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Winner Best Documentary – Rialto Channel New Zealand Film Awards 2013

Sister Loyola Galvin is possibly the most vibrant and energetic 90-year-old you’ve ever come across. The subject of Jess Feast’s award-winning documentary Gardening with Soul profiles Sister Loyola’s life over four seasons at the Home of Compassion in Island Bay, Wellington where she resides as the gardener. Following the death of her partner in World War II she dedicated herself to a life of service to others - her work has included nurse to sick babies and raising children with disabilities. In the film she metaphorically parallels the ‘life cycle’ of plants to people, which of course all makes sense and makes life out to be - well, simple really. I loved this film and always think there should be more of them – stories that celebrate people who do good deeds. Ahead of its debut on Rialto Channel I got to congratulate 

Winner Best Documentary – Rialto Channel New Zealand Film Awards 2013

Sister Loyola Galvin is possibly the most vibrant and energetic 90-year-old you’ve ever come across. The subject of Jess Feast’s award-winning documentary Gardening with Soul profiles Sister Loyola’s life over four seasons at the Home of Compassion in Island Bay, Wellington where she resides as the gardener. Following the death of her partner in World War II she dedicated herself to a life of service to others - her work has included nurse to sick babies and raising children with disabilities. In the film she metaphorically parallels the ‘life cycle’ of plants to people, which of course all makes sense and makes life out to be - well, simple really. I loved this film and always think there should be more of them – stories that celebrate people who do good deeds. Ahead of its debut on Rialto Channel I got to congratulate filmmaker Jess on such a successful year and ask her a few questions about the film. 

I noted some of your earlier work includes Artsville and Flight of the Conchords – how did the transition from television to documentary filmmaking happen?

I was living in Berlin having a break from television and came upon the story, which became ‘Cowboys & Communists’. I really just wanted to make it and I didn’t have any contacts in German TV so I just started shooting and the film evolved. It was made with a very independent spirit but it ended up screening on Arte channel in Europe in the end.

Your first feature, Cowboys & Communists was a huge success - it looked at the cultural conflicts in Berlin, post-cold war by way of residents at a tower block/ US-themed bar. Your second feature Gardening with Soul is very different – what elements do you feel are important to making a story work?

The stories are different in many ways but there are similarities too. They are both very much character driven and they explore the relationship of individuals to ideologies. I think compelling characters are the key to making a story work, people who can explore the complexities of the human condition in engaging and unexpected ways.

Sister Loyola is fab! How did you come to find her? 

She is just amazing. And I am not the first person to find her. I actually heard her on Kim Hill initially and read a few articles about her because she was featured across quite a lot of media when she won Gardener of the Year in 2008.

The film surrounds Sister Loyola’s 90^th Birthday, she’s lived a long time and seen a lot – she could have talked about a lot of things. You would’ve had the story in mind prior to filming - how did you guide her through that?

We had talked a lot before I started filming so I knew her life story quite well and I could see how that could be told with the passing of the seasons. I guided that but as always, the beauty of documentary making is the unexpected gold that occurs in the moment.

You had her comment about domestic and sexual abuse, death and grief, children and adoption… how willing was she to talk about such taboo subjects? 

In most cases she was very willing and even brought it up unprompted. As far as the sexual abuse, it was so prominent in the media at the time we were filming that it just couldn’t be ignored. In fact, I think it was quite important for her to represent another view within the church around that subject. In the case of topics that touched her more personally, death and grief in particular, I think her openness came out of Sister Loyola’s generosity in sharing her story, and a genuine trust in the filmmaking process.

A strong thread to the film is her religion or spirituality. Why was it important to you to explore this in the film? And what did you make of it in the end?

Spirituality and religion are really central to the film on many levels. On the one hand, I think many people want to connect back to the spiritual side of themselves that exists beyond organised religion and Sister Loyola articulates some of those ideas in a very accessible way. On the other hand, I was interested in the whole notion of ‘faith’ because I wasn’t brought up with religion, and how a well-read, open-minded woman sits within this massive institution of the Catholic Church. In the end, I understood the importance of love as the central driving force and pretty much the answer to everything.

I loved the way you interweaved her love of gardening with her personal story. A lot of your filming was outdoors – her garden, an unruly beach - and over four seasons… what challenges did you come across?

There are always lots of challenges making a film and ‘Gardening with Soul’ was no exception but it was also a very pleasurable process. It was made slowly and took in all weathers so it didn’t matter how a particular day turned out, we went with the flow. And of course Sister Loyola and the other Sisters at the Home of Compassion were always welcoming and wonderful to share time with.

You had her reflect on life and life’s learning and offer some insight. Who do you hope sees the film and why?

I really hope the film reaches a wide audience. Sister Loyola has always connected with a variety of people and I hope that my interpretation of her story does that justice. We were really trying to explore some fundamental aspects of living well through this film. One of the things that I love about Sister Loyola is that she is now more than 90 years old and has never owned anything and she is happy. In our culture of more is more, it’s refreshing to see this approach in action.

Who would you say are your influencers? 

There are many filmmakers who inspire me from international masters like Frederick Wiseman and Errol Morris to local documentary filmmakers like Pietra Brettkelly and Justin Pemberton. I admire people who know how to tell a good story well and who have the tenacity to work independently for what they believe in.

Why do you think documentary is important – why should we make documentaries? 

There’s a saying you may have heard - “A country without documentaries is like a family without photo albums”. I agree with that. The importance of stories cannot be underestimated and documentaries are part of the tapestry of stories we tell ourselves. I also think they play a role in looking deeper than headlines, exploring the grey areas instead of presenting situations as sound bites.

Can you make any comments about the documentary/ film industry in New Zealand? 

I think we are so lucky to have a number of very talented documentary filmmakers working in New Zealand at the moment, often independently and from a place of heart rather than commerce. Documentary could always use more support but I think in the past few years there has been an increasing respect for the role of documentary in our film industry and this is really exciting. Organisations like the New Zealand International Film Festival, DocNZ and The NZ Film Commission are really important allies for documentary makers working in this country.

What advice would you give aspiring documentary filmmakers? 

Choose your story carefully and understand why it is you want to tell it. When you have those inevitable moments of doubt you can return to this core premise and use it to keep on truckin’!

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