The Lulu Sessions
S. Casper WONG
2011
USA
Documentary
color
86min
English
DigiBeta
YLuLu is unlike anyone you've ever met. A hard-living, chain-smoking rebel with a tender heart. A poet with a potty mouth. Farm girl. Former cheerleader. World- class cancer researcher. Beloved professor. Dr. Louise Nutter, or LuLu has just discovered a new anti-cancer drug when she finds out she is dying of breast cancer herself at 42. Shot during those last 15 months of LuLu's life, The LuLu Sessions is a raw, intimate, yet surprisingly humorous story about the filmmaker showing up for her best friend, and together, testing the limits of their bond while taking on life's ultimate adventure.
In The LuLu Sessions, I've tried to explore the transformations that death can hasten.
Shooting in the style of cinema verite, I was at once the filmmaker and a character. We tried to live life "normally," but hardly any of it was normal. The camera became the watchful third pair of eyes, chronicling our characters and our frailties. It exposed us in ways that are uncomfortable and punishing.
In a culture where death equals failure and is talked about in hushed voices, dying remains deeply private and involuntary – often lonely and frightening. This xperience with LuLu has made it less frightening for me, and made me keenly aware of the unfinished business in my own life. I hope The LuLu Sessions helps change our perceptions and sparks loud, passionate dialogues. I hope you use this film as an impetus to start your own no holds barred "turkey talks" with someone you love. Tell them you love them. Tell them you forgive them. Tell them thank you. Just tell them!
