Titanic documentary tells a survivor's story
Sat 23 June 2007
Holly Barrell, Journalism
Filming for a new documentary about the Titanic has begun, with some of the scenes located at the Sunshine Coast's Glasshouse Mountains.
The documentary will focus on the life of Edith Haisman, a Titanic survivor who in 1997 died at the age of 100 -years-and-three-months-old. 
Edith was 15-years-old when she and her mother survived the infamous iceberg collision on April 15, 1912. Her father, Thomas Brown died when he went down with the sinking ship.
Edith's eldest daughter Joy Lester, 78, will take part in the documentary which she hopes will provide a memoir for her grandchildren (Edith's great grandchildren).
"My mother would tell us the story of what happened that night… My mother and grandmother went for a walk along the deck but it was so bitterly cold they decided to go to bed.
"She was woken up with a bang. My grandfather went up (to check) and when he came back down he said 'put your lifejackets on, dress warmly and come up on deck,'" Joy said.
"The captain came up and said all the lifeboats have to come out... A couple of the boats that went out had hardly any people on them.
"My grandfather put my mother and my grandmother in the boat. My mother got out of the boat because she wanted to stay with her dad.
"He said 'no, don't worry I'll catch another boat and I'll see you in New York'.
"As they got away from the ship, Mum said she could see how she (the Titanic) was going down from the bow… They rowed way out. She said it was a terrible thing to see; people were jumping from the boat and screaming.
"After the boat was gone, she said the sea was like glass and it was just so eerie and quiet except for people shouting for help."
When Joy's mother turned 100-years-old, she returned to the resting place of the Titanic and laid a wreath in the water.
"She had always wanted to do that… for her father, and she did. And afterwards, she came home and died," Joy said.
Edith Haisman remains the only Titanic survivor who lived to be 100 years old.
Film maker, Robert Martin said his fascination with the Titanic and Edith Haisman’s incredible story inspired him to create the documentary.
“I feel what is so special about Edith is that she came from wealth and went to poverty after the sinking of Titanic.
"I have been a fan of Titanic ever since I was a kid, I still have an article I saved from the Sunday Mail when they found the ship in 1985," he said.
Filming of the narration has just started, with various locations around Brisbane being used for the shoots.
"The narration will be shot in different locations around Brisbane which include the Maritime Museum, the cruise ship terminal, the Tangalooma Shipwrecks, the light house at Moreton Island and the Glasshouse Mountains," he said.
Mr Martin said the Glasshouse Mountains will be used for some of the filming as they bear a likeness to the South African terrain.
The documentary will also cover Edith's and Joy's lives in Southampton during World War II.
"The first time we got bombed I cried, but mum said "if a bomb's got your name on it then that's that and there's nothing on god's earth you can do about it," Joy said.
Mr Martin expects filming to take between one and two years, depending on financial assistance.
"At the moment we have no budget and we are working with what materials we can resource," he said.
He hopes to use underwater footage of the Titanic; however the cost of using this footage is about $1000 per second.
"At this stage, without funding there won't be too much archive footage, but we have a lot of photos of Titanic that we can use," he said.
Mr Martin has spent the past six years researching for the documentary. Most of his research has involved learning about Edith Haisman and her family.
His previous film, Spitfire Avenue tells the story of his local Brisbane suburb Strathpine during World War II.
"I would like to see the final Titanic video in museums and libraries on completion," he said.
Image(s) designed by Holly Barrell