A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT LIFE, LOVE AND A TICKING CLOCK
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About the Film
John Godinet is an irrepressible Pacific Islander and ultra-runner living with his husband Peter in rural Maryland. He’s outrun abuse as a teenager and discrimination as an adult, but now has a new adversary: ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease).
Navigating this disease is physically and emotionally exhausting. But John and Peter have a tried-and-true 40-year survival strategy: deep-seated love cloaked in biting humor.
LOVING JOHN dives into the complexities, imperfections and power of love, lived with a ticking clock. It invites viewers to deeply inhale the fullness of our shared human experience, made all the more precious because of its transience.
The Issues
LOVING JOHN INTERWEAVES SEVERAL PRESSING SOCIAL CONCERNS:
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The search for a cure is grossly underfunded. Equally lacking is the support families need to navigate this cruelest of diseases.
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To be the primary caregiver of someone with a lingering, disabling illness can be exhausting; it’s a glaring hole in our medical care and social safety net.
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LGBTQ+ elders often face special challenges in gaining access to medical and social support services, free from discrimination and ageism.
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After great uncertainty as to how his journey might end, John finds the clarity and strength to make an intensel personal choice.
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We witness firsthand John’s acute frustration at his increasing loss of independence and dignity, and his struggle to remain creatively engaged.
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It takes two years into the filming for John to share the difficulties of growing up gay in American Samoa and serving in the U.S. Army.
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John is proud of his Samoan heritage; and, as a gay Pacific Islander, improbably becomes a leader in a predominantly white community.
Watch the Film
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Filmmaking Team
ROBERT ROOY
DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, CINEMATOGRAPHER
Rob’s previous film Deej was honored with a George Foster Peabody Award. He has worked in more than 20 countries creating media probing important human issues. Previously, he was an assistant director on more than 40 films & television programs, including Lonesome Dove, Honeymoon in Vegas, Minority Report & The West Wing.
ANNE DE MARE
PRODUCER
Anne is an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker whose films include The Homestretch, Capturing the Flag, and This is Where I Learned Not to Sleep. Most recently, Anne was a driving force in bringing Black filmmakers William and David Greaves’ Once Upon a Time in Harlem to completion a decade after William Greaves’ death.
KIMBERLEE BASSFORD
PRODUCER
Kim brings underrepresented stories of the Pacific to the world. Her documentaries include Winning Girl, Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority, and Cheerleader. Her recent film, Before the Moon Falls, is a deeply emotional exploration of trailblazing novelist and poet Sia Fieiel, a gifted and troubled voice for Samoan women.
LYNN TRUE
EDITOR
Lynn’s own documentary films include Lumo, profiling a young survivor of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Summer Pasture, following a family of nomads in the mountains of eastern Tibet; and In Transit, a portrait of America seen through the stories of passengers traveling the country’s busiest long distance train route.
