Subject/Investigator Sierra Barter & Filmmaker Skye Borgman talk to The Inside Reel about approach and structure in regards to their new documentary film for Max: “The Truth About Jim”.
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TVTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC]
00:10 I don't even know what to feel.
00:13 >> Do you think that your grandfather was involved?
00:17 >> It sounds nuts, but here's the reality.
00:19 Somebody's grandpa was the serial killer.
00:22 Was it mine?
00:23 I don't know.
00:25 But somebody's grandpa was.
00:27 [MUSIC]
00:31 >> And for you, Sierra, can you talk about that?
00:33 Because you have to go and talk to everybody, talk to Michael, talk to,
00:37 I mean, Christy, the way you get her to open up, that's so crucial to this story.
00:43 Because it shows what Jim did, and there's no question about it in that thing.
00:50 And there's no question really overall, but could you sort of talk about and
00:54 doing that, going to Michael, going to your step,
00:58 would you consider it's not your stepmother, the other wives of Jim.
01:05 But most people, they're like, we don't wanna talk about it.
01:09 But you got them to talk, you got them to open up.
01:11 And probably because they saw that you were authentic and
01:14 you were very honest with them about what you were doing.
01:17 >> Yeah, I mean, it was a long process.
01:21 I think for me, there was maybe a year prior to even meeting Sky,
01:25 of researching and getting it all ready to get to a place where we
01:30 had information about Jim enough.
01:33 But with the family members, it was always really difficult for
01:37 me because I'm very, very conscious and sensitive to not want to re-traumatize
01:42 someone or open up a wound that they don't wanna deal with.
01:46 I feel that it's always up to the person to tell their story.
01:49 So it was really difficult at times,
01:51 I felt a lot of anxiety when approaching them.
01:54 But I was always very upfront with kind of telling my story as well and
01:59 being like this is where the origins of this lie for me.
02:04 And I think that that always also kept me going too on the days when it was really,
02:09 really difficult.
02:10 And there's some scenes specifically in it after we go to the ice arena,
02:15 that was like a very difficult day for me.
02:19 And I was alone and not by anybody and it was really, really difficult.
02:22 But it was always just remembering who I was when I was 18,
02:27 when the first incident happened to me and how I really needed guidance and
02:32 I didn't get it.
02:33 And so for me, it was like when I was thinking about Christie as a young girl or
02:38 Val as a young girl, all the Santa Rosa girls, I was thinking about them and
02:43 thinking about myself at that age and how I would have really needed that guidance.
02:48 And so I just kept pushing forward with that notion of like,
02:52 I'm gonna get some kind of justice, whatever it is,
02:56 for people who haven't had it because that's what I needed.
02:59 [MUSIC]
03:03 >> Jim was something that I've never encountered before.
03:07 He was well respected in the community.
03:09 >> He seemed like a really nice teacher.
03:12 >> There's a lot of people that still to this day look up to him, but
03:16 it's far darker.
03:18 >> I'm just trying to figure out when I started thinking that he killed people.
03:24 [MUSIC]
03:26 >> My step grandfather was a man named Jim Mordecai.
03:30 My entire life I have heard horror stories about him.
03:33 >> He beat us up, he put us down.
03:36 >> He either was the most charming man you were ever gonna meet or
03:39 he was your worst nightmare.
03:41 >> But it also gives other people the courage, seeing you do it,
03:44 gives other people the courage to come forward.
03:46 Can you talk about that?
03:48 Yeah, cuz you don't want it to be an educational piece, but
03:50 you also want it to be a very human piece.
03:53 >> Yeah, I think for me, I was really conscious of wanting to give this
03:58 gift back to my family, that was really where the base of it starts for me.
04:03 I'm a different generation than all of them.
04:06 My generation, it's not perfect, but it's a different generation in
04:11 the sense that we do talk about these things and we are pretty vocal about it.
04:16 And so I figured that it was a good opportunity for them, for
04:20 everything that they did for me to give back in the sense of I come from this
04:25 generation that we are for whatever reason less afraid or have a different space.
04:31 Or that just society is different, that we can speak up about these things.
04:37 And so I really wanted to give them that platform.
04:41 And really all of it is because of them,
04:43 because if they hadn't done all the things that they did,
04:46 I would certainly not have any of the courage that I have at all.
04:50 [LAUGH]
04:52 >> Being sexually assaulted by your step parent who happens to be a teacher,
04:56 it just made me shut down.
04:58 >> He would say awful things, I was terrified of him.
05:04 >> I remember my mom first mentioning that she thought Jim could have been
05:07 a murderer.
05:08 Maybe she wasn't just being my crazy mom, maybe this was based in some reality.
05:13 >> It would not shock me if Jim had murdered some women.
05:17 I actually probably would be shocked if he didn't do it.
05:20 >> Sky, can you talk about that taking, because obviously there's the whole
05:24 movie.
05:24 I think at one point, Sierra, your mom sees footage of Jim and it triggers her.
05:31 There's all those different things.
05:32 Can you talk about, Sky, looking at the material, bringing it together, but
05:37 also looking at the aspects of the different footage that you had from,
05:43 obviously, news platforms, all that.
05:45 Because you want to create a certain element, and yet you also have the music.
05:49 The music very much is key to this as well.
05:52 Could you talk about that as a filmmaker?
05:55 It's hard to step back from a story like this, you have to be in it.
05:59 Can you talk about sort of looking at it both subjectively and
06:02 objectively at the same time?
06:05 >> Yeah, there were definitely, I mean, we were, I mean, I'll say sort of
06:09 lucky as filmmakers that Janae had kept, I think there was close to 80 rolls of
06:16 the 8mm film of Family Archive.
06:19 And we got that on the same day that we actually went and met Janae and filmed
06:25 the scene with Janae.
06:27 She sort of handed over this treasure trove, really, of family movies.
06:31 And so being able to sort of sit there and go through that, because it was just me
06:37 at that point, I kind of strung it up on a player, player, and watched it all.
06:42 And it started to get a little bit of a sense of who Jim was.
06:47 I'd heard these stories, but it wasn't until a lot, I mean,
06:51 quite a bit into filming that I was really able to see that and
06:55 know who he was and what he did.
06:57 And was able to kind of fold that in.
07:01 It's always challenging, I think, because, you know,
07:04 Sierra talked about not wanting to re-traumatize.
07:07 And I think, I mean, honestly, I think just the fact, the act of making a
07:12 documentary is, I mean, like if you were to put a definition, it's probably like
07:16 crime documentary re-traumatizing, you know?
07:18 I mean, I think it can go hand in hand.
07:22 The hope is, honestly, the hope is that it's, that there's a purpose to it,
07:26 honestly, because it is hard and it is re-traumatizing.
07:29 And I know with all of the family members, we get done with a tough day.
07:33 And I mean, I'd say they were almost all tough days.
07:36 You know, people would have to build themselves back up.
07:40 They have to heal after that.
07:42 Ultimately, I do feel like it was a healing process.
07:44 I mean, I'm happy to hear Sierra say that.
07:46 I know I've talked to Shannon.
07:47 She's mentioned the same thing.
07:49 But it is a lot to sort of break yourself down and come back up.
07:53 So creating a space as much as you can, where you just get, you create a safe
07:59 space and try to get rid of all the stuff.
08:02 It can't always happen, but it's the goal to just try to create the safest
08:05 space possible so that, so that you can get, you know, so that both of those
08:09 sides of the brain come together.
08:10 You can get the archive you need to help tell the story and you can get the
08:14 emotion that you need from the participants to tell the story.
08:16 Authorities say they have six of these homicides, apparently all by the same
08:21 mad killer.
08:22 The similarities are just too weird.
08:24 Does he resemble the person you might have seen?
08:27 Holy shit.
08:29 I need to know lots more.
08:30 Oh my gosh, that knife.
08:36 Yeah.
08:37 Yeah.
08:38 Yeah.
08:39 Yeah.
08:40 Yeah.
08:41 Yeah.
08:42 Yeah.
08:43 Yeah.
08:44 Yeah.
08:45 Yeah.
08:46 (dramatic music)
08:49 [BLANK_AUDIO]