For Dave Marshall, having his documentary Beginning With The End–which he directed, shot and produced–turn out to be one of just eight selected from 892 entries to compete at next month’s South By Southwest Film Festival (3/7-15) in Austin, Texas, is a high honor indeed. “I’ve had my share of being on the other side of the math, so I’m obviously thrilled to have my work chosen,” said Marshall whose filmography includes Songs of Freedom, which was broadcast on PBS and went on to win New York Emmy Awards for Best Children’s Programming and Best Director; and Criminal Injustice: Death and Politics at Attica, which is currently in national distribution through PBS and is up for three NY Emmys, including in the Directing and Producing categories.
Yet while making the grade at SXSW is personally and professional gratifying, it still pales by comparison to the fulfillment Marshall got from being able to tell and share the story of Beginning With The End, which he feels carries life-affirming messages on several levels. The documentary follows teacher Bob Kane of The Harley School in Rochester, and a select group of teenagers who have enrolled in his Hospice Class which helps them learn about and experience providing comfort care for the dying and their families. Kane tells his students, “You will be in front of people whose lives are disappearing before your very eyes–and they know it.” But at the same time, the teacher assured that those providing hospice care will find the experience “emotionally meaningful.”
One teen later reflects on what the class meant to her and in doing so captures the essence of the film. She observed that it “is scary when you fall in love with the person and then they die. But it was worth it to fall in love with all these people.”
Marshall noted that among the lessons he learned from the film is that “empathy is in our DNA,” an observation born out of the fact that “no matter how the students stratify themselves in high school–the Ins, the Outs, the jocks, the intellectuals, the nerds, the wallflowers–how they were in the comfort care homes was never defined by those same strictures. I have come to believe that if the right circumstances are presented, it is innate to us to be compassionate.”
Going in, Marshall thought that some students would invariably drop out of the class, finding the emotional demands too daunting. Instead, every student succeeded. “A lot of the students said midway through the class that this is where they came to decompress from real tension,” said Marshall. “That what they were doing was not a chore, wasn’t frightening but rather rejuvenating to them.”
Beyond going to homes to help those facing death, some students even took a trip to Belize to help those without access to any form of hospice care.
Marshall said that the students’ experiences also confirmed that there is no substitute for human contact. “Many think we’re having relationships by connecting online via Facebook or Twitter or messaging–and I’m not putting that down. They are of value. But when we have human contact, touch and in-person conversation, that represents a special and unique place in human existence that cannot be replaced. The students learn to stop and take a moment to connect, to be very present because for the person in a hospice these are their last moments. Your time with them, your presence in their lives, is quite valuable. If you stop, sit and listen, you will hear things that mean something. You learn not to take your relationships for granted–to tell someone you care, that you love them.”
Marshall also shared teacher Kane’s observations, an overriding one being that after doing this class for 12 years, “none of the patients’ conversations are about the cars they drove or the size house they had or career achievements.” Marshall said that Kane told him, “Almost always the conversation was about who I loved and who loved me, what a great adventure their marriage was, what my kids are like, what my dog was like. It all centered on the fact that they loved and that they were loved. It brings home the message to all of us, ‘What do you want to spend time on each day?’ At the end of life, what matters most are the people who have been in your life and what they mean to you.”
Beginning With The End sheds a whole new light on the adage, “Once a man, twice a child.” Marshall observed, “The birth of a being is a beautiful thing. The wonder and joy of birth, of taking care of a newborn is felt by so many. What’s not as universally embraced, though, is that the end of life is similar. Like a baby, people become fragile. They are scared sometimes. They want or need to be taken care of–and to provide that care at the end of life can be a beautiful thing. The students in this class helped the most vulnerable people move on with an assurance and kindness infrequently asked or expected of today’s teens. It proves that when young people are nurtured, trusted and engaged, they can do great things. If you have every wondered how wisdom moves from one generation to another, I can say one way is by caring for someone who has nothing to offer in return but gratitude and a whispered part of their story.”
Marathon
A documentary is analogous “to a marathon as compared to a sprint,” said Marshall who took two-and-a-half years to make Beginning With The End. “It took a while to get Bob the teacher to agree that a camera in his classroom wouldn’t be an enormous problem. He was apprehensive that a camera could interfere with young kids connecting with their feelings about death. The same concerns came for residents and their families in their homes. We initially went in with cameras but didn’t film. We were just present, letting them get used to me. They saw I was a friendly, decent guy and eventually I became like wallpaper. Everyone softened to the idea of us filming them.”
Marshall has known Kane for 25-plus years, dating back to when the latter headed up a production company and hired Marshall, then a student who was finishing school and breaking into the industry. Marshall recalled that he got a chance to work in China but wasn’t sure if he wanted to make such a major move. Kane thought it would be healthy for the young man to move out of his comfort zone so he fired Marshall, forcing him to take advantage of the overseas opportunity. “He did me a favor but I didn’t fully realize it at the time,” said Marshall.
Some seven years ago, Kane told Marshall about his Hospice Class, which eventually led to Beginning With The End.
Marshall related that his lone major experience dealing with death–prior to the making of this film–was the emergence of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. “Back then, I got to know many young men who died alone, with nobody holding their hand or even being present in the room. As a gay man during that time, I remember how terrifying things were, what it was like to lose an enormous number of friends. Many people passed away in hospital hallways. I remember there was a group of women running a hospice in Rochester and they provided care to AIDS patients. They took good care of these young men. And in a way, I saw this film as a way to acknowledge those who provide hospice care–to thank them and give people who might not know about hospices a sense of how profoundly good these caregivers are. I often wonder if some of my need to do this film might come from my inability to help back in the 1980s. At that time, like so many others, I was afraid of death, too afraid of the idea of mortality. Bob’s class was a catalyst for change in me.”
Spots, branded content
An accomplished documentarian, Marshall recently started a new chapter in his commercialmaking career which over the years included his directing and shooting spots and branded content at Post Central in Rochester. But towards the end of 2013, Post Central was acquired by ad agency Partners + Napier, which maintains offices in Rochester, NYC and San Francisco. The deal expanded Partners + Napier’s core offerings to include a full suite of content creation, production, VFX and post talent and resources, supporting the launch of a division called Content Central, designed to address clients’ diverse content marketing needs. (Partners + Napier is part of Project: WorldWide, a global, independent network of complementary agencies.)
Marshall’s storytelling and documentary-making acumen translate well into what Partners + Napier is trying to do with Content Central–creating people-based, story-driven content that helps brands connect with audiences.
Marshall serves as the resident filmmaker at Content Central while continuing to maintain his longstanding Blue Sky Project, a not-for-profit conceived to create and distribute documentary films focused on under-reported social issues that shape an open and enlightened society. Blue Sky Project is home to all of Marshall’s documentary endeavors, including Beginning With The End which has SXSW screenings scheduled on March 10, 11 and 15.
Here's a preview trailer with excerpts from Beginning With The End.
