Three days prior to the pitch deadline, I was lost for ideas and new to Sydney. I was interviewing sex workers in town, when during my lunch break, I met   this beautiful woman - Karina. She was sitting by the sidewalk table in front of the Macquarie Pub in Surry Hills having a beer and a cigarette. I asked her for a cigarette and we got chatting, drinking and smoking. I was completely engaged by her beautiful stories. Karina had two major projects in life that she would like to complete before she dies. She wanted to finish her photo album to leave to her children and she wanted to auction her precious Walter Spies' artwork she had dearly kept for seventy years. I asked if we could continue our amazing conversation on the next day on camera. She agreed. It seemed that a cosmic energy brought us together. We both needed each other. She needed to tell her story and I wanted to help her to do that. On the floor of her little flat, Karina had a large number of photographs. They were half organised into dated envelopes. It was getting harder for her to finish this project of many years because her sight was deteriorating. We sat down on the floor, she picked up her magnifying glass and we went through numerous photos and endless fascinating stories. I was taken by her wise, free spirited and youthful soul. Quickly we bonded and had further sessions when we explored her connection to Walter Spies and the emotional value of the painting she was about to auction in a few weeks.

Finding the story

In the beginning I was a bit lost on how to frame so many stories in a 12 minute film, but the auction of the artwork seemed to be the appropriate way of structuring the story. It was an event that had a timeframe and would produce a result.   This meant that we would have to focus the story on the memories of Karina's relationship with Walter Spies. The last time she saw Walter was in 1932, when she was nine. This gap of over 70 years without stories that related to Walter made it a difficult story to tell. The solution we found was to allow her relationship with Walter in her childhood   to set the focus of the film to the important male figures in her life, Walter being the most positive and platonic example.   After she leaves Indonesia and   Walter behind at the age of 9, she moves to Australia with her family and we examine the two other important male figures of her life: Her father whilst she was growing up; and her husband during her adult life.   In 1976, her father dies and she leaves her husband. The film then goes back to the positive memories of Walter as she lets go of him by auctioning Walter's precious artwork that she kept for over 70 years.

Interesting fact

Throughout Walter's life, he collected a number of intimate long-term female friends who were devoted to him. Karina's mother Olive, her sister Leonora and herself were also part of this group of women.  

The interactive element

The 2004 documentary students were the first team of AFTRS students who were to explore the interactive possibilities in filmmaking. Although we didn't know what that meant,   we were encouraged to think of interactive ideas from the early stages, prior to shooting. So we intentionally shot extra footage that would give us something to work with later. Apart from Walter, her father and her husband, we collected many other fascinating stories, which did not make it into the 12 minute cut. The format options we were given were DVD or WEB. After some discussions on which medium would best suit our story, we decided for the DVD because it can handle higher quality and quantity of video and audio. In the interactive project we incorporated the idea of Karina's other life project: the "photo album" that she wanted to leave to her children. We decided that the photo album could become part of the story telling - and a great DVD menu interface. The audience can feel as if they were sitting by Karina's side listening to her stories and flicking through the album pages at the touch of a button on the remote control. The user can navigate through 12 short documentaries going through the 130 menus in a fluid way. The menus integrate with the short documentaries to compose "one" interactive story telling experience.