In this blog, volunteer Marion Burns gives her thoughts and reactions to ‘Jordi’s Letters’, a new documentary about a man living with cerebral palsy who uses a cardboard letter board to communicate.
In this blog I will tell you about an amazing and moving film I went to see in the Glasgow Film Theatre called ‘Jordi’s Letters‘.
My friend told me about this film. I thought that sounds very interesting, so I booked tickets.
When I went in the empty cinema with a handful of people, a Spanish man was speaking about the film as he was involved in the making of ‘Jordi’s Letters’. He is taking the film around Scotland.
As the film was filmed in Spain, the whole film is in Spanish so it has subtitles, however, these were not hard to follow.
At first I thought when the film started it might be very difficult to watch because of my circumstances at the moment, but how wrong I was, I loved it from the start to the finish. The film just started with a hand pointing to letters and you hear someone speaking in the background and I felt it was a very powerful start.
‘Jordi Letters’ is a documentary about a man who is in his fifties, lives with cerebral palsy and has no verbal communication so he uses a very simplified letters card for his communication. The director of ‘Jordi Letters’, Maider Fernández Iriarte, talked to Jordi using his alphabet board which he spelt out every single word to her.
He was in a care home during the week to give his family a break as his parents were getting older.
Jordi told Maider that in the past he heard God in his head, but it had stopped and therefore he would like to go to Lourdes. You see him going through the Grotto in Lourdes and praying in church.
After being in Lourdes he felt as if he had God back in his life.
During the making of ‘Jordi’s Letters’ Jordi and Maider Fernández Iriarte became friends and she phoned him on his birthday. That was a nice scene in the film and after filming they are still good friends.
Many of the things in ‘Jordi’s Letters’ remind me of myself and my family, the way it showed you Jordi going through the Grotto brought back a memory of Dad and me walking through it with me out of my wheelchair, with Dad supporting me.
During the film I thought of many of my friends who would have enjoyed it .
If it ever came back to Glasgow again I would jump at the chance to see it for a second time!
(and I am not telling you how the film ends!)