Nominated for two British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs), including Best Feature Documentary and Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary, Modern Films brings Two Strangers Trying Not To Kill Each Other to UK and Ireland cinemas.
The film is directed by Jacob Perlmutter and Manon Ouimet, produced by Manon & Jacob, UK and Final Cut for Real, Denmark, and executive produced by Fremantle label Undeniable and Louverture Films.
Two Strangers Trying Not To Kill Each Other is the story of artist couple Joel Meyerowitz and Maggie Barrett . Thirty years after a chance encounter, Maggie and Joel are still very much in love. But their relationship is not without complications. Born in the hard-boiled Bronx, Joel Meyerowitz (84) is a world-renowned photographer with major exhibitions and 40 books to his name. British-born Maggie Barrett (75) is a talented but less recognised artist and writer. There is a knot of unease in their relationship, which is further strained when Maggie falls and breaks her leg and Joel becomes her caregiver. In the shadow of mortality, each with a long and dramatic life behind them, the hard truths of life together provoke in Maggie and Joel an attempt to find a shared inner-peace while there is still time.
With unique access to the couple’s lives, directors Jacob Perlmutter and Manon Ouimet have created a profoundly moving film about living, creating and loving. Their feature debut, it forms part of their greater body of work as visual artists and filmmakers and further connects them as a collaborative duo. In making this film, they lived with Joel and Maggie for a year, forming a close bond and intimate access that relied on trust for all involved. The filmmaker couple making a documentary about an artist couple was an early-recognised beauty to the internal structure of the process. The film’s unique language is inspired by the creative work of Maggie and Joel – a decision made by the filmmakers to authentically extend the couple’s artistry and philosophy..
“To fall in love is a magical thing, but to stay in love is a miracle. Two people find each other in middle age, and build a beautiful later life together that is documented here with grace, humor and honesty. For a film that is so immaculately crafted that right from its stunning opening frame, it is like being cradled in the familiar but electric embrace of a longtime lover, the jury awards a dazzled special mention to the wonderful, warm and wise Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other directed by Jacob Perlmutter & Manon Ouimet.” – Jury Statement (CPH:DOX 2024)
Produced by Signe Byrge Sørensen of Final Cut for Real (The End, The Act of Killing, Flee) and Executive Produced by Joslyn Barnes of Louverture Films (Nickel Boys, Self-Portrait as a Coffee-Pot) and Mandy Chang (Devo, I Am Greta), the film is supported by the Danish Film Institute.
