Lost Time
A Short Documentary Film
UK | 12mins
16mm Kodak Vision 3
When his wife dies, a 92 year old's saving grace is the brotherhood of his local bowls club, which is forced to close during the pandemic.
Lost Time explores the importance of community. When sports venues were ordered to close, so begun a new struggle for widower, John. Loneliness, monotony and frustration; emotions that many of us felt during the lockdowns.
Through a series of telephone interviews from Sep 2020 - Aug 2021, John provides the narrative to his pandemic story, until the club is re-opened and he is reunited with his friends where we sit and watch the magic of an impromptu dialogue over a fish and chip supper, unfold in front of us.
Director’s Note
The film explores themes of loneliness and companionship. It’s a love letter to community and a much needed spotlight on mental health amongst our elderly population.
On returning to the U.K, I was looking to shoot a couple British vignettes of people in sport. I was introduced to John as a 92 year old still bowling incredibly well. I had the intention of finding out a bit about his story but the more I spoke to him throughout the pandemic, I realised there was a more meaningful story to be told.
A series of heartfelt and emotional telephone calls with John throughout lockdown, provide the narrative for the film's first two acts; accompanied by 4:3 locked off visuals that represent the monotony and stillness of the pandemic for a 92 year old widower.
We use John’s wife’s poetry as a framework of emotions; grief, pain, patience and joy. One call, John doesn’t pick up - he’s been rushed to hospital having suffered an Anaemic attack, throwing up thoughts of mortality and time. As he patiently regains his health and the local bowls club re-opens, John is able to be reunited with his friends. For this we go 16:9 and handheld, choosing a verité approach that allows the magic of a fish & chip supper at the bowl’s club to unfold in front us.
The film is about time; how much of it we have, how we use it and lose it. We shot Lost Time on Kodak Vision 3 film, firstly because the aesthetic was perfect for the subject but secondly, there is a fragility that comes with shooting on celluloid, especially as independent filmmakers, which we thought lent itself to the themes of the project.
On a personal level, the project has meant a lot to me. Returning to my hometown that I no longer spend too much time in, it ultimately reconnected me to my upbringing and the very particular type of male characters that I was raised, supported and surrounded by as a child. Combined with the collective relief of having survived the pandemic, it was an emotional project and set.
