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Mother of Chooks co-director Jesse Leaman on the joy of making a film with his mum
Season 17, Ep. 5
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Every so often, you sit down to watch a film, and find that it unexpectedly fills a hole you didn't know you had in your life. You might not know you needed a charming, dose of positivity in that moment, but as the seconds tick over, you find yourself being swept along in a wave of joy that your day shifts and things that would usually bother you suddenly bounce off you, even if it's just for a day.
That's what I experienced when I watched Jesse Leaman's delightful short film, Mother of Chooks, a pure hearted documentary about Elaine James, a Geelong local who becomes connected with her local community thanks to her strong relationship with her flock of chickens. She's got frizzles, wyandottes, bantams, and a glorious Isa Brown named Flapper, and each morning she bundles up her feathered friends and heads out into the world. Elaine and her chooks chat together at a local cafe, or take to the beach for a spot of swimming. For the chooks that aren't partial to the waves, they go for a spin on the local playground.
It's all very sweet and delightful in a manner that skews away from twee and saccharine. See, Mother of Chooks leans into Elaine's relationship with her chooks, touching on the loss of family and canine friends in her life, and showing a woman on the brink of isolation. Instead of lingering in that solitude, Elaine turns to chickens for companionship. It's an early story about her path into poultry that shows what kind of light journey that Jesse Leaman and co-director Maite Martin Samos will take us down.
Oh, did I mention that Maite is Jesse's mother? That relationship, while off screen, informs their creative journey, with the two working together for the first time to craft a cinematic rarity: a genuinely uplifting experience which is not skewed or tinged with drama, sadness, or the almost expected tragedy that these kinds of stories feature.
In the following interview, Jesse talks about how making Mother of Chooks came about, and the difference of this film in comparison to his other, more dramatic work. Jesse also talks about the creative journey of filmmaking with his mum, and how he had to shift and change his directing style in the process.
Mother of Chooks is a pure delight of a film, and it makes its Canadian premiere at Hot Docs on Friday 25 April, with a follow up screening on 29 April. Mother of Chooks will also screen at the Doc Edge Festival in New Zealand-Aotearoa. Future festivals dates around the world are yet to be announced, but make sure to follow Jesse Leaman on Instagram for upcoming dates and details, or visit Jesse's website here.
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