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Interview with out filmmakers Michelle Boyaner and Barbara Green

Michelle Boyaner and Barbara Green (the real life couple behind Greenie Films) have made a documentary that, at first glance, may seem like a hard sell. A Finished Life: The Goodbye & No Regrets Tour, introduces audiences to Gregg Gour, a 48-year old gay man with AIDS who is given six months to live, then decides to end his life on his own terms.

Gour, HIV-positive for 24 years, gives away his belongings, buys an RV, and travels across the United States with his dog to say goodbye to family and friends. He stops taking his medication, and he stops fighting death. Filmmakers Boyaner and Green accompany him and create a record of his journey, and the result is surprisingly life-affirming.

A Finished Life is a hit on the festival circuit, recently had a run on here! television, and this week was released on DVD by First Run Features. We caught up with the filmmakers to talk about their experience of making A Finished Life, the state of independent and LGBT cinema, and what’s next for Greenie Films.

AfterEllen.com: How did you come to meet Gregg Gour and decide to make a film about his life?

Michelle Boyaner: Barbara and I met Gregg through Barbara’s sister Joyce, who had worked with Gregg on The AIDS Ride. She had become close friends with him over the years and one day in January 2006, she called us to ask our opinion on a going away gift for her friend Gregg. She said he was going on his “Goodbye & No Regrets Tour” and she wanted to get him a license plate frame for the RV he had just bought.

She went on to explain that he had gone off of his AIDS medications and had recently been given six months to live. He was embarking on a tour to drive across the country to say goodbye to all his friends and family.

I was immediately overwhelmed at the thought and wondered many things: “Who is this guy? What do you mean he went off his meds? If he were my friend, I would be trying to talk him out of it!” I needed to meet him.

I asked Joyce if anyone was documenting his story. She gave us his number and by the next afternoon, we had met him, helped him pack some boxes, and agreed that we would begin to document his journey, not knowing for how long or what form it would take.

AE: Going on such a personal and emotional journey with someone must have been extremely challenging and interesting. How were you affected by the process of making the film?

MB: This was an incredibly emotional journey, spending so much time with someone at such an intensely personal time in their lives. Although struggling with Gregg’s decision, his friends and family welcomed us into their lives, too.

From behind the camera, Barbara has always talked about feeling somewhat protected from the emotion of what’s going on, knowing it’s her job to capture it visually. But as the writer or storyteller, I found myself constantly putting myself in the other peoples shoes, wondering what that must feel like; to be saying goodbye to Gregg for the last time, letting him go.

As we spent time with Gregg, we, too, became friends with him. You couldn’t help it, he was just that kind of person. There were many times when I found myself wanting to try and talk him out of it. I hoped he’d go back on his meds, change his mind, but eventually after hours and hours of watching his journey unfold, we understood why he made the decisions he did.

MB: In the end, we, too, had to say goodbye to him, and that was a very difficult and intense thing to do, although I realized that each goodbye was actually a gift to him. Letting him go was, in a sense, allowing him the transition he so deeply desired.

During the making of the film, I realized what a gift it was to be able to say goodbye. About a year after Gregg passed away, my younger sister, Danielle, died very suddenly. It was incredibly devastating. None of us had a chance to see her one last time or to say goodbye. What a gift that would have been.

BG: I realized how much easier this journey was for us, as filmmakers, than for his friends and family, in part because we seemed to have so much more access to Gregg during his final days than any of them. We were kept completely in the loop.

One moment that stands out was when I was having feelings of uneasiness and sadness about Gregg’s eminent decision to take his life. But I discovered that when I spoke with him, or when I was with him, I knew that this was the right decision.

AE: How was the film received by selection committees when you began submitting it, and then, by audiences when it began screening it at festivals?

MB: We knew that this might be a difficult film for festivals to program, due to the subject matter. But we also knew that we had made a film that was full of humanity and love and humor and acceptance. We were hoping that festival programmers would be able to see that, although it was difficult. It told an important story and contained themes that people could relate to because they would wonder: “What would I do? How would I say goodbye?”

BG: Many selection committees labeled this film an AIDS/HIV story, when this documentary is a universal, broad story about one man’s decision to take control of his life.

MB: The film had its premiere at [the] Frameline [film festival] in San Francisco, and we had no idea how it would be embraced. We were overwhelmed with a full theater and a very enthusiastic and thoughtful audience that were deeply moved. It went on to play many other festivals with amazing responses, winning audience awards, too.

BG: It was received with warm, open arms and standing ovations. It won Best Documentary from the Southwest Gay & Lesbian Film Festival in New Mexico.

MB: I want to take a moment to acknowledge the composer for A Finished Life, Meghan Toohey, who is an incredible musician, singer-songwriter, and producer. She has worked with Missy Higgins, Lenka, Rachel Cantu, The Weepies, and many other amazing artists and bands. We were thrilled to have her as our composer.

AE: Your documentaries seem to focus on people who are often marginalized in society: the homeless and those living with mental or terminal illness. What compels you both to tackle people and subjects that some filmmakers might shy away from?

MB: Our documentaries have definitely covered some tough subjects, and in a strange way, it seems that many of the stories find us. And when they do, we’re waiting with open arms, ready to try and tell them.

For example, our documentary, Tina Paulina: Living On Hope Street is about a homeless woman, who happened to be a lesbian, living on the streets of downtown Los Angeles. She wandered into Barbara’s [camera] frame, literally, while she was filming something else. Barbara spent 20 minutes talking with her and found Tina’s “always look on the bright side” attitude to be refreshing and surprising, considering her circumstances.

We wanted to take that footage and try and give people the chance to consider that the homeless person you pass on the street is somebody’s sister, daughter, mother, ex-lover. Getting a glimpse, trying to make sense of something; that is why we try and tell the stories. Looking for the answer, looking to give people a voice.

In 2003, another one of our films (a narrative short) came about during a time when I was looking to try and tell myself and others, “It’s going to be okay, just hold on. It gets better.” So to get that message across, I wrote the script for You’re Still Young.

It tells the story of a confused, depressed and hopeless 15-year old girl who meets the 35 year-old version of herself in a diner one day. I always thought it would be wonderful if we could somehow magically be assured that it does get better. I didn’t just get to write a happy ending, but a happier middle, too.

AE: What are you currently working on?

BM: We’re currently in post-production on a narrative short film called The Bedwetter. It’s set in 1975 and is an offbeat coming-of-age story about an almost 11-year-old tomboy dealing with bullies, bedwetting, and a new stepmother. We had a great time shooting this and have some amazing performances from the cast, as well as a 1970s-inspired score by the hugely talented Jane Ford. We’ll have this one ready for film festivals (and beyond) in 2010.

We have two other feature-length films we’re working on too. The first, What If? is a lesbian romantic comedy about getting what you want and wanting what you’ve got. It’s sweet, funny and sexy and nobody dies in the end.

The second, B & S, is a super top-secret-lesbian-country-western-themed-romantic-comedy that will knock your socks (and boots) off.

BG: I’m editing, editing, editing and shooting, shooting, shooting.

AE: Filmmaking has been transformed by the digital age, making it much easier to make indie films.  Has this emboldened you to take on projects you might not have attempted before the shift occurred?

MB: We’ve been fortunate enough to have been shooting and editing our own stuff all along. So the main shift for us has occurred in opportunities for distribution, which means a chance for more people see our films.

We sort of always took the approach of “I’m not sure how we’re going to pay for this, but let’s go tell this story” and then prayed, chanted, wished the finishing funds into existence. So for us, I guess the fact that more people will get to see our films now, makes me want to tell more stories, have more projects in the works simultaneously, and keep a constant flow of films getting out to the public.

BG: Sure. The ability to pick up a HDV video camera, film our documentary or narrative with the main cost being time and tape, and edit on our Mac, makes it a one-stop shop here.

AE: What do you think of the current state of LGBT film, documentary or otherwise? 

MB: I think it’s an amazing time to be making LGBT films. I’m excited by all the new ways for filmmakers to get their films out for people to see. I think this provides an even bigger opportunity for more storytellers to do just that tell their stories.

In addition to the cable networks and online sites that program gay & lesbian content, there are also scores of local LGBT film festivals worldwide. Audiences are eager to see their stories told. I think it’s our job to make sure that, in addition to the increased quantity of films, we present audiences with quality films.

BG: I think we need more LGBT films, documentary and narrative, and Michelle and I are right on the “More LGBT Films” bandwagon! We have so many stories to tell.

We’d like to think of ourselves as the “Thelma and Louise” of LGBT filmmaking, without the slow-motion, over-the-cliff ending.

For more information, go to the official website for the film. A Finished Life is available for purchase through First Run Features. (The film is also available on Netflix and iTunes.)

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