Dear Audrey
Doxa Film Festival 2022
This film highlights an important challenge that many face: caring for and supporting the love of their life as they slip away from Alzheimer’s disease.
How would I manage that monumental task? How would any of us face that challenge? We wouldn’t know until faced with it ourselves, however I can say that after watching Dear Audrey I’m not so sure that I could do half the job that Martin Duckworth did.
Martin is an acclaimed Canadian filmmaker and cinematographer. His wife Audrey Shirmer was also a photographer and filmmaker. This interesting career duo brings an added benefit as we are blessed to fully embrace their history through the photos and film that they themselves shot. Both were also activists through the time of the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War. Again, another added dimension of complexity and beauty woven into the framework of their growing life together.
There are numerous reasons to see this up close and personal account of Martin’s life, which he recounts in vivid detail. He bravely includes his many mistakes and regrets made throughout his life, often noting his own shame. I really admired this transparency as we all have had our not-so-pretty moments, but are we willing to share them on the big screen? That’s a tough one.
This love story will bring you joy, hope, tears and humility in a thoughtful and well-captured manner. A brilliantly made film by director Jeremiah Hayes, an artist whose work you must see.
