IR Interview: Sierra Barter & Skye Borgman For “The Truth About Jim” [Max] - Part II

2 years ago

Subject/Investigator Sierra Barter & Filmmaker Skye Borgman talk to The Inside Reel about approach and structure in regards to their new documentary film for Max: “The Truth About Jim”.

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC]

00:10 I don't even know what to feel.

00:13 >> Do you think that your grandfather was involved?

00:17 >> It sounds nuts, but here's the reality.

00:19 Somebody's grandpa was the serial killer.

00:22 Was it mine?

00:23 I don't know.

00:25 But somebody's grandpa was.

00:27 [MUSIC]

00:31 >> And for you, Sierra, can you talk about that?

00:33 Because you have to go and talk to everybody, talk to Michael, talk to,

00:37 I mean, Christy, the way you get her to open up, that's so crucial to this story.

00:43 Because it shows what Jim did, and there's no question about it in that thing.

00:50 And there's no question really overall, but could you sort of talk about and

00:54 doing that, going to Michael, going to your step,

00:58 would you consider it's not your stepmother, the other wives of Jim.

01:05 But most people, they're like, we don't wanna talk about it.

01:09 But you got them to talk, you got them to open up.

01:11 And probably because they saw that you were authentic and

01:14 you were very honest with them about what you were doing.

01:17 >> Yeah, I mean, it was a long process.

01:21 I think for me, there was maybe a year prior to even meeting Sky,

01:25 of researching and getting it all ready to get to a place where we

01:30 had information about Jim enough.

01:33 But with the family members, it was always really difficult for

01:37 me because I'm very, very conscious and sensitive to not want to re-traumatize

01:42 someone or open up a wound that they don't wanna deal with.

01:46 I feel that it's always up to the person to tell their story.

01:49 So it was really difficult at times,

01:51 I felt a lot of anxiety when approaching them.

01:54 But I was always very upfront with kind of telling my story as well and

01:59 being like this is where the origins of this lie for me.

02:04 And I think that that always also kept me going too on the days when it was really,

02:09 really difficult.

02:10 And there's some scenes specifically in it after we go to the ice arena,

02:15 that was like a very difficult day for me.

02:19 And I was alone and not by anybody and it was really, really difficult.

02:22 But it was always just remembering who I was when I was 18,

02:27 when the first incident happened to me and how I really needed guidance and

02:32 I didn't get it.

02:33 And so for me, it was like when I was thinking about Christie as a young girl or

02:38 Val as a young girl, all the Santa Rosa girls, I was thinking about them and

02:43 thinking about myself at that age and how I would have really needed that guidance.

02:48 And so I just kept pushing forward with that notion of like,

02:52 I'm gonna get some kind of justice, whatever it is,

02:56 for people who haven't had it because that's what I needed.

02:59 [MUSIC]

03:03 >> Jim was something that I've never encountered before.

03:07 He was well respected in the community.

03:09 >> He seemed like a really nice teacher.

03:12 >> There's a lot of people that still to this day look up to him, but

03:16 it's far darker.

03:18 >> I'm just trying to figure out when I started thinking that he killed people.

03:24 [MUSIC]

03:26 >> My step grandfather was a man named Jim Mordecai.

03:30 My entire life I have heard horror stories about him.

03:33 >> He beat us up, he put us down.

03:36 >> He either was the most charming man you were ever gonna meet or

03:39 he was your worst nightmare.

03:41 >> But it also gives other people the courage, seeing you do it,

03:44 gives other people the courage to come forward.

03:46 Can you talk about that?

03:48 Yeah, cuz you don't want it to be an educational piece, but

03:50 you also want it to be a very human piece.

03:53 >> Yeah, I think for me, I was really conscious of wanting to give this

03:58 gift back to my family, that was really where the base of it starts for me.

04:03 I'm a different generation than all of them.

04:06 My generation, it's not perfect, but it's a different generation in

04:11 the sense that we do talk about these things and we are pretty vocal about it.

04:16 And so I figured that it was a good opportunity for them, for

04:20 everything that they did for me to give back in the sense of I come from this

04:25 generation that we are for whatever reason less afraid or have a different space.

04:31 Or that just society is different, that we can speak up about these things.

04:37 And so I really wanted to give them that platform.

04:41 And really all of it is because of them,

04:43 because if they hadn't done all the things that they did,

04:46 I would certainly not have any of the courage that I have at all.

04:50 [LAUGH]

04:52 >> Being sexually assaulted by your step parent who happens to be a teacher,

04:56 it just made me shut down.

04:58 >> He would say awful things, I was terrified of him.

05:04 >> I remember my mom first mentioning that she thought Jim could have been

05:07 a murderer.

05:08 Maybe she wasn't just being my crazy mom, maybe this was based in some reality.

05:13 >> It would not shock me if Jim had murdered some women.

05:17 I actually probably would be shocked if he didn't do it.

05:20 >> Sky, can you talk about that taking, because obviously there's the whole

05:24 movie.

05:24 I think at one point, Sierra, your mom sees footage of Jim and it triggers her.

05:31 There's all those different things.

05:32 Can you talk about, Sky, looking at the material, bringing it together, but

05:37 also looking at the aspects of the different footage that you had from,

05:43 obviously, news platforms, all that.

05:45 Because you want to create a certain element, and yet you also have the music.

05:49 The music very much is key to this as well.

05:52 Could you talk about that as a filmmaker?

05:55 It's hard to step back from a story like this, you have to be in it.

05:59 Can you talk about sort of looking at it both subjectively and

06:02 objectively at the same time?

06:05 >> Yeah, there were definitely, I mean, we were, I mean, I'll say sort of

06:09 lucky as filmmakers that Janae had kept, I think there was close to 80 rolls of

06:16 the 8mm film of Family Archive.

06:19 And we got that on the same day that we actually went and met Janae and filmed

06:25 the scene with Janae.

06:27 She sort of handed over this treasure trove, really, of family movies.

06:31 And so being able to sort of sit there and go through that, because it was just me

06:37 at that point, I kind of strung it up on a player, player, and watched it all.

06:42 And it started to get a little bit of a sense of who Jim was.

06:47 I'd heard these stories, but it wasn't until a lot, I mean,

06:51 quite a bit into filming that I was really able to see that and

06:55 know who he was and what he did.

06:57 And was able to kind of fold that in.

07:01 It's always challenging, I think, because, you know,

07:04 Sierra talked about not wanting to re-traumatize.

07:07 And I think, I mean, honestly, I think just the fact, the act of making a

07:12 documentary is, I mean, like if you were to put a definition, it's probably like

07:16 crime documentary re-traumatizing, you know?

07:18 I mean, I think it can go hand in hand.

07:22 The hope is, honestly, the hope is that it's, that there's a purpose to it,

07:26 honestly, because it is hard and it is re-traumatizing.

07:29 And I know with all of the family members, we get done with a tough day.

07:33 And I mean, I'd say they were almost all tough days.

07:36 You know, people would have to build themselves back up.

07:40 They have to heal after that.

07:42 Ultimately, I do feel like it was a healing process.

07:44 I mean, I'm happy to hear Sierra say that.

07:46 I know I've talked to Shannon.

07:47 She's mentioned the same thing.

07:49 But it is a lot to sort of break yourself down and come back up.

07:53 So creating a space as much as you can, where you just get, you create a safe

07:59 space and try to get rid of all the stuff.

08:02 It can't always happen, but it's the goal to just try to create the safest

08:05 space possible so that, so that you can get, you know, so that both of those

08:09 sides of the brain come together.

08:10 You can get the archive you need to help tell the story and you can get the

08:14 emotion that you need from the participants to tell the story.

08:16 Authorities say they have six of these homicides, apparently all by the same

08:21 mad killer.

08:22 The similarities are just too weird.

08:24 Does he resemble the person you might have seen?

08:27 Holy shit.

08:29 I need to know lots more.

08:30 Oh my gosh, that knife.

08:36 Yeah.

08:37 Yeah.

08:38 Yeah.

08:39 Yeah.

08:40 Yeah.

08:41 Yeah.

08:42 Yeah.

08:43 Yeah.

08:44 Yeah.

08:45 Yeah.

08:46 (dramatic music)

08:49 [BLANK_AUDIO]

IR Interview: Sierra Barter & Skye Borgman For “The Truth About Jim” [Max] - Part II

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