Quirky Indie Doc Seeks Lessons from the World's Oldest People

Janson Media today announced the release of the feature documentary film Walter: Lessons from the World's Oldest People(1 x 83') to worldwide television, digital, VOD, DVD and educational markets. The film is also available as a one-hour television special (1 x 54').

Walter is a 'feel good' documentary film following a young couple, Hunter and Sarah, as they travel the world learning life lessons from the world"s oldest people. The film was shot on location in Montana, Minnesota, Texas, Georgia, Washington, Cuba, and Italy between 2010 and 2012. Delivering advice, anecdotes, and inspiration from the world"s oldest people, Walter is the 5th feature film from director, Hunter Weeks. Hunter Weeks met Walter Breuning in 2010 when Walter was 113 years old. It was a meeting that Hunter couldn"t stop thinking about. A year later, Hunter sat down again with Walter Breuning in Great Falls, Montana to talk about his life in the early 1900s and his takeaways from an extraordinarily long life. Walter could talk at length about his earliest memories, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the Great Depression, and both World Wars.

At 114, the Guinness World Records oldest person, Besse Cooper, was several months older than Walter. She lived in a nursing home in a small town in Georgia with family nearby , and would usually only speak when she needed something. While Walter lived nearly independently at a retirement home, Besse spent much of her time in bed. Though so close in age, their lifestyles varied greatly. Fascinated with the differences between Besse and Walter, Hunter and Sarah also sought out super-centenarians -- Juana Bautista, Ruth Anderson, Mary Tankursley, and Sister Cecilia Gaudette. Juxtaposing a couple at the start of their life together and super-centenarians nearing the end of the road, Walter is less about science and longevity and more about the lessons and values for living a happy life with the time you have.

In 2013, Walter premiered in theaters in New York and Los Angeles and at Alamo Drafthouse Theaters in Austin and Denver. The film received an encore screening at the 2013 Bend Film Festival (Bend, OR) and screened to a sold-out theater at the 2013 Cinema Loft Film Festival in Tucson. In 2014, Walter screened at the Oneota Film Festival (Decorah, IA), the Victoria Independent Film Festival (Victoria, TX) and the Sloan Grant Screening at CINE (Athens, GA).

The film was produced and directed by Hunter Weeks of Red Popsicle Films.

To watch Walter in its entirety in the Janson Media Screening Room, login or register here.