then ignore all of this.
That’s awesome! Kudos! I was a video production major in college with an emphasis in documentary. My position was always behind the camera, and that’s how I liked it. Then, at the very end of my senior year, I was forced in front of the camera. A classmate of mine had decided to make a documentary about the student TV show of which I was a producer. I had no way of escaping the limelight! I was an absolute nervous wreck. And I do not exaggerate when I say it went so terribly!
I have to thank my classmates who interviewed me – they were so patient. After an agonizing 30-minute interview, somehow they managed to extract a few poignant phrases. In the final cut, I almost look put-together!
The experience, however traumatizing, has given me the ability to better empathize with the people I interview and help them through the process with all the necessary TLC.
Glad to hear you survived the shoot.
Must be really hard filming a documentary. But it looks like their camera is pretty nice and can do the job.
But good luck with your documentary. Will it be on DVD or in theaters maybe?
Nice alt text. Hehe.
Congrats on the interview Kirsty! I’ve been following the progress of this documentary for a while now and I’m totally intrigued to see how it comes out. I’m not only a documentary filmmaker myself, but I’m a Nerdy Nomad wannabe! I’m so impressed with all your websites and what you’ve been able to accomplish. (I am plowing away on website #1) You totally deserve a top spot in the film. Again, congrats and I’ll look for you on the big screen!
Having read Almost Fearless since it started, I’m glad to see that you’ll be included in the documentary. Can’t wait to see it when it is finished!
This sounds like a really interesting documentary, I’ve been reading both yours and christine blog in my reader for a while and you’ve really made me think about the way I’m living life and what other choices there are. I currently live and write in Bali, but I have so many plans to see and do other things its almost overwhelming