Thames & Hudson presents: Two Strangers Trying Not To Kill Each Other + Q&A with Joel Meyerowitz, Maggie Barrett and the Filmmakers Jacob Perlmutter and Manon Ouimet
Life, death and making meaning are the heart of a beautiful and often very funny film about Maggie Barrett and Joel Meyerowitz, an ageing artist couple who, after an accident, face the inevitability of impermanence and seek a deep peace in their relationship while they still can.
When artist Maggie Barrett (75) breaks her femur, her husband Joel Meyerowitz (84), a world- famous photographer, becomes her caregiver. In the shadow of mortality, each with a long and dramatic life behind them, the hard truths of life together provoke in Maggie and Joel an attempt to find a shared inner-peace while there is still time.
Ticket Price: £10
Please note, talk tickets are available for purchase and require a valid Photo London Day Ticket or Weekend Pass for the corresponding day.
Directors’ Statement
Jacob Perlmutter & Manon Ouimet
Our intention with this documentary was to explore universal themes of love and mortality at both the individual and relationship levels. We’re invited to intimately understand how two very different people can come together as a couple and weather the spectrum of the beauty and the difficulties of a relationship over decades of dedication. The film explores how to honour the self as an individual while supporting the other through lifelong searches, struggles, successes and traumas.
As one artist couple making a film about another artist couple, we discovered that we shared similar values. Although separated by many decades of life experience and artistic output and practice, we found deep trust and commonality and agreed that the purest way to let the process unfold would be for us to live with Maggie and Joel during filming. Following deep discussions around trust, intimate subjects and situations, we entered an agreement to “just see” where the year would carry them – and the film.
The impact of the unexpected events and complexity of their lives unfolded and began to illuminate the depths of Maggie and Joel’s relationship, prompting a series of intense situations as the year of filming progressed. Meanwhile, our own family dynamic was set to change, with a baby due just as we would wrap filming. This additional life, as it grew, underlined the urgency and beauty of the poignance of mortality.
With the female-male maker/ subject symmetry, we hope that the film provides conversations around gender balance of any and all configurations. Maggie and Joel also belong to an older demographic often marginalised by society and seldom represented in film. Our documentary lends an unfiltered voice to this group through its central protagonists and we hope will prompt conversations for people of all ages with its relatable themes both about age and in defiance of it.
While the film explores the fascinating lives of Maggie and Joel, it is also an opportunity for us to self-reflect, meditating on what loving relationships are and how they can be maintained.