Geographies of Solitude with Jacquelyn Mills

Docs in Orbit

Geographies of Solitude with Jacquelyn Mills moderated by Sean Van Wert in Toronto.

Featuring a conversation with Jacquelyn Mills about her most recent film GEOGRAPHIES OF SOLITUDE.

In GEOGRAPHIES OF SOLITUDE, Mills offers us an immersion into the rich ecosystem of Sable Island and the life of Zoe Lucas, an environmentalist who has lived over 40 years on this remote, sliver of land off the coast of Canada where she spends her life collecting, cleaning, and documenting marine litter that washes up on the islands’ shore.

Shot on 16mm, the film often incorporates eco-friendly filmmaking techniques to capture, in beautiful effect, Mills' encounters with Zoe Lucas and the Island. In this sense, Zoe Lucas and Sable Island are not “subjects” of the film, but collaborators and co-creators.

We spoke with Jacquelyn Mills to learn more about her intuitive approach in making this film and the different ways she worked with her surroundings - including eco-friendly hand processing techniques like using plant emulsion, exposing parts of the film in moonlight and starlight, and placing specimens from Sable Island on film stock.

Towards the end of the episode, we speak briefly about her previous film, IN THE WAVES, a touching portrait of the director's grandmother as she grieves the loss of a sister available to stream on Vimeo.

For show notes, visit docsinorbit.com and be sure to follow us on social media @docsinorbit