Only 82

An 82-year-old needs to look for a job to support herself and her family, but companies don't want to hire her because of her age. She's trying to be active so as to prove her value to society.

  • Hongyu Chen
    Director
  • Kimberly Patricia Chacón
    Director
  • Hongyu Chen
    Producer
  • Kimberly Patricia Chacón
    Producer
  • Jane Orendain
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    10 minutes 21 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 20, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    800 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English, Spanish
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Columbia Journalism School
Director Biography - Hongyu Chen, Kimberly Patricia Chacón

Hongyu (Nancy) Chen, born in China, is a Chinese-English bilingual reporter who recently graduated from Columbia Journalism School where she fell in love with older adults. She specializes in documentary filmmaking. She is now working at Documented NY covering the Chinese immigrant community in New York City. Prior to Columbia, she studied International Relations at the Australian National University.

Kimberly (Kimmy) Chacón is a recent graduate of Columbia Journalism School. She reported on women in sports, the Latinx community, and older adults in New York. She is originally from Los Angeles, California, where she studied Journalism at California State University Northridge. There, she fell in love with documentary and long-form storytelling, being able to captivate stories in-depth.

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Director Statement

In our film, "Only 82," we followed Jane Orendain, an 82-year-old Bronx resident who is still searching for a job in New York. Through our reporting experiences, we fell in love with the older adult population and also realized how much they are often overlooked by society. We would like to take a fresh approach and show how active and vibrant this population is.

There is a growing aging population in New York and in the country in general. We hope that our film will spark discussions of whether and how society can provide enough resources to support this population now and in the future.

Jane's struggle of finding an appropriate job can be easily related to everyone else's, and it's particularly hard at her age. Although she didn't get her ideal job, we ended on a positive note that she is still trying to live her full life. We hope our film will remind the audience that we will all eventually face aging so it is important to think about how we would like to age and be more compassionate toward the population. By presenting a perspective from an 82-year-old, we hope society will become even more inclusive and supportive of its members.