AUSTIN (20s) sits with JOY (90s) in her living room, where she begins recounting a story from 80 years ago.
We are transported back in time to a city on the brink of war. This is London, in World War Two. Joy sits on the train as we transition from rolling fields to concrete city buildings. She unknowingly returns to London on the eve of atrocious bombings.
In the schoolyard, children rush to class until an air-raid siren sounds, and they all rush off to the nearest shelter. Joy recalls a quiet Sunday walk with her mother when an explosion shatters a nearby window, killing a mother and daughter they had just greeted.
Back in the present, Joy pauses for coffee before continuing the story about her family’s preparations for the impending bombings.
As night falls, gardens become shelters amid relentless bombings from enemy planes. For Joy and her family, rushing to the shelter is now the new normal. Bombs, often unmanned rockets called ‘doodlebugs’, strike indiscriminately across the city.
Joy recalls a night of bombing where sirens blare, and chaos ensues. A bomb falls on their home, blasting Joy into a shelter, injuring her while her family takes refuge from the horrors and destruction outside. They emerge to find their home in ruins. Joy discovers her father in the garden, alive but in tatters, as neighbours come together to clear the debris. Amid the rubble, she searches for a cherished family heirloom.
Joy closes the story, reflecting on the resilience of her family.
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Director Biography
Born in the UK, I grew up on roast dinners, rolling hills and documentaries usually featuring Louis Theroux. From as early as I can remember, I was documenting everyday family life on DV, digital and 35mm stills, forming the basis for a lifelong fascination I have with documentary filmmaking.
I’m drawn to the weird, the unusual and otherwise forgotten stories – from extreme Christian churches to strangers who gather to discuss all things death and dying, to a grandmother looking back at the Blitz through the eyes of a child. No matter the subject, I’m compelled to search far and wide for fascinating, real-world stories that connect us together through the power of creative storytelling and engaging documentary filmmaking.
Director Statement
Have you ever had a chat with your grandparents about their childhood?
I’ve spent countless afternoons listening to everything my nana has to say about the Blitz, WWII and surviving it all to share these stories with me today. As I’ve grown up, it’s these conversations that spark imagined scenarios in my head; firefighters extinguishing blazing flames outside St. Paul’s Cathedral, sirens wailing as commuters are shepherded into shelters, and amongst the chaos, a young girl, schoolbag in hand, witnesses it all.
While the story evolved as we recorded roughly 4 hours of interviews, what stays with me is the relationship I hold with my grandmother. Like many of us, I cherish this special connection we’ve always had with one another. She’s lived a long and eventful life, now filled with all the wisdom and reflection you’d expect someone in their 90s to have. And yet, the horrors of surviving WWII London are memories that never leave a person nor are ever free of their mind.
With the history books providing the facts, this documentary instead captures the story of a particular adolescent experience of the event, looking back as an elder through to the eyes of a child.
| Austin Salt-Cowell Director & Editor Death Cafe (2020) | Family of God (2017) Emily Moss Producer Hamish Palmer Storyboard Artist, Animation Design, Illustration & Compositing Aidan McCarthy Sound Designer & Re-Recording Mixer William Philipson Music Sayaka Kirkman Violinist Kevin Orlando Additional Voices |
