BEHIND THE SCENES
By Paul Nelson
Producer Director
I’ve been directing documentaries for nearly ten years now, and during that time I’ve filmed dozens of remarkable things… but I can safely say, with my hand on my heart, that very few measure up to what I’m witnessing now.
It’s 1am and I’ve just received an urgent phone call from my Researcher Puja telling me to go to Twinkle’s room. She’s a 13-year-old girl from Northern India who, according to news reports, has spontaneously bled from her eyes, hands, feet and head for almost two years.
We’d just finished a fifteen hour shooting day and all of us had retired to our rooms for some much needed sleep and then we got the call. Twinkle is bleeding from her eyes.
This is the bleeding phenomena we’ve been sent to India to investigate and document. It’s going to be a key moment in the show – and might possibly be the only chance we’re going to get to capture it. All of us have sprung into action…
Virendra; my cameraman, has beaten me to the room. He’s is in his boxer shorts and a vest that reveals the hairiest shoulders I’ve ever seen. He’s a real pro. He’s already shooting.
Twinkle is sitting on her bed in her pyjamas. She’s calm and composed - actually bored looking – yet rivulets of bright, shiny blood coat both of her cheeks. These aren’t just tears, these are rivers of blood. My reaction is involuntary and immediate. ‘Jeeeeeessssus….!’
Twinkle’s bleeding is as shocking a sight as I’ve ever seen. So incongruous, so utterly at odds with the happy-go-lucky, healthy, active teenager I’ve come to know and like. For a moment I’m transfixed. I’m so absorbed and fascinated by the gruesome, gory sight I forget I’m here to do a job. Film, direct, ask questions, tell the story.
We’ve captured Twinkle’s tears of blood on tape. It may be hands held and unlit but we’re documentary filmmakers and this is guerrilla filmmaking at its best. The footage may be shocking, but it’s real, immediate and honest.
We’ve also learned a valuable lesson. Twinkle’s bleeding isn’t a scheduled event. It’s not something we can be built into any filming schedule… it’s something that can happen at any time, anywhere. And it does. During the month – she bleeds nine times. Twice from the eyes and the remainder from her head. It’s a testament to the professionalism and tireless energy of the crew that all of them were captured on film.
^M
