‘In Paradisum’ 2017
Amongst the other things that people do in their lives when they’re not watching movies, which is working, I completed (a project on Tuesday of) a film I’ve directed, called ‘In Paradisum‘. It’s a 13-minute film presenting a performance by the Sydney Youth Orchestra of George Palmer’s work, written in memory of Timothy O’Brien, a young man who died at an age when most people are starting the second part of their life – adulthood. On Tuesday, the composer and I watched the two versions of the film I have made. One for the family, in memory of their son, with personal photographs interspersed; the other a complete audio-visual recording of just the performance by the orchestra. For George, the composer, and me, the director, it was a very emotional experience, as we listened to and watched the performance of a bunch of insanely talented kids, playing a piece of music which celebrates everything he was and is, now, in Paradise.
It’s been an extraordinary journey for me and one where my focus has always been that the only really important thing about making this the best film possible, is because it actually attests to the wonder of this boy’s life, and the love everyone around him had for him, ‘In Paradisum‘.
