Filmmaker and writer Par Parekh shares his BTS process and creative direction for his newest film ‘Sister Una Lived A Good Death’

Film director, producer and writer Par Parekh shared his process creating documentaries and films based on real-life people, as his newest film ‘Sister Una Lived A Good Death’ has premiered on PBS. 

Parekh explained that as a filmmaker, he hones in on subjects for films based on the type of project he’s creating. The film industry is one of constant hussle, and art that gets industrialized needs to keep going in a multitude of ways, whether it’s funding or production. 

“As I get older, what feels right currently, what’s in my mind, what’s in the world, what do I feel like I want to say something about? I’ll observe people, and get a sense of that’s a ‘funny turn of phrase’, and that will get my brain going.” 

He shares that one must approach life in playfulness, because it can provide you with a lot of stories if you go into it with the right mindset, and that’s how he stumbled upon Sister Una’s journey. 

“From when I met Sister Una to today is almost exactly six years, and that gives you an idea of how long it takes – most of that was pitching and fundraising – and through the edit, it was constantly in our soul, even if we weren’t actively working on it at the time.” 

Although it seems like Parekh and Sister Una couldn’t be more different, he explained that they shared one thing in common: they share a lot of passions. 

“In the modern zeitgeist, there’s this confusion: how can a man raised in Hindu, and pretty much atheist, and not firmly believing in a godhead, how does he connect with a deeply devout Catholic nun? It’s because we love people!” 

He goes on to say that Sister Una and him connected based on her humor and her personality, and they both had a love for music, specifically Irish music. 

“What started off as a short film – it was just going to be a short love letter to her friend – turned into a deeper, longer film, partly because the conversations we started having were deeper.” 

Sister Una’s message is universal: all humans die, and we need to talk about it. Parekh felt like she was the perfect “vehicle” for this message, because she was so humorous, a great human being. 

In his process to film the documentary, Parekh wanted to use her funeral as the opening scene and found a drone to film the overhead procession. He wanted audiences to know what happens in the end (that she passes away), but still wonder as they continue to watch the film.