Addie Morfoot
·3 min read
In the Toronto Film Festival documentary “Space Cowboy,” the triumphs and tragedies of skydiving cinematographer Joe Jennings are examined. Jennings’ desire to film an open-top automobile falling from the sky with four passengers sitting in the car is the narrative device used to structure the story.
Jennings’ successful marriage and the decades he spent capturing seminal aerial moments with his camera for extreme sports competitions, Super Bowl commercials, and Hollywood films, including “Charlie’s Angels” and “XXX” are all part of the 98-minute docu directed by Marah Strauch (“Sunshine Superman”) and Bryce Leavitt.
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But the doc doesn’t shy away from the darker periods of Jennings’ life, which includes a difficult childhood, battles with depression and tragically losing his friend and fellow skydiver aficionado Rob Harris in the mid-nineties.
Variety spoke to Jennings, Strauch and Leavitt about “Space Cowboy,” which premieres at TIFF on Friday.
How did this doc come about?
Jennings: About five years ago, Bryce hired me to film skydiving for something that he was producing. He found the whole (skydiving) environment interesting and became more and more curious about skydiving itself, the community and me and my work. So, we stayed in touch and became friends. After a while Bryce asked if he could have the rights to my life story. His curiosity is what sold me. So, I signed over the rights and thought, who knows? Maybe this will happen and it did.
Marah and Bryce, how did you decide to structure the doc around Jennings’ daring “flying car” stunt?
Leavitt: I didn’t want this to be an archival docu mixed with talking head interviews. I wanted to mix in what Joe was doing in the present day because I thought that was very relevant to the story. So, Marah and I had a lot of talks about what that would be. We wanted something organic and something that revealed Joe’s character and craft. Then Joe let us know that one thing he wanted to do was to get a car to fly perfectly, and that clicked.
Strauch: Structurally, it feels really good to get to know Joe while he is doing something that he loves and is passionate about. When he is trying to get this car to fly you can see his passion and his sense of humor. I also thought it worked really well and was kind of a reprieve from some of the other, darker components of his story.
Joe, in addition to losing your best friend, Rob Harris, you also lost another friend, Patrick de Gayardon, due to skydiving. Both deaths led you into a depression, but did you ever consider quitting skydiving?
Jennings: There were times when I thought that maybe I should move on to something else. I felt more vulnerable than both Rob and Patrick because they were so good and so meticulous. So when they died, what I realized was that if this happened to either one of them, then it could definitely happen to me or anybody else. Nobody is immune from the inherent danger that comes with skydiving. I remember questioning and giving it up; the answer was always no way. I’m going to keep doing it. I still absolutely love it.
What was it like rehashing your childhood, your depression and these tragic deaths?
Jennings: When we were filming I remember saying to Bryce and Marah that these things are all part of my life. Depression has filtered in and out of my life in different shades and it was very intense. I could tell that Marah and Bryce were very interested in speaking with me about the different aspects of my life that have been difficult and I kept saying, “Ok. But remember that this movie is not a sad movie. I’ve had an incredible life and I wouldn’t trade it with anyone in the world.”
Submarine is handling sales of “Space Cowboy.”
Watch an exclusive clip from the doc here:
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