Director Jennifer Venditti’s first documentary, Billy The Kid, tells the story of the 15-year-old from Maine’s strife with ongoing behavioral issues due to his painful childhood. “I’m not black, I'm not white, not foreign… just different in the mind, different brains, that's all,” reveals Billy, living life as an outsider in a small town. He dreams of becoming a famous actor and rock star, and even of falling in love. While his first goal may take longer to attain, we get to witness his first time love, a sweet 16-year-old diner waitress. Jennifer Venditti's film captivates the audience by revealing someone who is different and then allows us to see ourselves in Billy. We see that matter how different we are, we all want to find love and we all want to be understood.
I just spoke to your assistant, Christine, she told me you were in London, what did you do there? And what are you working on right now? I was in London for the annual Birds Eye View Film Festival, which is a festival for female filmmakers. Right now I am focusing on casting projects as well as developing new film projects.
How did you meet Billy? I first met Billy when I was scouting a high school to cast real kids as extras for Carter Smith’s short film Bugcrush (Sundance Winner ’06). I sat in the lunchroom for several days, studying the particular claques and wondering if any kids ever tried sitting with someone other than their usual set. I filmed a table of bullies who recounted a story of inviting a victim to their table. Apparently, this particular kid freaked out at the way they treated him. As they all laughed after telling me this story, I asked them who this kid was. They gestured across the room to a boy sitting by himself. “Over there,” they said. “His name is Billy.” When I first met Billy, I was intrigued, a feeling of awe and discomfort at the same time. His openness and ability to say whatever was on his mind with pure honesty was so enlightening, but because it was something I wasn’t used to, I wasn’t sure how to process him. He had so much information and was so articulate for his age, and he had all these cultural references very different from his peers. Like everyone else, I immediately wanted to know what was wrong with him, what caused him to be this way. But after spending some time with him, I was quickly able to let go of trying to figure out his label and instead, focus on his ability to believe in himself and resist conforming to society just to fit in. This is something most adults are incapable of! I saw Billy as a hero inside the walls of conformity, and thus a triumphant voice for humanity.
When did you realize you wanted to shoot a documentary about him? Originally, my intention was not to make a feature length documentary but to include him in a short film. I planned on making a piece that was a collage of everyday heroes who I had street cast and Billy was just going to be one of many. I decided it could be a film when Billy fell in love for the first time as we were filming. After reviewing the footage after the day of shooting, I found it to be one of the most powerful examples of first time love on film and I thought there was potential to make it into an even bigger story. When I got into severaldays of filming and was experiencing Billy’s life through his eyes, I started reflecting on my own life and understanding things in a new way. Most clearly, I learned how sometimes we see things in our lives the way we want to, rather than how they really are in order to survive life's hardships. As Billy says “sometimes the imaginative world is much better than the real world”. The idea that all of us do this in one way or another to Project ourselves really struck me.
What are you looking to achieve with Billy The Kid? We live in a time right now where news and documentaries tend to focus on sensationalism and the drama of an outcome rather than the process by which things occur. I saw Billy’s story as an opportunity for people to experience a journey rather than serve an idea on a platter. To me the process of filmmaking is powerful when one can initiate a dialogue with the viewer, you present something to the audience, and in exchange they take their own experiences and make their own conclusions from the film. As a result, they may be inspired to view the World and themselves differently.
How does Billy’s world look like? That’s what the movie is…
You filmed the documentary in only eight days during summer and winter of 2005. Did you expect to film it in such a short amount of time? Did you think on filming Billy’s first romance: the love story between Billy and Heather? Was it a coincidence? I believe that there is cinematic magic all around us every day and Billy The Kid is an example of that.
Do you think you have something in common with him? ? I believe there’s a part of Billy in all of us.
What was the reaction and feelings of Billy alter seeing himself in the big screen and going to festivals? At first it was very emotional for Billy, especially because his dog Smokey and cat Chloe have since died. It was very painful for him to see them on film. It was hard for him to see himself in situations where he thought people would think he looked like a bad person or stupid. But he hopes that he can use this story to connect with other people and help them feel they are not alone in their personal struggles. He also wants judgmental people to understand the stories behind the individuals they're judging. He and Penny both like the film and are happy with the way it turned out. One of my favorite comments Billy has made about the film was when a journalist asked how he is handling having fans and he said, “I don’t see them as fans but good listeners!”
How do you feel towards Billy’s future after this film? I think much of Billy’s future depends on how society accepts and views him. My hope is that people will listen to Billy’s story and understand that we are all trying to do the best we can in this lifetime and each one of our processes to go about this is unique. There are certain things in the film that the audience really doesn’t know about at the end of the film such as Billy’s diagnosis or Billy’s father drug issues.
Did you left them out in propose? My first intention, like anyone else, was to define what I didn’t understand. I wanted to know what was wrong with him, what made him different. I began to interview and probe people about him to gauge who he was but the responses I was getting were generalizations and stereotypes –the most used one being “emotional disabilities.” It seems like anyone could be categorized that way. What does that even mean? We are in trouble if the world is separated by emotional disabilities! I tried to probe further, and Billy’s mom told me what other people, including experts, had told her and Billy, but nothing was confirmed or diagnosed. Everyone seemed unsure. I intrigued with Billy’s character and who he was as a person and I wanted to learn about him and his experiences rather than other people’s perceptions of him. I wanted the audience to get to know a character for who he was rather than how he was perceived by others. As much as I realize there is a responsibility in acknowledging a better understanding through diagnosis. I wanted this film to show people no matter what are differences are we all are searching for the same things in life: acceptance, love and to be understood regardless of who we are and what our labels of any kind may be. I guess Billy’s mother has a lot to do in the film, not just because she is part of it but also because she allowed doing a film about her son.
Would you have taken a no for an answer? At first there was some hesitation because I was a stranger that had come from another planet (New York City!) but I was clear about what my intentions were, which were to give them a voice and show the world life from Billy's point of view. Society has alienated him, and I wanted him to be heard. I’m very lucky in that they not only trusted me and opened up their lives and home to me, but I felt they were very honest and candid with me and have been supportive through the whole process. Ultimately, they gave me a gift by allowing me to be a part of their lives and in turn to find myself as a filmmaker. Donald Cumming, lead singer of The Virgins, was the Director of Photography in Billy The Kid.
Why did you work with a non-professiona lDP? Donald had also starred in Carter Smith’s Bugcrush alongside Billy and they developed a rapport. Billy admired Donald and it made sense to involve him. I asked Donald to be my DP because he had inspired me and supported me in the whole process. He has a beautiful eye.
Do you see yourself as a documentarian? I feel like the word “documentary” has a certain connotation that leads you to believe that you are going to see a film that breaks down a certain subject, that it will tell you what to think about an “issue”. For me, I consider myself a filmmaker and storyteller. I want to invite people to go on a journey where they have their own experience within the story of Billy The Kid, unguided and unadulterated. There’s been a lot of discusión about my film, whether it’s real or scripted, or if it’s vérité, or not vérité, some people have even called it trans genre and I’m just not interested in the labels of what it is. What I’m interested in is making good films that make people feel things and allow them to have their own reaction whether they are inspired or feel pain or happiness, whether they are compelled to question things and begin to look at the world differently.