Hirji's Life Story film

I am delighted to now be doing careful face to face filming and recording, but I know that commissioning a film, or an audio memoir for your family is a slightly unusual thing to do so, I thought it might be interesting to hear how it went from one family’s point of view, so, over to Nisha who asked me to film a legacy video, including childhood memories and family history for her dads 70th big birthday.

‘I was excited by the idea of having a permanent memory of my dad marking his monumental 70th birthday.

I spoke to my dad and brother and explained the concept, my dad was amazing and said although he did not quite get it, he was up for giving it a go if both my brother and I wanted him to do this. My brother also said yes...result...I was excited, I knew Alice would be amazing.

My dad had a telephone interview with Alice and she took it from there...

Post videoing my dad rang me to tell me he had a fantastic experience reliving his memories with Alice and that he was really happy, and was looking forward to seeing the video. He said she had asked him some hard questions that challenged him in parts of the interview...that's the thing about Alice, she's able to ask about stuff we would never have known to ask or dig into...

I got the edited video from Alice, I was blown away, I showed my dad the first 10 mins....we were both really pleased, he was amazed by the memories she had brought to life with pictures she had found.

On the day of his actual birthday, post his birthday lunch his video was aired, everyone enjoyed his video...and I could see from his expression that he was proud.

His four grandchildren got to understand what his life was like and gleaned new insight into his life and experiences. They talked to him about his life and asked more questions...My niece said she never knew her grandfather had experienced racism...for me, this was what it was all about.

The video is something that is now accessible to us all, I look forward to airing the video again at his 80th...god willing...and the generations to come will get insights into my dad.

As a parent, I am constantly trying to capture memories with the kids, but I realised how often I forget to capture the elders amongst us, hence I will cherish this video and the journey of the video and how special it made/makes my dad feel.

I have heard many who have lost their fathers say, my dad is my hero, the person who I look up too...It always made me wonder if I felt that way, or would feel that way...I have always loved my dad and have always been proud of him...I realised now my dad is my guiding light, he grounds me, he is cool, he's been there, done that and bought the t-shirt before me, and through this experience, I am able to take many of his life stories and relate to them.’

I had such fun making this film, if you would like to see more news and other stories, please sign up to my newsletter.

Alice