When acclaimed Portarlington documentary film maker Ken Wardrop was 12 years of age, his maternal grandmother who often stayed with the family, died on Christmas Day.
“After that, that time of year was always about granny, and my mum forevermore would dread Christmas,” he said.
It’s little wonder then that Ken whose films are all about connections and relationships, has gone on to probe the real life stories of those for whom ‘the most wonderful time of year’ isn’t all tinsel, treats and trees.
While ‘So This is Christmas’ sounds like a melancholic watch, the creative documentary, set in late November in an unnamed midlands town – The Pantry, Soap Sisters and Treasures in Portlaoise, will be spotted by eagle eyed viewers as will Solas in Portarlington – is interspersed with distinctly Irish humour and hope.
The courage and resilience of the five interviewees and the sense of intimacy Ken creates in the telling of their stories makes for powerful viewing.
We meet a young single mother of three on the poverty line who can’t afford to return to work due to childcare costs but who delights in her three children, and a young widower with two young sons who is “really devastated” by the loss of his soulmate, Roxy.
Ken also trained his lens on an older woman whose main source of contact is the man who drops off her weekly online shopping, reflecting: “Loneliness is one thing but being invisible and forgotten is something else.”
We also meet a bachelor Council worker who laments the fact that he will ‘never feel that hug from mammy again’ and a single woman who has struggled with an eating disorder who ponders that we don’t realise how much parents hold families together “and that is special, especially at Christmas.”
Laying bare the lives of so many people who have to navigate the additional challenges that the festive season brings, ‘So This is Christmas’ which was shot on 35mm, has lots of social commentary.
The woman whose life has been impacted by an eating disorder, questions: ‘Where do I belong?’’ The older woman who said it was lucky that she didn’t mind solitude, reflected: ‘Because I had so many awful things happen to me, I turned into the sort of person who couldn’t be a target anymore.’
However, there are plenty of lighter moments such as the bachelor Council worker’s favourite escape – walking to the pub, fielding calls from his sister, who checks up on him every five minutes.
As a child, he was beaten for being unable to read or write but now, in a chink of light, he has returned to education. A key message comes from the widower: ‘Time is the greatest present you can give or receive in this world.’
Film making wasn’t to the fore of Ken’s mind while attending Wilson’s Hospital boarding school. ‘I never considered myself a creative kid. I didn’t do art in school and I wasn’t musical so I never put myself in that bracket,” he said.
After studying at Trinity College and moving to London, he found himself in a role managing an architect’s firm. “It was only when I was there that I thought there might be something in me that was creative as I saw people being energised by and loving their work.
“It got me thinking whether there was something I needed to do for fulfilment in life.”
After helping a film student on a project, he began a degree at the National Film School at the Dun Laoghaire Institute.
The response to his graduation film ‘Undressing my Mother’ was encouraging and proved to be a great springboard. It won an IFTA, a European film award, a mention at the Sundance Film Festival, and other accolades.
His debut film ‘His & Hers’ which featured 70 midlands women chatting about the men in their lives, won best Irish film prize at the Jameson Dublin International Festival.
‘Mom and Me’, a compelling documentary set in Oklahoma, about the love shared between tough guys and their mothers, in a world where the only thing tougher than themselves is the woman who raised them, was his second feature documentary, and also won awards.
In 2018 he released ‘Making the Grade’ which explores the world of the piano lesson, inspired by turning the page for his paternal grandmother, Violet Wardrop who played the organ in St. Paul’s church at French Church Street, Portarlington.
“I came back home to find a new way of life, having discovered film-making by chance,” Ken reflected. “It’s been an amazing journey. I’m not prolific. I generally do things at my own pace but I enjoy it – the only difficulty is financial.”
Unlike some of the interviewees in ‘So This is Christmas’, Ken’s memories of home are good ones. He maintains contact with home where his brothers, Trevor and Clive, took over the family farm from their father, Ian who died in his 60s, “a great loss at an early stage.”
He felt loved and part of the fold after coming out as gay when he was 20. “My parents were so accepting. They weren’t singing from the rooftops but I always felt accepted, loved and part of the fold.
Coming from a rural community, I wouldn’t say it was easy. I was worried and anxious about coming out but I shouldn’t have been as worried because my parents totally accepted me. At the back of their minds, they would have known.
“They were also very accepting of my partner and I feel very fortunate because I know that other people have very different stories to tell,” said Ken who lives in Dublin with his partner, Will, a pianist.
Ken is facing his own sadness this Christmas as his beloved mother, Ethel Wardrop, nee Goodwin from Rosenallis, died during the year.
‘So This is Christmas’ is currently showing at The Odeon cinema, Portlaoise, and will be screened at the Dunamaise Theatre, Portlaoise, on Friday, December 8 at 7pm.
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