An exploration of aging, death, and dying through the lens of self-selecting, specialized retirement communities.
Curious about the phenomenon of retirement in America, and noting the erosion of a sense of traditional familial responsibility for caring our elders, filmmaker Davey Field examines the resultant development of manufactured senior communities organized around specific interests tied to various ethnic, religious, socioeconomic, vocational, or identity-based factors. Often organized collectively, the residents take an active role in constructing their own chosen substitute families, and, importantly, setting the terms for the way their later years, and eventual deaths, play out.
Field has until the end of the month to meet his Kickstarter goal toward production and post-production costs. At more than two-thirds funded, he’s well on his way to meeting his target. For more information on his past work, visit his website.
Field’s project caught my eye for a number of reasons. Though there are exceptions, seniors are seldom afforded complex treatment in film. Focusing on these communities of “constructed kinship,” as Field refers to them, the film privileges their self-determination – more rounded, active subjects in contrast to passive figures waiting out their last days. As films like the Academy Award-nominated short KINGS POINT have shown, the interpersonal dynamics at play among retirees can be fascinating, so I’m curious to see how these differ among the various communities Field profiles. I’m also drawn to Field’s look at how these chosen families navigate illness, death, and grief. Though he refers to the documentary as an ethnography, his writing about his approach and the sample footage shown ease concerns that this will be an overly academic exercise, and I’m interested to see how the film develops.
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