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Eighty Eight


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In today's society older people are marginalized to an alarming extent. If people actually took the time to talk to the senior citizens in their families and communities, to really talk to them about their childhoods, their lives, their opinions on the world, I think people would see how similar they are to us. They are just like us, only older....and usually wiser.
This film is a day in the life of my grandfather, Anthony Lisinichia, 88 years old. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to make this film with him. We had a great time doing it and I learned so many things about him that I never knew before. The project brought us so much closer as well, working together on this film created a new dynamic between us. Now we are not just grandfather and granddaughter, we are friends.

39 responses // Eighty Eight

  • Thanks for reminding us of this often forgoten window into our communities. He also reminds me of the returning cycle of life/politics/etc. and that maybe we can learn this time around. Simple. Thoughtful. Very well done!
    David64
  • nice piece, well thought out. thanks for this!
  • This is soooo CUTE!!!! GL
  • Loved the pool scenes!
    stew
  • I am glad to here this was a good oppurtunity to bring you two together. I thought it was nice piece good information and subtle social commentary. He had a good sense of humor and I got a kick out of the pool scene and the grocery store. Nice work.

    Talbott

    if you get a chance look at my promo "current creation" its short
  • Its not big issue in our society. in every home we can see old people living with their families enjoying life fully, with kids, reading. I really liked the idea and greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen light from me..
  • These personal stories you have been working on are great. It's always interesting to take a peek into someones life and get to know so much about them in under 5 minutes.

    Keep up the great work.
  • This makes me remember my grandfather, very good content.GL!
  • whoa.... my greenlight just made this pod jump by like almost 30 points...anyway Tara this is as good as I expected. I am so glad you explored an older man's life (your grandfather), it is very important for us young people to experience this. Our culture does not really care about elders, and I say this in comparison my birthplace Peru, where elders live with their children until death. Current I feel sometimes neglects elders too. I've been reminded by some that its for "18 - 34" year olds while trying to plan another pod. I totally agree that this cool little story be aired.. Accolades.
    migsono
  • I liked it alot....sweet....perhaps you could take alook at my video ...they are in the same vain...

    Great job!
    dctags21
  • Thank you for sharing your voice and dedication of true human determination. I was inspired and was washed in the emotion of gratitude for family. Thank you for taking the time and effort to bring this beautiful story to the screen. I'll give this a GL and hope that you continue to tell the story. Peace~
  • great story. moving. well done. GL! eleni
    eleni
  • Very nicely done, GL.

    I'm glad you resisted the temptation to add cheesy music (any music would have been cheesy) during the graveyard scenes and the photo montage - I felt it gave the pod a sense of genuineness.

    -j
  • Youth is waisted on the young. Thanks for sharing that story. I am going to call my grandma right after this.
  • This is by far my favorite pod. Such a simple and intimate portrait...a perfect example of how sometimes less is more.
  • Thankyou for this video. I work in a hospital, and sometimes the older people leaving this world gets to us all. Your pod reminds me that up until I see them, they are living full, happy lives. The graveyard scene was poignant without being overly sentimental. Very good.
  • I am 47 years old and one of the most interesting people I know is 88. I think that many people are afraid of very old people because they are reminded of their own mortality. Stop and think the next time you have a negative thought about the elderly--you may be there someday. This is a great video. The part that stands out the most is the comment at the end. "I did what I wanted to do."
  • When I was in high school I used to party all the time, had long hair and was the type of guy that old people would keep their distance from.

    At that time, my 80 grandmother and I were best friends.
    I would go to her house and flop down on her couch just like I was at home.

    We would talk about everything.

    She was hip to everything that was going on in the world.
    She liked to watch Lawerence Welk on some public access channel but she also loved the Simpsons.
    I used to make fun of her for still canning tomatoes for the winter.
    She would respond by saying that it took me longer to do my hair that it does for her to walk upstairs and she was 80 years old.
    She thought Motley Crue look like a bunch of "fairy boys" (her words) but said they had a funky beat. (again, her words. She used to snap her fingers when she said funky beat.)

    I am proud now as I was proud then to call my grandmother one of my closest friend.



    ilsavya
  • This story really made me miss my grandfather.

    It is today's "elderly" that bridge the last gap from my generation to an old world without computers and cell phones- a world where one's handshake and good word would suffice, where wisdom and honor still existed. Unfortunately, when our grandfathers and grandmothers are gone, the memories of the old world will go with them. I am saddened by this- and it bothers me.

    You did an excellent job. GL!

    Plug: Checkout my pod "The Son," though a much darker subject matter, it also deals with the struggles and experiences, and memories, one has in their life.
  • I really enjoyed this piece. It didn't hit me particularly hard. What it was, was real, and moving.

    In some cultures, the elderly are revered for their knowledge and wisdom. So sad we can't get there.

    GL from me.

    Please click on my head and check out my latest pod "small town climate change".
    Thanks.
    asm
  • YEAH! Old people rock. Tara's really got an eye for those stories that most of us miss, and it's a blessing. Her storytelling really makes me realize how many stories are floating out there, just waiting to be found.
  • One of my biggest fears is getting old and disappearing to the world. Subconsciously, I think I took this long to see this pod because of the pic and title.

    In the mall where I work, there's an elderly woman who hangs out at the food court and everyday, she finds a table with a large amount of people, perhaps a team of construction workers, and tells them a long drawn out joke that happens to get a big laugh out of everyone at the end. When she's done she walks away and looks for another table she can tell her jokes to. No one, however, ever asks her to sit down.

    I think I'll ask her to the next time she comes around, though I know it'll open a can of worms most of us try to avoid with the elderly. Conversations about the time before cars and tv. Great piece. GL.
    Neghie
  • I really liked this one because it was informative. Some bits inside the Y are a bit dark and mucky, the story is fantastic though.
    maude
  • I used to fear getting old, until I started taking care of my mother-in-law who is also 88. I now know two things for sure: 1. The hardest part about getting old is that your mind is as it always was, but your body does not co operate, so you have to fight hard to keep moving, and 2. Death is looking you daily in the face because almost everyone you have known in your life, is gone, so you have to introduce younger people into your life. This piece showed the daily face of aging, and makes us think. I enjoyed this piece very much.
    Glimmer
  • i liked how different and how different the world seems to be when you are viewing it from some one else point of view .That is so endearing that it inpires me to think not what i want to see but its how can i tell a story that is endearing and real .
    ladcity
  • Hola

    Nice piece.

    I agree that documentaries truly bring you closer and form a tighter bond with your subjects. I have a few close friends from the docs that I've produced or worked on friends that I would have never even considered meeting.

    For help pormoting your films @ Sundance watch:

    link
    MARQ
  • Tony is my new Dawg.. I really dig his style. Great pod!
    shuffdad
  • Love the subject matter.
    Interesting character.

    It makes me think about what really is important in this life and what we, as a nation, value as important and how things have changed so much, especially for Tony.

    QUESTION:
    What's important to you?

    It keeps echoing in my head.

    Good short.

    Keep on shootin'
    JAC
  • Really like this. My daughter told me to take a look. She's producing a doc about women over 80. You should see if she needs other producers. Her pod "One Face of War" is about one of the women's husband. link And her other piece is in 2nd place -- can you tell I'm proud?

    Good luck with your story.
    joeiaaz
  • This is wonderful. I watched News Girl too. I absolutely love your style...choosing regular people in their environment and showing us that we pass people day after day with interesting stories to tell. Nice work.
    maracamp
  • Nice and sweet Pod. GL
    mamina
  • I gave this a GL because I think seniors are just another minority underrepresented in the media. They're not sexy, they're not quick, they're not hip anymore, so we let them fade away... Good for you to go against the mainstream!
    I did a similar project with my (German) grandma, three months before she died, just in time. I would have been forever sorry not to have her on tape.
    But I am forever sorry that I didn't talk to my grandparents more, period. Now I miss them so much.
    Thanks for your piece!
  • Great work. It is great that you got to make this. I really like the nat sound ending but missed it after the cemetary. Great documentation and narration.
    -tom

  • Thank you to everyone who has commented on and supported "Eighty Eight". I learned a lot from making this video, and this has continued even more so after the film was completed. The subject of older people's lives has been on my mind, and I have noticed many things because of it. I have met so many interesting, healthy and dynamic people lately who are over 90. They are everywhere it seems. Who knew! Alot of the women swimming in the pool in “eighty eight” were in their 90s, and just yesterday I had a conversation with a beautiful fully active 93 year old on a cross town bus. And what I've learned is this. Getting old doesn't have to be something to be afraid of. If you take care of yourself now, so that you can have your health for the longest period of time possible, then the last decades of your life can be really great. I was listening to NPR yesterday and they were interviewing an author who has just released a book about aging, and he had interviewed dozens of people in their 80s and 90s (a lot of whom were still working, female research scientists among others) and he came to this conclusion: the life you life before you are a senior, has a lot to do with the life you live when you are a senior. So make sure you are doing what you love to do, so that you can continue to do it when you are 70, 80, 90. That to me is the secret - to always be apart of the world, to have your say, to be involved. It makes me think of Georgia O'Keefe, making her best art in her 70s and 80s, living in New Mexico on her own. It's inspiring to me, seeing older people living well. It makes me imagine myself as a little 90 year old woman on a cross-town bus, still making films, continuing to discover people whose story I want to tell, continuing to have a dialogue with the world around me and expressing myself. And that image makes me feel really good. Getting older can be a blessing.
  • Congrats This piece is a must!
  • your gramps is 88 and looking great! for sure..thank you for doing this piece. in other cultures, the elderly people are really well-respected and admired for their wisdom and knowledge, and experience. their advice, and council and opinion is cherished and thought of. may your piece shine light on this subject for the betterment of todays youth. congrazzione ragazza:)
  • your gramps is 88 and looking great! for sure..thank you for doing this piece. in other cultures, the elderly people are really well-respected and admired for their wisdom and knowledge, and experience. their advice, and council and opinion is cherished and thought of. may your piece shine light on this subject for the betterment of todays youth in our culture...because some of the coolest people i know are elderly, and they have all my attention. congrazzione ragazza:)
  • What an important subject to touch on! great job!

    please check out my pod,
    "Why Choose Corn?" Let me know what you think...
  • I can't wait till I'm eighty eight!

    I found this pod very inspirational. Because the number of people 65 or older is increasing in the U.S. and other countries remembering that they are still part of our society is very important. I am in the process of creating a friendship with my grandmother as well. It has been so surprisingly awesome, I realize that we connect on a different level. We have something that I will never be able to have with anyone else.