Salem Film Fest is happy to be collaborating with Marblehead High School on some of this year’s Blog Posts and we are grateful to MHS Teacher Connor Ryan who has been working with his students in exploring this year’s festival.
2020 is the year Americans discovered the existence of the elections administrator. Once invisible to the general public, these civil servants are central characters in an ongoing public debate about the integrity of our democracy. With unprecedented access to its frontlines, NO TIME TO FAIL is a verité film that tells the story of election officials across the state of Rhode Island. Amidst an onslaught of attacks from a sitting President and the deadly threat of a global pandemic, these public servants worked around the clock to secure the vote for their community. This film is an invitation to the American electorate to meet the people whose job it is to uphold the scaffolding of our republic and protect free and fair elections in what emerges as an unprecedented voting adventure in one of the most significant elections in US history.
Co-Director Margo Guernsey directed COUNCILWOMAN, which screened at Salem Film Fest in 2019. Co-Director Sara Archambault produced COMMUNITY PATROL, which screened at Salem Film Fest in 2018.
NO TIME TO FAIL Co-Directors Margo Guernsey and Sara Archambault.
MHS: Can you tell us about your collaboration on NO TIME TO FAIL - how did you find this project?
Margo Guernsey: Sara has a close friend who works in the Sec of State's office. As things were shutting down, the reality of having to run one of our most important elections in recent history during a global pandemic was setting in. Conversations about that led to the idea of documenting the process. My work has always centered on labor, specifically the work that runs our economy and is rarely seen or recognized. I had also made a film in Providence's political circles, so I had connections in some of the spaces where we would need access. Sara and I had been work colleagues in other ways, but had never made a film together. She reached out to me and proposed the project, and the collaboration grew from there.
MHS: How long did it take to make - from pre-production to final editing?
MG: We started research and pre-production in June 2020 and finished the film in July 2022.
MHS: What were some of the challenges you faced in making this film?
MG: This is a pandemic film, and that was the challenge. It wasn't safe for a crew or for the film participants to bring extra people into their offices. So Sara and I picked up cameras and sound gear and did it ourselves. We did some training sessions with cinematographers and sound recordists, and went through some different camera options. We actually started filming on iPhones! The film participants had to take an incredible leap of faith in letting us in. Their work is particularly scrutinized by the public, and the trust that was required for us to be hanging out with cameras during the most stressful time in their careers required them to believe in us. We had to build trust quickly because the idea for the film didn't form until they were already under the gun.
MHS: Please describe some of the highlights of making this film: is there an interview or scene -- or even a shot -- that you're particularly proud of?
MG: It is the most mundane scenes that make me most proud. The palpable sense you get of the everyday work in these older offices sheds light on what it means to be doing this work in a way that cannot be captured any other way.
MHS: How did you find and choose your subjects?
MG: We went through a pretty rigorous process looking at the entire State of RI, and reaching out to folks in diverse places. We wanted to cover urban and rural, conservative and liberal, so that people from across the state would feel seen.
MHS: There are a number of emotionally charged moments throughout the film. Do you discuss with your subjects the potential for these ahead of time? Are there any sequences you excluded because they felt too personal?
MG: We talked at length with the film participants about what it would mean for cameras to be around filming sensitive moments. We did not cut anything for personal reasons, but there were planty of super stressful days when we did not film. Sometimes one of the film participants would just say, "I can't do it today." Our role is to document an election, not to dramatize their lives for the purposes of entertainment.
MHS: More generally, were there any privacy issues concerning the voting process that made filming difficult?
MG: We were very careful not to include names or personal information from any of the paperwork in the offices. In fact we had to go through and blur out things that got in by mistake. We were also very conscious of privacy issues when voters were casting ballots. Since voting is a public act, and it is meant to be transparent, we could film more often than you might realize.
MHS: What do you want your audience to take away from this film?
MG: We want viewers to have a greater appreciation for the people who administer elections. We refer to them as the footsoldiers of democracy. Without them we would not have elections. They are the ones that make sure you can register to vote, cast a ballot, and that your vote will be counted. They are extremely non-partisan and work incredibly hard to make sure that we have a constitutional right to vote. Most Americans do not understand their work, and yet it is crucial to our political system. We hope viewers walk away with a new understanding of what it takes to administer elections, and a desire to support that work.
MHS: Would you like to tell us about any new projects you’re working on?
MG: I have a film about the women who defied the Episcopal church to be ordained as priests in 1974, challenging two thousand years of patriarchal Christendom coming out next year. It is called THE PHILADELPHIA ELEVEN.
NO TIME TO FAIL screens in-person at Cinema Salem on Saturday, March 25 at 12:20pm followed by a Q&A with Co-Director Margo Guernsey - tickets available here.
The film is also available for streaming during the virtual portion of the festival, March 27 - April 2 - tickets available here.
