Vancouver-based documentarian Laurent Goldstein wants to change lives and his latest film, Your Second Fifty, aims to do just that.
Based on the book Your Second Fifty: Rising Above the Myths of Aging by Calgarian motivational speaker Frank Moffatt, and produced with co-operation from the author, the film encourages people to live active, fulfilling lives rather than resign themselves to old age.
The idea for a film adaptation came during a chance meeting between Goldstein and Moffat. The pair quickly started jotting down their thoughts on how the documentary should unfold.
“I was fascinated by the topic,” Goldstein said.
“I’ve always been very interested by the concept of time, so when he mentioned Your Second Fifty and the fact that the book is about living the second part of your life to its full potential, I loved that.”
The film discusses cultivating the financial, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual sides of life and includes dozens of interviews with experts in those fields.
“We have doctors, scientists, motivational speakers, authors, coaches, artists and then regular people who do amazing things in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s,” Goldstein said, mentioning a 70-year-old woman who sailed around the world solo and a 71-year-old man who climbed Mt. Everest without an oxygen tank.
A screening of the film will take place April 4 at the Stan Hagen Theatre. Tickets are available at Edible Island Whole Foods Market. A wellness panel of local experts will share their insights.
Although the film may appear to target those entering middle age, Goldstein said he hasn’t been surprised the message is also resonating with younger people as well. He said he was approached by a teenager after a screening in Surrey who told him he was “missing the mark.”
“He said, ‘Laurent, you should be marketing your film to the schools so that the young people will actually take all the good habits in life so they don’t wait until they are 40 or 50 to actually take the positive steps that we need to take in order to live a great life.'”
Goldstein said many of the habits suggested in the film can be implemented immediately, such as adopting a positive, proactive outlook on life. He said there is a scientific basis behind the old adage of “mind over matter.”
“Our thoughts condition how we live to a really great extent and our thoughts condition how we age…” he said.
“If you think you’re going to age a certain way according to a certain model that has been taught to us by our parents or grandparents and by society, for example that when you’re 65 you’re supposed to retire and maybe pick up golf … or if you believe that because there is cancer running your family that you’re going to get it, then there’s a good chance these things will happen. But it doesn’t have to be that way at all.”
—Nanaimo News Bulletin
