Let's say good morning to filmmaker Reed Davenport.
He has a showing of his movie at three three showings
at the Milwaukee Film Festival currently going on
at the Oriental and Downers theatres
in downtown Milwaukee through May 8th.
And Reed, hey, thanks for coming on board with us today.
Appreciate it.
It was you're a you're a filmmaker.
That's pretty good.
Yeah, so you don't want for this.
Yeah, okay, so you made a movie called Life After.
And this has to do with somebody who wants the right to die.
Why don't you give us a little background on this?
Yes, but typically we're looking at people who want to die,
who could have a terminal partner, so that's usually the
our disabled people and we investigate this
case that happened in the 19th and kind of four year
of eligible for the right to die.
No, no, no story.
We look at more contemporary stories related to
relevant program.
You know, I mentioned before when we were talking
probably went on the air.
How close was this to the days of Jack
Cavorkian who would take people who wanted to commit suicide?
Now he wouldn't do it, but he would witness it and show them
how to do it.
And a lot of people didn't that way.
I'm what where does Jack Cavorkian fit into all this
before or after your film?
Yeah, it was actually, as I would always
hear if it Cavorkian action is good to recover.
There is this difference between
passive and active here today.
It's a good move here.
Pretty much it's about every moment.
I'm not sure if it's okay.
All right, I'll make sure that the guys
want to save it too.
Okay, now how did you get funding for this film?
And two questions first of all, how did you get funding for it?
And what brought you to this topic of somebody wanting to take
their life?
Yeah, funding is very tricky.
Fortunately, a lot of green producers
are calling Cavorkian who have to be
to the point that this is mostly
still green.
And it is a reasonable point
to this topic.
I was reading an anthology
about disability status
and I came across the red,
as I quickly read out
that there was no trade over life
after she was in the spotlight.
And I kind of saw contemporary stories
that echoed the questions
she posed.
So then I really started to invest in it.
Documentaries are extremely important.
I found something last night.
I'm sitting just before I went to bed
and I read this story.
It happened on Christmas Eve 1971,
a 17-year-old girl named Julian Kopecki
was sucked out of an airplane
after it was struck by lightning
while flying over the Peruvian rainforest.
Now get this, she fell more than two miles
to the ground, still strapped in her seat
and lived to tell the story.
She had to endure an 11-day trek
through the Amazon jungle
before being rescued by loggers.
Ultimately, she was the sole survivor
of the crashed at the lives of 91 people
including her mother.
Now there was a documentary made by this
by Werner Herzog,
who made it some really fascinating documentaries.
It's called Wings of Hope.
And this is some fascinating story.
Imagine falling two miles out of an airplane
to the ground that strapped in your seat.
And then you have to trek 11 days
through the Amazon to survive.
That's a story to tell, huh?
Indeed, it tends to quote the story.
Now he also did another documentary
called Grizzly Man.
And I love documentaries because
if they're told in an entertaining style,
you'll learn and you have a good time
watching these documentaries.
And where did you get the film footage
for your documentary?
Well, we shot an iceberg
because of contemporary stories that we found
and they always do a lot of archival
footage.
Yeah, because that's that's now
where do you get the archival footage?
Do you have to go just online?
Do you go to YouTube?
Do you have to go to a special library to get it?
Do you want to be a millionaire
for a show?
So pretty much all of you bounce.
Yeah, okay.
Let me talk about now the film festival itself
runs through May 8th.
And there's a plethora of different types
of movies being shown.
And there are two theaters downtown
on the east side actually of Milwaukee,
the historic Oriental Theater, which was built back.
I think during the Depression, they built this move, this theater.
And it's just it's like stepping back in time.
What a movie palace.
So and the downer as well, which I think is
older than the Oriental Theater.
So it's an honor to have your film being debuted there.
Now, is this the first film you made?
Is this the debut movie for you?
No, I've been about half a dozen short films
as one of the features.
This is my second feature film.
So what's your hope after the film festival for life after?
Well, I mean, what I know is that we will have a broadcast in the fall.
And my hope is basically to get this film in front of
a great people responsible to come to keep this
I think an idea of resistance here.
Now, it's got to be a right.
I can't imagine the experience of sitting in a theater
with an audience watching your labor of love
on a big screen with everybody watching.
It's got to be something.
It's really good to have
what you work on come into fruition
and then people watch it.
Now, this is the feature film.
It's an hour and 40 minutes long,
which is the perfect time for a movie hour and 40 minutes.
They say that 100 minutes is perfect.
If you go a little bit above that,
people start to get restless a little bit below.
People think they didn't get their money's worth 100 minutes.
It's just perfect.
And it's life after.
In 1983, a disabled woman named Elizabeth Bouvier.
Am I saying they're right? Bouvier?
Bouvier.
Bouvier.
Saw the right to die kicking off a national debate
about autonomy, dignity, and the value of disabled lives.
At the years of trials, she mysteriously fell
from the public consciousness prompting you.
Read Davenport to wonder if she could ever,
if she ever have disappeared from the headlines so swiftly.
Life after investigates the happening
of her and her stories disturbing relevance to today.
This is a story that a lot of people can relate to.
And it's sad that people want to end their lives.
It's a sad thing.
It's a sad commentary.
But a lot of people do.
Let me run over the times that people can see this
at the Milwaukee Film Festival.
Now it's tomorrow, Tuesday at 4.30 in the afternoon
at the Downer Theater.
Then a week from tomorrow, May 6th, 4.30 PM
at the Oriental Theater.
And then Wednesday, May 7th.
The next night, it gets its evening premiere
at the Oriental Theater.
So Tuesday, tomorrow, 4.30 at the Downer,
a week from Tuesday, May 6th, 4.30 at the Oriental.
And Wednesday, May 7th, 7 PM at the Oriental Theater.
This is great.
This is great when you actually make a movie
and you see it on the big screen.
For all the ticket information for the Milwaukee Film Festival,
go to mkefilm.org.
M-K-E-Film.org.
M-K-E-Film.org.
Ticket prices, how to get your tickets,
how to see the films, the complete schedule of showings.
They're there.
Hey, Reed, it's an honor to talk to a filmmaker.
It really is.
The Lord has been out here to be here.
Thank you, Todd.
Thank you, Reed.
Good luck with your showings at the Milwaukee Film Festival.
And let us know when you make another movie.
We want to talk about that.
Do you have any ideas for your next film?
Oh, yes, dude.
I'm not sure they're ready to share it.
You're waiting for Tom Cruise to sign the contract, right?
Before you get it.
Oh, I tell you, Reed, you work here for good.
Yeah, Tom Cruise and Ben Affleck,
we're waiting for them to ink the deal
then we can talk about it.
Hey, Reed, have a good time watching your films.
I know the audience is going to love it.
It's a very interesting topic.
It's people that topic people can relate to,
the right to die.
And good luck with your career.
And give us a call when you make a next movie too.
OK?
Thank you, sir.
Good job.
Thank you, Reed.
It's Reed Davenport at the Milwaukee Film Festival,
life after and at the abuse tomorrow afternoon,
after downer than two showing to the Oriental Theater.