Interview with directors of Creative BC funded BC film featured at VIFF

The initial spark for Never Steady, Never Still, shot primarily in Fort St. James, B.C. and Fort St. John, B.C., grew out of Kathleen Hepburn’s desire to better understand her mother’s experience with Parkinson's disease, and the impact it has had on her family from an emotional standpoint. Dealing with her mother’s diagnosis at the age of nine years old, Kathleen chose to fictionalize the circumstances of the family portrayed in the film in order to gain the distance she needed from the subject.

When asked what this film says about the world we live in, Kathleen explained that to her,

[Never Steady, Never Still] “…shows how we manage to persist, and to treat each other with tenderness, through a world that can be quite harsh. I think that persistence is really beautiful and is part of what makes us human. I think it speaks about how afraid we can be to be open with the ones we love, because we're afraid that our pain will hurt them, and we want to protect them from that. I hope people will leave the theatre and go tell their parents that they love them.”

Kathleen hopes that her film will offer those who have experienced caring for a loved one, or those who have felt the impact of degenerative disease, some catharsis and help them to see that they are not alone in their struggle. Be sure to catch Kathleen’s film at VIFF and experience this emotional masterpiece for yourself.