The World's Best Film

My family were Polish refugees who fled Europe and then Russia to Australia after World War 2. Like the descendants of many immigrant families, while I was growing up, I was told to get a real job and make an honest living. My grandparents Uszer and Dina Fjainsilber came to Australia as tailors with nothing but the clothes on their back. Through years of hard work and dedication they set up a back room sewing shop, which eventually became a clothing factory.

With their struggles in mind, I felt unsure of what to do with my life. What could I do of value with my time? Most of my family had been denied such a choice by the events and circumstances of the world around them.

For as long as I can remember I wanted to make films. But like many dreamers I was told that the chances of success were a million to one.

My grandmother had always wanted my mother, Lilly, to be a lawyer, but she was never given the opportunity. My mother told me while growing up that whichever path I chose to follow that I should just try my best at whatever I chose to do. I decided to study a media law degree because my parents told me it was a great back up plan. It felt poignant to follow the path my grandmother always wanted for her daughter. To place one step forward towards doing something valuable with my time and helping people with my new knowledge.

I finished 6 years of studies in Australia and Sweden and began preparations to become a solicitor. During my studies I had moved to Sweden for one year and developed a close affinity for the region of the world that my family had since fled. When I visited the streets of Poland that my grandparents had walked generations before, I felt like I had been there before.

I flew back to Australia to finish my studies in 2012. Things were going swimmingly, but in 2014, something completely out of the blue happened.

I was diagnosed with a large 1 kilogram tumour between my lungs and heart.

Instantly my priorities in life shifted. I thought about the family and friends I would leave behind and all the things I would never be able to do again. What would I leave behind? What was my contribution? What had I really achieved? I thought about all the stories I wanted to tell but never would. All the films I dreamt of making, but never pursued. What would I do if I was given a second chance?

I knew that with the time I had left, I wanted to see as much of the world as possible and tell as many stories as I could. I wanted to leave something behind for people that were feeling lost because of circumstances outside of their control. I wanted to make a guidebook on how to find purpose in moments of extreme weakness and vulnerability.

Once I left hospital and was given a clear bill of health I worked towards flying back to Europe to reconnect with my family history and my friends I’d met on my exchange while studying. To save up money for travel I attained mundane jobs at production companies that I didn’t enjoy. I struggled at these jobs because they were not core to my belief of doing something useful and valuable with my second chance. I thought about all the things of more value I could be spending my time on. I wondered if other people also felt the pressure to be the best at something or do something exceptional or different with their time. Was it possible to meet some of these interesting people?

Once I’d had enough of my dead end job I set off around the world to try and make ‘The World’s Best Film’ that I could and find people that strive to be the world’s best at whatever they choose to do. I allowed myself to be both participant and spectator to the world around me. Wherever possible immersing myself in the culture and language of the country I was in, whether it was in Sweden, Thailand or Romania. Everything was left to chance, my plans were flight tickets and friend’s couches and I had no preconceived expectations of what I would discover along the way. I began a process of allowing the film to tell me where the story would go rather than steering the film into a territory it was not meant to go.

What started off as a simple scene about a town planner in Stockholm became the start of an international journey, five years in the making.

Between 2014-2019 I met people from Europe, West Africa, USA, Thailand and Australia. Each person I interacted with became more than just a representation of what they did for a living. Many of them struggled with the same things; pressure from their family and friends to succeed, the desire to leave something behind and the need to feel satisfied in what they chose to do for a living.

During my journey to find the best I went through many common personal struggles; from family members tragically passing away, relationship breakdowns to the mentally and physically taxing recovery process from the surgical removal of my tumour. I did not initially set out to include myself in the stories of those that I documented but over the years it became apparent that I needed to provide the context and spirit of why I was speaking to the people I chose to speak to. To give both an audience and myself clarity on the reasons why these individuals were being documented.

I began to realise that in my quest to find the best occupation I became more fascinated about the quest to find the person or people living their best way of life. What was it like to do something you always wanted to do? What was it like to do something you were told to do from an early age? Was one way of life better than the other? What was the purpose of it all?

Perhaps due to worldwide instability and sweeping pessimism around the globe, it’s more important to release this story to the world now.

It’s my hope that people who watch this film will become inspired to do whatever the little kid inside their head and heart dreamt they should do before the pressures of the world told them to think again.

I understand not everyone in the world can have the luxury and privilege of doing these things in some of the countries featured. I hope to continue telling these stories around the world particularly in countries where people need this message louder and clearer than ever.

I’m grateful that I used my second chance to become a solicitor and lived to tell this tale.