Reading Film with Age Through Collaborative Autoethnography: Old Age and Care, Encounters with Amour (Haneke, 2012), Chronic (Franco, 2015) and A Woman’s Tale (Cox, 1991)

ABSTRACT

This paper is primarily a study in research methods, reflecting on the application of an autoethnographic method as means to engage with a co-created intergenerational research project that focussed on reading films about older age and end of life care. Methodologically rich and complex, this paper outlines the research process through which six women at different stages of the lifecourse (Katz, Stephen. 2005. Aging: Life Course, Lifestyle, and Senior Worlds. Peterborough: Broadview Press) came together to critically analyse Amour (Haneke 2012), Chronic (Franco 2015) and A Woman’s Tale (Cox 1991). The autoethnographic approach privileges the voices of older women who use their own life stories and experiences to produce nuanced readings of care and old age as they are represented on screen. From this innovative approach to film through autoethnographic reflection, new concepts of “reading with care,” and “reading with age” emerge as important to our understandings of what it means to care and be cared for.

KEYWORDS:

• Autoethnography
• ageing
• film
• care
• research methods

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Rita Ferris-Taylor has an MSc in Human Communication and a keen interest in all forms of communication, spoken, signed, and film. She is semi-retired and teaches massage and yoga to disabled people and is an active member of the University of the Third Age in Brent. Key influences in her life have been feminism and the social model of disability.

Jane Grant was born in New York, and came to London in 1965 to study film and stayed. Jane was an ambulance driver/attendant before qualifying as a midwife. She worked as a lecturer and researcher but liked being with women in labour best. Revisiting childcare has been one of many pleasures in her retirement.

Hannah Grist is co-Director of the Centre for Women Ageing and Media (WAM), and Lecturer in Media at the University of Gloucestershire, UK. Her research interests lie in ageing studies, media and cultural studies, and qualitative methodologies. She is currently working on research which explores the representation of care and care giving in the UK media.

Ros Jennings is Director of the Centre for Women Ageing and Media (WAM), and Professor of Ageing, Culture and Media at the University of Gloucestershire, UK. She is author of the WAM Manifesto (2012) and has recently published on older age identities in relation to, popular music, popular television, and late style performances.

Rina Rosselson was born in 1935 and acquired a passion for cinema in her teens. After obtaining an MA in Film and Televisions Studies at the age of 63, Rina has since facilitated the Older Women in Film Group of the University of the Third Age in Brent, and presented films about old people through the Ealing Oldies Network. Rina continues to research and blog about the representation of older women in films.

Sylvia Wiseman was born in 1932 and holds a BA Hons, a Diploma in Social Work, and a Masters in the Sociology of Law. After working as a medical social worker and founding Brent Carers Centre, Sylvia retired in 2000 and travelled with her husband. After her husband passed away in 2007, Sylvia joined the University of the Third Age in Brent, chaired the committee for five years and remains an active member. Sylvia has five grandchildren and three great grandchildren.