THE WAY STF GETS BY

  • by Raphaela Neihausen, April 29, 2009

image Winner of the audience award at Full Frame and a special jury prize at SXSW, THE WAY WE GET BY had its first New York sneak preview at Stranger Than Fiction last night and won over yet another sold out crowd. This moving film tells the story of an airport in Bangor, Maine where senior citizens volunteer and greet soldiers that are flying to or returning from war.  A strength of the documentary is that it steers clear of political trappings and instead focuses on the importance of supporting soldiers as fellow Americans who are serving their country.  The film also succeeds in shedding light on the many obstacles facing the elderly, demonstrating how volunteering at an airport provides them with a vital sense of purpose and community.  Director Aron Gaudet and producer Gita Pullapilly (photo) joined us for a Q&A in which they shared many entertaining anecdotes about the film’s protagonists. My favorite is that at the Cleveland Film Festival, audiences were so moved by the film that they showed up at the airport to send off film subject Jerry. Now that’s the power of a documentary!

The evening was copresented by the Camden International Film Festival (a wonderful Maine event now in its fifth year) and the highly esteemed PBS strand POV (that will broadcast THE WAY WE GET BY this coming fall). 

image Camden International Film Festival founder Ben Fowlie and fellow programmer Leah Hurley generously treated the crowds at 99 Below to a round of drinks and then hosted the after-after party at Santos. 
image Director Aron Gaudet poses alongside IFC Center’s inimitable whiteboard with POV’s Vice President Cynthia Lopez and Executive Director Simon Kilmurry.
image Enjoying a drink at the after-party, blogger Pamela Cohn of Still In Motion and Erkko Lyytinen - the Artistic Director of DocPoint (Helsinki Documentary Festival) visiting from Finland.
image STF host Thom Powers with the curator of the Hanoi Cinemateque, visiting from Vietnam, Gerry Herman.
image Gita Pullapilly with her filmmaker friend Nara Garber.
image POV’s Simon Kilmurry joined by musician Zack Martin who not only did the score for THE WAY WE GET BY, but also played live for the STF audience before last night’s screening.

 

image Filmmaker Robin Hessman (who also programs the American Film Festival of Moscow) and filmmaker Danielle Beverly.
image Journalist Vera Brozzoni and filmmaker Emma Franz.
image from THE WAY WE GET BY Related Film/Screening:
THE WAY WE GET BY by Aron Gaudet

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