Why We Dream centers on ordinary people facing extraordinary responsibility. What moment in the film most clearly captured “doing your part” as a lived value, not a slogan?
The most moving example of this had to be when Betty, shortly after her husband died in combat, enlisted as a nurse. She was so lost in grief, the only thing that could save her was to help other people. I think this idea of solidarity, community and service as a lived experience can only be felt when you put your own needs aside and work in service of a greater good. I think for Betty, her service created a sense of being part of something bigger than herself, which enabled her to transcend personal trauma and hardship.
The film suggests that at some point, stories like these will shift from living memory to history. What was your approach to filming people who may be among the last living witnesses to the events of D-Day and how they shaped the world afterward?
It’s already happening. Since filming this, we’ve lost both Betty and Papa Jake. Their words, emotions and recollections are now part of a historical record, which is this film. Our approach was very simple. We wanted to sit down with them and really listen, sometimes for hours, not just about the war, but about their lives. They have earned a very specific, incredibly important perspective on the world, having lived from the Depression, through the rise and fall of fascism to now. It’s imperative to understand all they have seen so we can learn and grow as a society.
Memory can be both a comfort and a burden. How did you see that duality play out in the way the veterans of the film shared their personal stories with you as director?
It was really clear that they had all lived extraordinary lives. Extraordinary in the sense of truly having range; love, loss, fear, grief, joy. Each of the veterans we spoke to carried the experience of the war in different ways. They all saw and experienced a lot of terrible things. However, there was nuance even within the trauma of war. Wally, though he was taken as a POW, experienced joy and humanity in the unlikeliest of circumstances. Andy’s strongest memory is of the liberation of France and the gratitude of the people. All of these extraordinary moments leave a mark on us in the form of memory. The memories we choose to hold onto, both good and bad, shape us into the people we are.
What advice would you give to viewers, who have veterans in their lives, on how they can approach having a conversation about a service member's experience?
I had a somewhat unfair advantage with many of these veterans because so many of them had either written books or given interviews before, so I had a lot of knowledge and understanding of their lives before I met them. This allowed me to be really specific with the questions I had, which always yields a better conversation. And it truly should be a conversation, which means listening and following their lead, going deeper only when something feels like it’s under the surface, never digging for something buried. Vulnerability is about trust and that is only earned through patience, empathy and presence. For me, that was the most important thing to keep in mind during my time with these veterans.
