Meet the Director
Sarah Provest is a human person who probably exists, we hope.
They read the kinds of books in the kinds of places that get them in all kinds of trouble.
They hope you will too.
Shelf Space
Director's Statement
Ten years ago I met Dom when he was flyering me for a comedy show he and two friends were putting on. He had a knack for bringing people in and sharing some stories and his love of the form with both the audience and his fellow performers. We became fast friends and ten years later I’ve had the pleasure of again watching him open up a space with another bunch of mates, share stories, and bring people in, this time on a bigger, more permanent scale - by saving a book shop.
Shelf Life is a five-minute documentary that will take us into this second-hand bookshop, Desire Books and Records. We will meet two of its five owners, Julia and Dom, and have a chat with some of the customers and punters who come in to share this space, its stories, and make stories of their own. The documentary starts out with long, introspective cuts that get quicker as the tension builds and the space fills. This is also paralleled in sound, as it starts quietly with turning pages, soft chatter, vinyl hum and building through music to audience applause.
This is one story that needs to be told because books are going out of style, book stores are going out of business, and community spaces are like this are dwindling but, despite this, five mates banded together to keep the books, the store, and the space alive. They connect with each customer that comes through the door, have stories, love and passion to share, and facilitate people telling their own stories at their open-mic night, Bonfire Night. I want audiences to get to know the passion and connection of the people who own it and frequent it, and to come away with more appreciation for the amazing spaces like Desire that are available to them, perhaps before it’s too late.
Finding the story
Online & Community Research
While I did know one of the characters of the film quite well as a person, I didn’t know much about how he conducted himself in the store, the store itself, or its history and significance. To find out I undertook online research and field work. The most valuable sources to the formulation of the documentary are as follows:
Newspaper article written by Rod Bennet, June 5 2017, ‘Desire Books has relatively knew owners but ones with old souls’, published in the Manly Daily, accessed online through The Daily Telegraph website.
(https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/manly-daily/desire-books-has-relatively-knew-owners-but-ones-with-old-souls/news-story/e31362161a92b4fe6e91d0f43d263b9b)
This article gave me context into Julia Wilson wanted to buy the bookshop, as she had spent time in it after two significant breakups and used the space as a form of therapy to ‘heal a broken heart’. This story will form the personal emotional crux of the documentary. It also informed me of the broader context of why she personally found the store so important to maintain, as the cultural and community hubs that bookshops constitute are being lost.
Radio interview, 2SER, produced by Max Mahood (https://2ser.com/desire-books-records-northern-beaches-treasure-trove/)
This interview gave me an idea for what level of energy Julia would be able to bring to the table as an interview subject and how that might translate to camera. It gave me a history of the shop – that it had been running for fifteen years before it was bought by Dom and Julia and the other three owners on July 1st 2016 after they found out it was going to be turned into a café, which brings the theme of community into more clarity within the documentary. It also went into detail of what each owner brings to the table in terms of taste and style, and how that eclecticism intermingles.
Discussions with Dom
Casual pre-interviews conducted face-to-face and electronically. He gave me more context on the owners of the shop, information about the division of labour in the store amongst the owners, who was willing to be interviewed, the personal reasons the different owners bought it. He also spoke about the struggles they all face in keep the store afloat, the amount of work put into it, as well as the passion he has for it. He also told stories of dealing with customers and interesting stories that have happened in-store. This helped to formulate the direction I wanted both his and Julia’s interviews to go in, as well as the decision to include those two as the interviewees.
Two full days spent in the book shop
This allowed me to observe how Dom operates and connects with customers and foster the community spirit. I also observed the processing of donated books. From this experience I concluded that capturing the day-to-day feeling and operation of the store will be a vital part of the film to convey the theme.
Going to Bonfire Night
Going to the open-mic night allowed me to observe and participate in the building of community atmosphere that the space facilitates. I witnessed that Desire extends beyond physical books and music into the sharing of live, original music, poetry and book readings, and is a supportive place for new ideas.