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Search for the gentleman racer © cloud South Films august 2011. www.cloudsouth.co.nz19 F Blake Street, Ponsonby, auckland, 1011 - 021 02508007 [email protected]

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Tagline

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Search for the Gentleman Racer

l o g l i n e

A filmmaker goes looking for her

history; the father she never knew

and the very meaning of identity.

t a g l i n e

Who am i?

S e a r c h F o r t h e g e n t l e m a n r a c e r

a cloUD SoUth FilmS ProDUction

Director/cinematographer: thomas Burstyn

Producer/Writer: sumner Burstyn

3Search for the gentleman racer © cloud South Films august 2011. www.cloudsouth.co.nz19 F Blake Street, Ponsonby, auckland, 1011 - 021 02508007 [email protected]


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Preamble“search for the Gentleman racer” is a film about iden-tity and belonging.

there once was a woman who kept changing eve-rything; her hair, her glasses, her furniture, her style, her husbands and her lovers. She moved 32 times and changed her name seven times. this woman is the subject of our film. For what is she searching?

identity as a concrete concept would hardly occur to you or i if it were not denied to us in some way. in other words, the thought of ‘having an identity’ is not relevant when ‘belonging’ is your situation, a condition with no alternative.

‘Who am i?’ may seem the world’s oldest question. But until recently in our human journey, identity was rooted in time and place, determined by birth. Very few occasions arose for questioning our pro-venance.

today we are in what is known to philosophers as

P r e a m B l e


the liquid modern era1; a time of altering states where identity is no longer fixed but must be re-invented over and over. Our world is sliced into discor-dant fragments while our individual lives are a parade of uncoordinated epi-sodes. in the broadest sense we are nations of displaced immigrants.

this issue of la memete2 (the consistency and continuity of our identity over time) may be the defining quest of our age and is a central theme of our film.

Many of us are searching for the solid in the fluidity of our lives. Perhaps be-cause of the many identities we must traverse, genealogy has become, almost overnight, the biggest hobby in the developed world.

in the family history industry it’s called ‘narrative therapy’, the idea that our identities are shaped by our forebears’ history.

Brad argent, who runs www.ancestory.com says the number of new Zealan-ders and australians who visit family history websites has increased by 58% in the last three years. his company has 1.8 million paid subscribers and a market capitalisation of $1.6 billion.

Argent says the phenomenal interest in family history reflects the existential crisis of our age. he comments that as baby-boomers we used psychedelics



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to find ourselves, today DNA and family history has become our drug of choice.”

Fifty million americans are believed to be actively tracing their roots. Family-Search.org receives about 10 million hits a day. tV series’ such as “Who Do You think You are?”, “Generations Project” and “Find My Family” are all broadcast hits.

At the same time as this explosion of interest in genealogy, science & techno-logy are severing genetic links, creating a new generation of people without history.

it is against this backdrop of contemporary philosophy, science and social change that New Zealand filmmaker Sumner Burstyn will set out on the trail of her history.

Philosopher Zygmunt Bauman3 likened identity-construction to assembling a jigsaw puzzle that has lost its box: With no image to consult one may never know which pieces are missing thereby lose confidence that they are fitting in the right place, let alone what the final image might look like.

Politically the film comes at an interesting time in New Zealand where inter-



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national and local pressure to overturn the adop-tion Act 1955 intensifies. the act has been described as an archaic, barbaric and illegal piece of legislation. the ministry of Jus-tice has advised that it is discriminatory (specifically where it expunges lineage) and likely to be in breach of this country’s anti- discrimination laws. they state: “the act is fragmented, perpetuates discri-minatory practices, creates a system which is open to abuse, falls short of our international obligations and does not reflect today’s social conditions and public attitudes.” remarkably the act continues to be vigorously applied in new Zealand. the efforts to right this will feature in the film.

“search for the Gentleman racer”, set against the histo-rical popularity of Formula one racing is another facet of this New Zealand story. During the fifties and sixties New Zealand was on the world cham-pionship Grand Prix circuit. This was the golden age of motor racing. the sport was so popular that race day at ardmore reportedly drew crowds of

of 65,000. A short film made by the NFU in 1961 New Zealand Grand Prix4 (featuring Jo Bonnier) shows just how drivers were treated like movie stars wherever they went. Vintage racing is consistently in the top 10 titles on the “NZ on screen” website.

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zygmunt_Bauman#Liquid_modernity2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Ric%C5%93ur http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ricoeur/3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zygmunt_Bauman 4 http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/new-zealand-grand-prix-1961

She’s searching for...?


Searching for identity is one of the most enduring storylines from history and in movies and literature. in american indian mythology the search for a father is the symbol of the search for identity. in toni morrison’s classic “song of solomon” for instance, identity is not given, it is forged. the novel is about how a person’s identity is inextricably linked to their history. And of course in ridley Scott’s “Blade runner”, deals with our search for identity.

S h e ’ S S e a r c h i n g F o r . . . ?

gentleman racer follows in the path laid down by films such as “tell them Who You are” and “My ar-chitect”. Both are about a son’s search for himself in the character of his father.in the multi-award winning “tell them Who You are”, Mark Wexler, son of acclaimed cinematographer Haskell Wexler confronts his difficult father by turning the camera on him. What results is a portrait of an irascible genius and a son’s journey from under the shadow of a famous father.

In the box-office hit “My architect”, director na-thaniel Kahn attempts to know the hidden heart of his father, famed architect louis Kahn, through his work.

Sumner Burstyn believes, but is not sure that she is the illegitimate daughter of Swedish Formula one racer Joakim Bonnier.

She is searching for the far more than the man seen smiling and waving from the winner’s podium.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bonniers_dinner.jpg_

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is there anything of him, his character or nature, in her? Will knowing about him and his history help her to understand herself and the legacy she is crea-ting for her children? Does the vast Bonnier family history, and its long line of wealthy ancestors have any value for an egalitarian Kiwi woman? at the heart of this famous family there is a feud – a son disowned, children made homeless, an inheritance stolen. this split between Jo and his wider family has never been made public.

Sumner will journey to Sweden to meet her half brothers. in many ways this is also a road movie, where the objective, obtaining the Dna required to prove he is her father, is the goal. We all know it’s the journey itself that counts. What will Sumner discover about the famous racer? as she meets with legendary Formula one drivers, delving into the world her mother also ventured into, albeit from a very different place, will she discover someone like herself or a complete stranger?

What will we learn about identity in a broad sense as we talk to those involved in the reproductive industry? We reflect on the reality for the thousands of people being created completely severed from their histories. all this sits wi-thin the broader paradigm of the massive family history industry. our story is



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made emotionally accessible through the intimate musings of one woman in search of her own ancestry.

The film ends with the results of a DNA test where Sumner and audience find out together if this history she has been seeking is really hers. mystery novel.

at stake is the possibility that the heritage she is seeking will not be hers and that she will find her-self without recourse to a history. there is no plan B, no other potential genealogy to explore. Sumner says that the need for truth trumps the possibility of a negative test result. She adds that to live wi-thout a whakapapa, no map, no genealogy at all, is a special challenge. “You are a mystery to your-self. You have no ground zero, no starting point, no compass as you attempt to assemble your story.”

As Liquid Moderns we are freed from the expecta-tions and limitations of birth. So why then are we so obsessed with anchoring ourselves in history? and in our human journey, why is it so important to know where we come from?

Scope



The lines between documentary and fiction movie are collapsing. increasingly documentary behaves in the market like a full-fledged drama. Partly due to the shift away from single subject reportage masquerading as documentary. Part is filmmakers re-inventing the genre to bring drama and narrative to the big screen doco. if “search for the Gentleman racer” was the former it would be about adoption in general or the adop-tion act 1955, or Jo Bonnier, or new reproductive technologies, or the family history industry. But the stakes are much higher. “Gentleman racer” is high concept: it is about emotion and impulse and so-ciety. it is about the meaning of life from the ephe-meral PoV of identity and belonging.

in the esoteric detective novel “the sensualist”, au-thor Barbara hodgkin’s protagonist searches for her lost lover. as she uncovers each clue to his whe-reabouts her senses are awakened one by one; taste, touch, sight etc. it is this awakening that makes the book so compelling.

S c o P e

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in the same way we will treat “Gentleman racer” like an enigmatic and intricate mystery novel, revealing Sumner’s own identity slowly, both visually and psy-chologically. This approach mirrors the subtext perfectly – the sleuthing of identity so often obscure and tenebrous.

In a filmic sense we don’t do talking heads. We start wide. We search for visual metaphor. We urge the audience to think and query. We engage and distract our subjects to elicit deeper revelation. We weave strands of single issues and opposing subjects to create comprehensive understandings of the broader narrative. We work to create a whole picture assembled from ideas, clues and images presented during the 80 or so minutes of our film. Revelations grow out of every chapter in the story we tell. each element builds upon the previous to create a seamless and encompassing story that impacts on emotion before intellect.

“Identity would seem to be the garment with which one covers the nakedness of the self,” James Baldwin



“search for the Gentleman racer” has a series of audiences: First is the festival programmer. on viewing the teaser and outline helen du toit an international festival programming consultant who has programmed for toronto, Seattle and Palm Springs international Film Festivals and recent Programming Direc-tor for Palm Springs says, “aBSolUtelY, this would be a big hit at festivals. the search for identity is a very strong theme, this type of subject matter is totally relevant and contemporary and as a festival selector, assuming all other elements are present, would tick all the boxes for us.» (Letter attached)ms. du toit goes on to say that all programmers endeavour to put themselves into the audiences’ seats. “We’re always looking for films that are as stimula-ting and moving as possible.”Beyond the festival circuit “Gentleman racer” has healthy box office potential. It will immediately tap into the vintage Formula one crowd. motor racing is one of the world’s most watched television sports. on average about 55 million people the world over watch F1 races live. Grand Prix Insider’s Mario-Alberto Bauer has already spotted the film on his heavily subscribed blog. Interest in vintage F1 has never been higher with recreated races and remarkably active on-line communities all over the world. in new Zealand vintage Formula one is some of the most downloaded material on the new Zealand Film website.

With crossover genres into genealogy we will tap into the fastest growing hobby in america and the UK. overwhelming demand recently forced the

Audiencea U D i e n c e

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British Public Record Office to take its new web-site site offline amid fears the entire UK telephone network could be paralyzed by the tremendous de-mand. The Family History Library (six to seven million hits per day) says genealogy touches a fundamental need. “it’s universal, crossing all faiths and cultures. The desire to find out who we are is in each of us. The positive benefits of knowing our heritage, gives us a sense of responsibility and self-esteem.»

Beyond all this Gentleman Racer is a film em-bedded with popular science. Seen as the bridge between professional scientific literature and the realms of popular political and cultural discourse, popular science is often the vehicle for canvassing debate on social and political issues.

a full release strategy and marketing plan would be written as part of the production of the film.



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“the sense of identity provides the ability to experience one’s self as something that has continuity and sameness, and to act accordingly.” erik h. erikson



Family legend says Burstyn’s mother fell in love in 1959 with the newly mar-ried Jo Bonnier. it was a racetrack romance. When she became pregnant he rejected her. She became one of the thousands of women in 1960’s nZ to find them selves expelled from society, cast out as immoral and unfit.

Born in Sweden, Bonnier spoke seven languages, collected modern art, kept his McLaren racecar on the wall and was expected to enter the family pu-blishing business. he was killed at le mans on the eve of retiring from racing in 1972.

When Pamela Sumner died in 1983 in a plane crash in madrid she was head of royal fashion house norman hartnell. She was on her way to new Zealand to meet the daughter she had adopted out 23 years earlier.

on turning 43 Sumner realised she had outlived her maternal grandmother, mother and father. All died at the age of 42 and Sumner had not expected to pass this magic number. She decided to unravel her origins and in so doing explore a defining issue.

oscar Wilde said, “one’s past is what one is.” in “Blade runner”, harrison Ford’s character, Deckard says of the replicant roy: «all he’d ever wanted were the same answers the rest of us want. Where did i come from? Where am I going?»

BackgroundB a c K g r o U n D

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“the value of identity of course is that so often with it comes purpose.”

richard r. grant



Setting the sceneS e t t i n g t h e S c e n e

Documentary is by nature unpredictable. You set out to make a film about one thing and it turns into something else entirely. We have a skeleton of ideas, images and concepts we will explore and a list of people we plan to interview.

as noted, gentleman racer is part detective story. We open on Sumner’s quest to find the characters and imprint of her forebears. and we stay true to this quest, the film’s narrative & emotive spine, through to the final DNA reveal.

We’ll meet a handful of Formula one’s greatest surviving drivers from the ‘golden age’ of motor racing such as mario andretti, chris amon, Vic el-ford, Dan gurney and Jackie Stewart. We’ll discuss the meaning of being in the ‘liquid modern age’ with philosophers such as the brilliant Polish philo-sopher Zygmunt Bauman.

We’ll discuss identity as the formative element in society with ridley Scott. We’ll uncover why new

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Zealand leads the world in stranger adoption and how the law that enabled it still applies today, despite major international pressure for change.

We’ll meet the leaders of the fast growing family history industry. We will also touch on today’s version of closed adoption – anonymous gametes donation and how this impacts on the humans created.

We will interview: the world-renowned new Zealand creator of “Narrative therapy” David epston. We have commitment from leading bioethics campai-gner and British Peer lord alton as well as Dr. Dennis Sullivan, Professor of Biology at the centre for Bioethics at cedarville University, oh, USa.

We have full access to the vintage photo and moving image library of award winning French photojournalist Bernard Cahier, including his extensive per-sonal library of Bonnier images. We have secured full access to the moving image archive of auto Sports marketing in Baltimore, including their specta-cular footage from the 1972 feature film “the speed Merchants”, and including previously unseen footage of Jo Bonnier.

We will go to Stockholm where we will meet a life long Jo Bonnier fan who runs a private museum dedicated to Jo’s life and memory. and there we will meet with Jo Bonnier’s legitimate sons. Kim and Jonas Bonnier have agreed to


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participate in the film and have given us access to their family photo and mo-ving image records.

in an ironic twist Jo Bonnier’s father was Professor gert Bonnier a pioneering genetic scientist. at the time Sumner was being placed with a stranger family Gert was presenting one of the first papers on inherited genetic traits.

However while Sumner’s extensive family research verifies Jo Bonnier as Pa-mela’s secret lover and the father of her child, his name does not appear on her birth certificate.

the only means to truly know will be through Dna testing. the family has agreed to this. the precipitous nature of the moment when Sumner and all of us discover if this man, this history she has been researching is really hers, is undeniable. This is the essence of the question at the heart of this film: What is the meaning of identity and belonging? and does it matter where we come from?

in terms of the visual, an introduction will establish the broad narrative out-line.

in “this Way of Life” it was the son waiting for his father and hearing the gunshot - ‘that’s my Dad!’ in “Yolanda’s Last Portrait” it is the obsessive making and re-making of a bed to reflect the chaotic in-ner life of the artist. Both iconic visual signatures came in the edit. We have yet to select the ope-ning visual metaphor for “gentleman racer”. Pe-rhaps the long lens image of Sumner walking the F1 le mans track on a misty morning will provide that signature. We know it will reveal itself in time.

Sumner Burstyn says the legend of her father, the Formula one driver, runs silently through the cor-ridors of her life. “Search for the gentleman ra-cer” embraces the universal narrative: ‘Who am i?’

While this story is intensely personal, at the same time it explores the broad questions of heritage and belonging that many of us face.

in the end each viewer will have to ask themselves


the same question that propelled Sumner into ma-king this film: Who am I? And why is this question so important in our human journey?

“search for the Gentleman racer” is the world’s oldest story and perhaps the most relevant.

“americans may have no identity, but they do have wonderful teeth.”

Jean Baudrillard

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