Borrowed Time: Thoughts on Authorship and the Ethics of Appropriation | Estates

Research & Project

My research publication expands on some of the ethical and interpersonal issues I’ve had while writing the script for my final project. Of particular focus has been the transition from facilitator to author and how you reconcile your own subjectivity to what you’re writing about (particularly if you have no first-hand experience of it). I work collaboratively, to try to achieve a sort of democratic mandate for more contentious ideas, but sometimes find my own creative needs compromised. 

In my research/journal film How To Be Alone I use a family archive to explore my own subjectivity as the author of fictional stories grounded in a familiar, authentic reality. By inviting the spectator into these dilemmas, and then challenging the status of that relationship, and the material itself, I hope to raise questions about subjectivity and ownership. The material also acts as a form of confession, through which I seek permission to write freely, without so many moral burdens or constraints.

Credits
Director: Alex Perry
Cast: Alex Perry, Luise Krizek, Samuel Perry, Maya Perry, Ivor Perry, Helen Bowen, Lee Jackson

My final project, Estates, (work in progress) is a short fictional drama about two women whose lives collide, and in this moment of crisis find solace and support. It began as an exercise in fiction writing, with the script providing a vessel for a lot of my research themes, but over time the film has changed quite a lot, narrowing in focus. It remains at its core a story of loss, love and forgiveness.

Credits
Writer / Director: Alex Perry
Cinematography: Daniel Donato
Sound: Sergio Gonzáles Cuervo
Editor: To be confirmed

Jaar

2017