LEGACY: INTERVIEW WITH A PIECE TO LEAVE BEHIND CREATOR VALERIE STERRETT
Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes we meet a person in our day-to-day lives whose influence becomes something invaluable beyond measure, whether it is through social media, our personal relationships, or work. People come into our lives when we least expect it, and so we should treasure moments with them while celebrating what they love.
Such a chance meeting is how director/musician Valerie Sterrett came to know Shelly, a passionate artist who was battling stage 4 cancer. Shown through Shelly’s lens of an undying love of art, “A Piece to Leave Behind” is a touching documentary that immortalizes Shelly in her final days. “A Piece to Leave Behind” won Best Documentary in ZIFA’s winter season.
ZIFA: What inspired you to create this film?
Val: When I worked at FedEx Office, this woman would come in with a thumb drive to print off her paintings, and as I was looking at them, I felt something overcome me with emotions and was drawn to them. I saw myself in the clumsy, wild haired ballerina paintings, and I asked her what inspired her. She then told me she was terminally ill with stage 4 cancer, and she got back in touch with her art.
Her story haunted me for months, and I think after a year passed, I reached out about maybe doing an article on her because I was taking a media writing class at Weber State University. She was interested, but I didn’t get around to it. I may have been too stressed. Then I found myself in an even more stressful documentary class, and I knew exactly the story I was gonna do. Andrea Baltazar was my teacher, and she taught me to really construct the meaning of what I was trying to say in my films. She often used the phrase, "Kill your babies," meaning to cut the fluff even though some of what you captured is your favorite.
ZIFA: Where did you film it? And how long did it take? How did you find the locations?
Val: This was filmed all around Ogden, Utah. It took a few planned days of filming over the course of a few weeks with editing that took a couple of months - working on it periodically. The locations were given to me by Shelly (her house and the hospital) with her permission and with the consent of her family, friends and hospital workers.
ZIFA: How did you go about documenting such a sensitive topic? What messages are you hoping to spread with this project?
Val: I think the more sensitive the topic, the more relatable, and it can help a lot of people. This is why I love biopics - because the true stories of one's life make the best stories. They're inspiring! The message of this documentary is to motivate people to seek out their passions and dreams who are not living them. I mean, what if you find out you have a terminal disease? Would you live your dreams then?
Shelly finally picked up the paint brush when she learned of her diagnosis and reached out randomly to a man she had a crush on years ago. She inspires me every day to live like it is my last day, and her story lives on in everyone who comes across it. In a way, doing this documentary was an extension of me living my dream with her passing the baton to me. I have since been immersed in the arts, songwriting, making films and music videos. I have actually dreamt of doing this since I was in high school and discovered the filmmaker and music video artist Michel Gondry. I did not think I would actually do it, but then how surreal it is when you find yourself 20 years later and it's actually happening.
ZIFA: What was the biggest challenge you faced during production and/or post-production?
Val: Audio is the number one killer. When setting up, Shelly’s father already started speaking with tears in his eyes, and we could not mic him quick enough, but I didn’t want to miss it or make him redo it, so I quickly started filming him and went with the camera’s reference audio. So there is some fuzz on a windy day, but the emotions were genuine. A tip I recently found out from a friend, is that iPhones these days have really great audio so try that voice memo out and compare!
ZIFA: What was the most memorable moment on set?
Val: When the family lined up with all of Shelly’s paintings and shared their heartfelt stories of her, I knew this was going to be the perfect ending. This was Shelly’s idea. I found myself really building a bond with Shelly as I got to know her on set and meet all the people who love her. Not even just on set, but when she made the effort, even though she was so ill, to come to the premiere of her documentary in the very first ever WSU student showcase. She refused to miss it for the world and ended up having several seizures in the theater that night. This broke my heart.
ZIFA: Any lessons learned or things you would have done differently?
Val: I wish I spent more time making this documentary a bit more epic. Such as, get any footage from her family of her art shows, home videos of her younger and maybe some interviews with experts. Just to dig a little deeper. There is also a longer story here that brought awareness to Shelly’s struggles as one dealing with cancer and the healthcare system. I probably wanted to touch on that, but I didn’t want to take too much focus away from the theme being that Shelly was living her dreams until the end. There are layers to one’s life with stories on top of stories, but they can steer you away from the overall theme.
ZIFA: Any advice for aspiring filmmakers?
Val: If you have a good story but low budget, don’t worry about all that. Just write the script or outline and start filming. It will come together, and people will help along the way. Documentaries are a good place to start because it gives you that freedom to run and gun some b-rolls and capture any moments of value to the story. Some of my favorite films and documentaries are low budget because the stories were so amazing. So I'll take story over cinematography, even though I am weak in the knees for great cinematography. Also, to realize at your younger age, whatever you obsess about now, is going to come back! It doesn't go away, until you accomplish it years later, so keep going and find out what you need to learn.
ZIFA: How can we find you and follow your work?
Val: As an aspiring singer-song-writer first, I am currently focused on music videos to tell my stories through song. They are short, low budget and beautiful cinematography. You may find me and all my projects just googling my full name Valerie Rose Sterrett. I am on all the music and social media platforms. I have yet to build my repertoire on IMDb and a website... so baby steps!
Interview: Alicia Oberle Farmer
