life diaries project
Life Diaries films are all about showcasing the real people behind the stories – their passions, their struggles, and what makes them who they are today. We aim to capture their essence and values in a way that truly resonates with viewers. So, whether it’s a personal journey or a professional milestone, we’re here to create a video that brings their story to life!
The Life Diaries project was created in 2023, but its roots stretch back for almost a decade. It was born out of a passion for film-making combined with personal experiences that highlighted to me the importance of our family memories and the gift of recording them.
Back in 2013 my remaining grandmother died in Madrid just a couple of years after I moved here to Bristol, searching for my dream of becoming a documentaries camera man. For a long time I had been thinking about making a short film with her. I envisaged a documentary about her life, her experiences, her way of seeing and understanding everything. I really wanted to create a living memory which stayed with us forever so that our family could remember everything she taught us and how much she loved us. I wanted something that could be presented to future generations for them to understand their ancestors’ lives, their roots, as well as them meeting one of my favourite people.
But I never did. As happens to many of us, I dedicated most of my time and thoughts to achieving my work goals and kept postponing what really matters in the end. Back then, my grandmother was still alive. I could talk to her on the phone or see her when I returned to Spain. It was not a priority, I had plenty of time to make a video and my memories of her were fresh and intact.
But I was wrong. Life can go quickly and in the blink of an eye everything changed and there was no way back.
At the end of the day, problems get solved, jobs keep changing, life goes on, but certain opportunities and moments, particularly the very important ones, only come once.
Today, I fully regret not having acted when I could and having invested my time, back then, on meaningless things, instead of real-life changing moments. The memory of my grandma and her stories blur in my mind because I missed that opportunity. I also fear that in 10 or 20 years time many of the little memories I have left will be completely forgotten. There is no money that can bring me this opportunity again, when it would have been so easy to have made a legacy documentary for my grandma 10 years ago.
Last year a close friend left us. She had been battling a terminal cancer for the last couple of years. As part of her treatment and preparation for her inevitable death, the team of psychologists worked with her on the idea of focusing on closing her life in the best possible way. She needed to ask herself what she wanted to tell her loved ones before she was gone, tell them exactly how she felt about them and mention some special times they spent together. She even wanted to give them messages for their future life and make sure she was remembered as she wanted to be.
Once again, as if I hadn’t learned, I failed again. Day to day life and work pressures got in the way of what was really important at the time. As happened with my grandmother, I never got to help my friend make her legacy video.
From reflecting on those experiences and sorrow that all this caused me, I decided to start the Life Diaries project, to build something positive and help people avoid making the same mistakes. Through the Life Diaries project, I will be working with you and your family to create a legacy documentary made with photos, videos and interviews in which we will help you to tell your life just how you lived it, to express your deepest experiences and feelings and leave important loving messages to those that you love for prosperity
”The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now”
Chinese Proverb