Through the Eyes of the Old

This fantastic series is Christopher Terrill's innovatively filmed documentary.

He uses tiny cameras which are attached to the faces of his subjects and used to describe the world as they see it.

Chris Terrill's beautifully crafted feature-length documentary follows the lives of people in their autumn years to capture the very essence of ageing. Over the course of a year, men and women aged from their early sixties to over 90 share their daily lives with the camera. THe film prives to be both a celebration of lives well lived and a poignant insight into growing older in sickness and health, poverty or wealth.

"We so often sideline our old," says Chris, "but in making this film I found amongst our elders a stirring reminder of what is best in humanity - fortitude, courage, loyalty, love, honour and great humour. They are a great national resource we sorely undervalue."

Contributors include Connie and Joy, now approaching 70 and friends for over 25 years. They are young at heart and enjoy life when they can, including weekly tea-dancing at venues around London. But Molly lives on her own in Newcastle, trapped in her own four walls with her cigarettes and television.

Ninety-four-year-old Margaret has been a life-long campaigner for women's rights and continues to be feisty, but even she finds ageing a shock: "My astonished reaction in the last couple of years is how sudden old age is ... looking in the mirror there is a different face there. It's not you anymore. People regard us as a burden ... you have no value."

Archie is a Chelsea Pensioner, enjoying the camaraderie os his community; Stuart has been addicted to gambling for most of his adult life, with dire consequences,; activist Zelda is a campaigner for pensioners' rights despite her Parkinson's Disease; and Usha runs a centre for elderly Asian women and takes them on an annual day trip to the seaside.

This documentary tells a moving story, sometimes sad but also funny and uplifting, and through affectionate portraits of a generation confronts the issues of ageing which eventually face everyone.

Chris Terill's previous credits include; "Soho Stories", "The Cruise", "Jailbirds", "HMS Brilliant" and "Tito's Story"