Spoken portrait for an eightieth birthday

This 17 minute ‘spoken portrait’ of Margareta Holloway was commissioned by her children as an 80th birthday gift. It features nine of Margareta’s closest friends and family recalling different stages in her life, talking about their friendship and wishing her a happy birthday.

We worked closely with Margareta\’s son Dan to map out key aspects of her life and identify suitable people to approach to speak. Dan chased down names and dates, gathered phone numbers and emails, and then contacted the interviewees to explain the project. We followed up with them directly to arrange a time to talk and give an idea of the kinds of things to be prepared to cover. We conducted all of the interviews by phone, including long-distance calls to Sweden and South Carolina, USA. The traditional folk songs are performed by one of the interviewees, Dave Houghton, and his group Flash Company.