“Lights, camera, action!” For Wesley Taylor Narrabeen residents, these words echoed through the halls of their aged care facility when it was turned into a film studio on 7 June. For this joint initiative between Wesley Residential Care and Collaroy Plateau Public School, students from the primary school interviewed residents on camera.
The interviews not only gave Wesley Taylor Narrabeen residents a ‘Hollywood-esque experience’ but a lasting tribute to their incredible lives. The interviews were combined to create one film titled Tell Your Story.
“I barely slept, and then I couldn’t decide what to wear,” said a resident while waiting in the green room. “Hopefully they can fix me up in hair and makeup,” she joked with the production crew.
A unique dynamic formed between the lived experience of residents and the enthusiastic innocence of students who asked a variety of questions from discovering the residents’ life journeys to eliciting advice for living well.
A Hollywood-style red carpet premier was held on 3 July at a cinema in Warriewood. Residents were escorted down the red carpet by their interviewers and paused in front of the media wall to allow the awaiting paparazzi to snap a few shots before settling into the cinema.
Many laughs and even a few tears were shed by the assembled family, friends, Wesley Mission staff, students, parents and teachers.
A second filming day was held on 1 July at Wesley Tebbutt Dundas in partnership with Pacific Hills Christian School. To watch Tell Your Story, visit youtube.com/WesleyMissionSydney.