We interviewed Vanessa Yuille and Matthew Jacobs, directors of Doctor Who Am I, presented in official selection at the 2022 Melbourne Documentary Film Festival, which we are covering as official media partner.
As proud Official media partner of the 2022 Melbourne Documentary Film Festival, we are offering you a series of interviews with the filmmakers in competition at this year’s MDFF, running in person on July 21-31 and online on July 1-31.
“Family is bigger on the inside!” In Doctor Who Am I, documentary filmmaker Vanessa Yuille (in her debut feature) follows friend and co-director Matthew Jacobs (British writer of the 1996 TV movie Doctor Who) as he is reluctantly pulled back into the fandom that rejected his work 25 years earlier. The journey not only becomes hilarious and emotionally perilous for the duo but also reveals a touching and quirky face-off between the American Doctor Who fans and Matthew himself. As they explore the fandom, Matthew unexpectedly finds himself a kindred part of this close-knit, yet vast, family of fans. The documentary deals with the desire to belong to a community, and how people can become nourished and enriched by the experience.
We were delighted to chat with co-directors Vanessa Yuille and Matthew Jacobs, about their collaboration, and their perspective on the meaning of the film.
“Artistically, we both love it when stories get meta, and ultimately “Doctor Who Am I” is a documentary about making a documentary.”
What is the main theme of the film to your eyes?
Matthew Jacobs: Great question, I think it’s all about acceptance. The way we accept narratives into our lives and use them to help us cope with “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.” The way we accept each other as family and friends within a fan community. And ultimately the way we accept our own identity and the affect we have on others.
Vanessa Yuille: Acceptance – in terms of being accepted by a group of people as well as accepting who you are. Identity is another closely related theme. We even ask the question, “Who am I?” in the title, and it’s a central question in the film. You can’t accept others unless you accept yourself. You can’t accept yourself until you know who you are.
Can you comment on your collaboration? How did the project start, and how did you work together?
Matthew Jacobs: Vanessa had worked variously as an assistant director, co-producer and co-star on the two previous feature films I had written, directed and edited: Your Good Friend (2012) and Bar America (2014). She had also proved herself as a director and editor with her documentary short An American Contradiction. I wanted to work with her again and I’d never done a feature documentary, so when she suggested we make a movie together about my journey into the world of Doctor Who fans, I was both filled with trepidation and delight. A wonderful combination!
Vanessa Yuille: Matthew and I had worked together before and were already friends. I had no idea that he write The Eighth Doctor. Out of all the movies he’d written and directed, he never mentioned it. Once he gave me the lowdown on the TV movie, it seemed like a hilarious premise for a documentary (albeit at Matthew’s brave expense!). It was our glee of “run and gun” filmmaking, our naïve gusto for the next project, that we threw ourselves into it, not knowing how long it would take us to finish. As co-directors there’s always give and take, but trusting one another is at the core of it. We’re still friends, so that must count for something.
What was your quest when you started working on the film? What were you looking for?
Matthew Jacobs: At first it was to get to the bottom of why people become fans of the Doctor and how did that relate to a universal search for identity, but as the journey progressed we realized the quest was as much a personal one as it was a communal one. We slowly found the story over the years of editing.
Vanessa Yuille: Most documentaries are found in the edit, and this was no exception. Matthew placed a lot of trust in me in the edit room. The challenge was to balance the wonderful micro stories of the fans with Matthew’s journey. We met so many lovely people, and we had to finish it for them. As an American, I wanted to share the American Doctor Who fans with the world. Matthew did too.
Do you believe that beyond the Whoniverse, the film deals with a larger feeling: the necessity to belong to a group, a community etc.?
Matthew Jacobs: Yes, and we explore those larger issues in the movie. You can certainly see how diverse WHO fandom is, in all respects, especially how it embraces all ages.
Vanessa Yuille: This film touches those in the Whoniverse as well as those outside of it. You don’t have to know anything about Doctor Who in order to relate to relate to the universal themes of acceptance and finding a family. We all want to belong somewhere.
Can you comment on the main directing/artistic choices you implemented to tell this story?
Matthew Jacobs: I always let my instincts guide my directorial choices and this was no different, except I also had to respect Vanessa’s instincts as well because we were co-directing. There’s an element of compromise whenever you direct. But here the challenge was definitely more complex.
Vanessa Yuille: I always wanted to focus the story on Matthew and that took a little convincing, primarily in the edit room. While we were shooting we didn’t know what the story was because it was happening around us. Artistically, we both love it when stories get meta, and ultimately Doctor Who Am I is a documentary about making a documentary. There are lots of meta-moments in this film that keep us entertained.
What’s your definition of a family?
Matthew Jacobs: Acceptance, respect, loyalty and love are what you hope to find in a family. But of course most families are pretty dysfunctional and struggle to stay afloat. And it’s that struggle that always fascinates me!
Vanessa Yuille: Some families you choose and others you don’t. Some families you want to hang out with and others you don’t. Hopefully everyone can find their tribe, a good family that nourishes, respects, accepts and stands by you.
