Documentary filmmaker Judy Irving has no qualms about mixing her work with her personal life. In her latest film, 19 Arrests, No Convictions, Irving profiles the late George Farnsworth, a strip club owner who took up swimming in San Francisco Bay. Irving describes the film as “a story about George's relationship to the bay”—something Irving, an avid bay swimmer, understands. In February, the film premiered at the San Francisco Ocean Film Festival to a “wild and woolly” crowd, including Farnsworth's swimming buddies and relatives.
During her 35 years as a documentary filmmaker, Irving has undergone what her former Stanford professor, Henry Breitrose, PhD '66, describes as an evolution “from the heavily political to the personal as political. She makes films that are intensely personal but have the ability to teach other people,” he says. “She helps us see the world the way she does.”
In 1983, Irving directed Dark Circle with Chris Beaver, MA '73. The film examines the worldwide effects of nuclear war and the use of nuclear power, and earned Irving an Emmy Award and a Sundance Grand Jury Prize. Afterward, Irving shifted her focus to stories of redemption found in nature. Irving says her interest in relationships between humans and nature has always existed. “Most films are about human beings and their urban concerns—it's as if we're the only species on the planet. I'm more interested in a broader view,” she says.
Irving's 2005 documentary The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill tells the story of Mark Bittner, a onetime homeless musician who forms a deep bond with a local flock of parrots. Irving was struck by Bittner's openness as she learned about his tumultuous life. “I really got to respect his relationship with the birds, his philosophy and his moral compass.” A year and a half ago, Irving and Bittner married; they now live on the Telegraph steps in San Francisco, not far from where Irving filmed Bittner and the birds.
As an independent filmmaker, “there is always something to do,” Irving says. She is at work on material for a collectors' edition DVD of Parrots, scheduled for release this fall. The DVD will feature updates and information about wild parrots worldwide. Irving recently screened 19 Arrests, No Convictions at the South End Rowing Club as part of a fundraiser for an eight-oar racing shell that needed repairs. The screening raised $5,000. Irving was pleased she could use the story of George Farnsworth to support those who were most important to him at the end of his life. The fruits of documentary filmmaking may never be as lucrative as Hollywood movies, but Irving says she couldn't be happier with the career she has created for herself. “It's so satisfying to get your two cents in—to have an impact on your culture.”
