The Great Kate

In the middle of all (the necessary) documentary films about wars and conflicts, going on now and/or some decades ago, it is nice to receive a newsletter from the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, with a report from a press conference on a film on ”Katherine Hepburn – The Great Kate”. I share the words of the report:

Andrew Davies, who directed Katharine Hepburn – The Great Kate along with Rieke Brendel, spoke first (at the press conference, ed.). As the director explained, inspiration for the movie came from a tribute that the TV channel ARTE showed to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the passing of the great actress. “With the help of Hepburn’s nephew Mundy, we discovered how important a part her family had played in her life. The experiences of her childhood years were incredibly important. Her mother was an activist, who fought for human rights and women’s right to birth control. Hepburn grew up going to demonstrations. As a child, her parents would tell her that she could do anything she wanted, but that she wouldn’t get anywhere if she didn’t try hard.“ With regards to her long career, Davies thought that the secret of her success was “a product of hard work and a creative working ethic”. Answering the question of whether or not he thought Hepburn would like the documentary, Mundy told him that he “thought Hepburn would have liked the documentary more than anything else that had been written or filmed about her life, because she didn’t like biographies.”

Photo of Hepburn and Spencer Tracey – I remember how my mother talked about the two and how she adored to watch her films as I have done and do – remember Bringing Up Baby with Cary Grant!