While waiting to see a series of shorts entitled "Lost & Found," I spoke to the woman sitting in front of me. She was blonde, young, and had an English accent. When I discovered she was a filmmaker with a piece in this festival, I pulled out my tape recorder and began interviewing her.
Sparrow: Has your film been in any other film festivals?
Woman in front of me: Three weeks ago, it was in Colorado.
Sparrow: You went to that?
Woman in front of me: I went to that.
Sparrow: What a life you’re living!
Woman in front of me: I know! It’s not so good for the bank account, but, uh… That was in Boulder, Colorado, and it’s a new festival.
Sparrow: What festival was that?
Woman in front of me: It’s called Lad Matters. Then it’s been in the Cambridge Festival, in England. And it’s going to be in Bristol Brief Encounters, Cornwall — and hopefully there’ll be more.
Sparrow: What’s your name?
Jane: Jane Gull, as in the seagull. You have seagulls here?
Sparrow: Yes, I’ve seen them as far north as Boiceville — that’s about 8 miles west of here. Pretty far from the sea!
Jane: And you know the famous Gull? That’s who I’m actually related to. It’s nothing to be proud of.
Sparrow: Who?
Jane: It’s Sir William Gull, who was one of the Queen’s doctors. He was a Jack the Ripper suspect.
Sparrow: What is he to you?
Jane: He was my great-great-great-uncle.
Sparrow: So what’s the family legend? Did he do it?
Jane: I don’t think so. But in the Johnny Depp film, they had him down as the culprit.
Sparrow: Yeah?
Jane: Yeah.
Sparrow: Hell?
Jane: Yeah. From Hell.
Sparrow: What was he? He was the Queen’s…
Jane: Physician.
Sparrow: Right, because obviously Jack the Ripper knew of lot about… disembowelment.
Jane: Yeah, he was very quick, wasn’t he?
Sparrow: Yes, he was expert.
Jane: Yeah. It’s not really a very good claim to fame, is it?
Sparrow: So what’s your film?
Jane: It’s called Sunny Boy. It’s about a boy with a rare skin condition who is allergic to the sun.
Sparrow: It’s a feature?
Jane: It’s a short. We want to make it into a feature film.
Sparrow: So that’s your secret plan!
Jane: That’s the plan!
www.janegull.com/