Documentary filmmaker and cinematographer Kirsten Johnson, whose 2016 documentary “Cameraperson” is widely shown in 100-level Emerson film courses, will be present at various events across campus this week. On Wednesday night, Kirsten participated in a screening of her 2020 documentary “Dick Johnson is Dead” at the Bright Family Screening Room.
The film contains footage Kirsten documented of her father, Dick, after he was diagnosed with dementia. But the film is equal parts documentary and fiction: Her father becomes a playful collaborator, acting out fantasy scenarios depicting his death to confront his mortality head-on. One of the scenes is a full-scale reenactment of Dick’s funeral as he watches through the church door’s peephole.
“My dad was one of the best collaborative editors on this project, because he would forget that he’d seen the scene before,” Johnson said in a post-screening Q&A. “He’s watched this film hundreds of times.”
Johnson had previously lost her mother to Alzheimer’s in 2007. As she recalls, despite being a documentary cinematographer for 30 years, she barely had any footage of her mother. When her father was diagnosed with dementia, she knew she had to document it this time.
“My dad’s still alive, but he can’t talk, so I watch this to hear his voice,” Johnson said. “Every time I watch it, something more is lost. So the evidence there is of what was, I eat it up.”
Despite just sharing her extremely intimate documentary with the Bright Family Screening Room, Johnson opened up during the Q&A and ran around to sit next to viewers as they asked her questions about her father, her filmmaking philosophy, and her career, addressing audience members one-on-one.
Afterward, audience members approached Johnson for general praise, thanks, or questions, which she invited with enthusiasm. Francis Rogerson, a junior visual and media arts major, had a personal connection to “Dick Johnson is Dead,” and appreciated the opportunity to speak to her.
“The first time I saw this movie was when it came out, which was around the time my dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s,” Rogerson said in an interview with The Beacon. “Listening to her talk about living through that and making this—and me being here trying to make movies—I just had to thank her.”
Rogerson wasn’t just able to thank Johnson—they also received a valuable connection for the future.
“We took a photo together and I didn’t expect it, but she gave me her phone number,” Rogerson said. “She sent the photo to herself and said, ‘we’ll keep in touch.’”
Professor and Associate Chair of Curriculum Marc Fields was responsible for organizing Johnson’s week on campus. Johnson is scheduled as a guest speaker for 10 different classes in the VMA and journalism departments. On Monday, she had lunch with MFA students. On Tuesday, she attended one-on-one sessions with five different BFA and MFA students to review their projects in detail.
On Thursday, Johnson will show footage from her upcoming biopic on Susan Sontag, an 20th-century cultural critic and writer, starring Kristen Stewart in the lead role. The event will be held in the Bright Family Screening Room at 2 p.m. and is open to all.
Fields, who is himself a documentary filmmaker, met Johnson last year at the It’s All True documentary showcase at Emerson. He suggested she become an artist-in-residence to come back and work with students.
“It was an amazing experience to see somebody who is at once such a gifted artist and an incredibly giving and energetic mentor,” Fields said in an interview with The Beacon. “I think she sees part of what she does as passing it along, to make sure that there are more people out there who care about doing the kind of work that isn’t necessarily big box office.”
Johnson, who gave time to everyone who expressed interest in learning from her work, was the perfect point of contact for students interested in entering the world of independent documentary.
“It’s just so incredibly rewarding to see how students are really involved in the stuff that she’s talking about,” Fields said. “And she’s very impressed by the work Emerson students are doing—I know she gets inspiration from their inspiration.”
