AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Everyone, including you, was at one point the youngest person in the world. But only a very select few get to be the opposite.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: He wants to know how you feel about being 117 years.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Feeling good.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Oh, he's feeling good.
RASCOE: Documentary filmmaker Sam Green spent the last decade following each record holder for the oldest person in the world, from Brooklyn to the south of France, from Brazil to Japan. Why?
SAM GREEN: Because I was so puzzled. Every time the oldest person in the world dies, it's in every newspaper and all over the internet. I was curious why. And I got to say, 10 years later, I'm still curious why (laughter).
RASCOE: Sam Green's new movie is called, "The Oldest Person In The World." A warning - this interview contains mentions of suicide. I asked Sam Green, what he wanted to learn from these supercentenarians?
GREEN: You know, I was middle-aged person, sort of asking big questions about the world and life. And I thought, wow, somebody's been around 115 years old. They'll really know. They'll have some answers. And after a while, I started to see, when you're 115, you're probably not thinking about the big questions anymore. Your world shrinks. You're thinking about a nap later or happy memories of when you were younger, flowers. You know, you're not thinking about what's the meaning of life and stuff like that. So I started to realize that that approach, asking these people the big questions, didn't really make sense, which is not to say I didn't learn things because I did. But it wasn't, what's the meaning of life, and them giving the answer really.
RASCOE: What did you learn?
GREEN: (Laughter) Well, a lot of this is just sort of simple common sense stuff. People who live a long, long time and seem to be healthy in spirit are positive people generally. The woman I filmed in Japan, Kane Tanaka, had had a hard life. She said the important thing to living a long life is not to worry.
RASCOE: A lot of these people that you're meeting in this, we see them sleeping a lot, you know? They're not...
GREEN: Yeah.
RASCOE: ...Really taking in everything around them.
GREEN: No.
RASCOE: Is it the positive outlook that unites all of them?
GREEN: It's a couple things. One, it's all women.
RASCOE: Yeah.
GREEN: Many of them are women without children. The first woman we filmed with, I said to her niece, why did Miss Susie (ph) live so long, do you think? And her niece said, Miss Susie did not have the two things that will kill you, a husband and kids.
RASCOE: OK (laughter).
GREEN: Flip side of the coin is none of these people are alone. They all have community and family. You need people around you. You need love and support and community to live a long life. And they all have it.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "THE OLDEST PERSON IN THE WORLD")
GREEN: Does she know she's the oldest person in the world?
LAVILLA: Yes.
GREEN: Have you told her that?
LAVILLA: Yes.
GREEN: What did she say?
LAVILLA: Really? She said, really? I can't believe that. I don't know that she get the implication of 116, the oldest person in the world.
RASCOE: Did this movie change the way you think about aging and death?
GREEN: Oh, yeah. It changed the way I think about aging. I don't think I would want to be 115. But I do want to live as long as I possibly can. I'm so curious about the world and the future. What's going to happen? But I think I would want to live as long as I can and be independent.
But also with death, I mean, I think it did help me come to terms with death in some ways because the oldest person in the world, when they die, nobody ever says that person was taken before their time. Nobody ever calls it a tragedy. It's always a natural death at the end of a long life. And that's the way it should be.
The last person I interviewed, Maria Branyas, said, you are young. Now is the time to do good works. What I took from it is, you're young and you're alive, and you have time. And take advantage of it and enjoy it.
RASCOE: While you were filming this documentary, it took 10 years to make. And at a point, you're diagnosed with blood cancer. How are you doing at this moment?
GREEN: I'm doing great. Modern medicine - you know, it's a miracle. So I'm doing really good. But it definitely made me think about our short time on this planet. And it definitely sharpened my sense of all that, as I'm sure it does for everybody who has a kind of brush with mortality.
RASCOE: Yeah. You also opened up about your own grief...
GREEN: Yeah.
RASCOE: ...Over the loss of your brother. He died by suicide before production began, and I'm so sorry for your loss. You are very open about dealing with questions and regrets. And you say you only have one video of him. Did that drive you to capture more of your own family life in this movie and to really try to make sure that you're capturing these moments?
GREEN: Yes, it did. I mean, it was a shocking discovery. Now we all video things all the time on our phones. You know, with my kid, I have thousands of videos. But when I was making the film and I started looking around for videos of my brother, Dave, who died in 2009, I was shocked that I only had one video of him, which was kind of heartbreaking because in a way, these days, you hang on to people through videos. You know, ultimately, in the grand scheme of things, it's a losing battle, but we try. And that's part of life. And that's part of making documentary films, actually, is trying to hold onto things before they go.
RASCOE: The oldest person in the world, as of the end of your documentary and still, is Ethel Caterham of the United Kingdom. How is she doing?
GREEN: Well, it's funny. Ethel Caterham is the first person who rebuffed my inquiries.
RASCOE: Oh, really?
GREEN: So I kind of inquired, and somebody who dealt with her said, no, she's fine. She just doesn't want to be bothered. And I thought, OK, I can accept that. I get that. Like, if you're 115, you don't want to be bothered, that's fine.
RASCOE: (Laughter) Yes, that's your right at that moment.
GREEN: But then I got to say, about maybe six months ago or something, there was a video of her getting a visit from King Charles on the internet. And I was like, are you kidding me? King Charles and not me?
(LAUGHTER)
RASCOE: Of course she will allow royalty to come into the house (laughter).
GREEN: And it was funny. She said something to him that I think nobody on earth would also be able to say. She said - to King Charles, she said, you were so cute when you were a baby.
(LAUGHTER)
GREEN: She can say that. It was great.
RASCOE: Sam Green is the director of "The Oldest Person In The World." Thank you so much for joining us.
GREEN: Thank you. It's a real pleasure speaking with you.
RASCOE: If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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