The start of this new decade will likely be marked as the year a pandemic disrupted our entire world order. As COVID-19 reached its tipping point, country after country was forced to adapt to a virus no one had been prepared for. People have lost their jobs, moved offices to their home, or now work twice as hard in places that are more crucial than ever to get us through this crisis. Even for those who are financially covered, and remain in good health, there is still the anxiety that comes with an uncertain future, and being locked inside for the majority of our days. Perhaps for the first time, the reality of struggling demographics is finally coming to the surface in a society that's overlooked them for decades. When all of this is over, everyone will have a story to tell that’s unique to their situation. Katherine Stoner is determined to document it.
“I just had this feeling as if we’re living through a documentary right now. In a few years’ time, people will look back on this like it’s a big historical event, and I just thought that since I’m obviously passionate about making documentaries, this is literally perfect.”
Producer and director of 88 Days, a documentary reporting the harassment and unjust treatment backpackers working towards a visa face in Australia, has decided to give as many people as possible a voice in this global outbreak.
“It was something that was sitting at the back of my mind for a while, and the turning point was actually when my mum texted me. It was in the middle of the night, and she was like: ‘I’ve been up all night, I can’t sleep. And I’ve just been thinking about how you can make this film.’ It was actually so cute.”
Since most of us are stuck inside, Katherine is thinking about producing the entire documentary from home with the help of contributions by people affected by the crisis. The documentary will therefore be based on people’s accounts of their Coronavirus experience. As the pandemic has highly different effects on people’s lives, she wants to use this project to help people be seen, even if it’s just filmed on a phone camera. Visual aesthetics are put aside for now - the medium will be the message.
“The whole idea is understandably very unique. I imagine I’m going to get a lot of different types and levels of skill in the way people will film their things, but based on what I’m imagining it’s going to look like, that’s also the beauty of it.”
“I’m looking for everything and anything. If you’ve been to your shop and seen something crazy, like someone has wrestled an old man to the ground for a bit of toilet roll, I want to see that. I also just want to hear people’s feelings. How has it affected your day to day? Have you been made redundant? What’s happened with work? Have you got kids that are reliant on you that are running around the house screaming?”
With current contributions from Australia to America, Katherine is aiming to turn this into a global project. The goal is to get as broad a perspective as possible from people of all walks of life. Whether that’s from the young and old, NHS workers, unemployed and self-employed, or parents staying at home with their children. She’s also particularly interested in hearing how care workers are dealing with the situation and getting through it themselves, as an already underfunded NHS is facing the toughest challenge since its establishment. With so much uncertainty about the future of this crisis, it will be impossible to estimate the time frame of the documentary. It will, just like many others, be forced to take it day by day.
“I think we’ll probably stop when everything goes back to normal. But even then if there’s some people who would like to get in touch in hindsight, that’d be cool too. At the minute, as we’re all on lock-down, we’re going through the hardest period, which is what I’m most interested in.”
Our lives will undoubtedly carry the impact of COVID-19 for some time to come, even long after the worst part of the pandemic is over. Judging by the way in which governments around the world are dealing with the situation, it's unclear whether the positive changes and learning outcomes will outweigh the bad ones.
“I’m hoping that the current pressure put on the conservative government will change things after the crisis is over. Because for me, all this is showing is that our prime minister is someone whose policies and all of his actions have come from his perspective alone. He’s so narrow-minded, he didn’t even stop to think about people who have to pay rent. Or just anyone who’s self-employed or works in hospitality. I guess because it’s the first time that something so extreme has happened, it’s just going to be a big learning curve for the government anyway. It’s going to be interesting.”
As the documentary will depend on the collective effort of contributors, Katherine has decided to make it as widely available as possible when it’s finished. It will likely end up online such as Facebook and YouTube, or other platforms that allow easy access to it.
If you’d like to get involved in documenting the effects of this pandemic, the best way to reach Katherine for submissions or collaborations is by emailing her at kathstoner96@gmail.com, contacting her on her website or simply by dropping her a message on Facebook.