Life in Film (2015)

"Films are the reflections of all of us..." Brighton, 2015. A quiet room in a home for the elderly. Joan Malek, 93, sits and watches the seagulls through the window. Sounds of birds transport us beyond the surroundings and into a world of memories: the road on which she grew up, first visits to the cinema, the beginning of the war - Weaving documentary, drama and archive, Joan takes us on a beautiful journey through happiness and pain, hope and tragedy. At the core is her relationship with the love of her life, Ludwik, memories of whom will forever be inextricably connected with a single film: Doctor Zhivago. We recognise friends and lovers through the characters we watch, feel stirred, disturbed or unfathomably altered when a story, line of dialogue or single image reaches out and says "this is you". Joan's story shows us that cinema does not just reflect our lives and emotions, it shapes them.