Jane Pollard's films with Iain Forsyth bring us close to musicians at work, often through scenes they have staged. We find the approach absorbing in 20,000 Days on Earth, though their reluctance to challenge Nick Cave leaves him rather well protected.
Fi1m perspective
Nick Cave's day in 20,000 Days on Earth (2014) has been partly staged, and the film makes no attempt to pretend otherwise. Jane Pollard and Iain Forsyth give his memories and thoughts a shape, letting the conversations and songs carry the portrait. We enjoyed Cave's company more than we expected: his humour makes the careful self-presentation easier to accept. Pollard's interest, shared with her directing partner, is in how artists make things and how they choose to present themselves.
The partnership began with performance and installation work, including re-enactments, before moving into film and video. Their collaboration with Cave was established before their debut feature. Do you love me like I love you (2009) comprised fourteen short films accompanying Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds album reissues. 20,000 Days on Earth makes good use of that familiarity. It gives the making of songs enough attention to reward viewers with no prior devotion, without requiring a detailed knowledge of the records.
On 20,000 Days on Earth, cinematographer Erik Wilson and editor Jonathan Amos help make the shifts between observed work and staged scenes feel coherent. Cave shares the writing credit with Pollard and Forsyth, however, and the limits of that closeness are plain. We learn how he wants to describe his work, but the directors are reluctant to challenge the description. The film remains absorbing; a little more resistance would have made it more revealing.
Television work on Neil Gaiman's Likely Stories (2016) took the pair into scripted adaptation. The live performance film The Extraordinary Miss Flower (2024) features Emilíana Torrini and Caroline Catz. Broken English (2025) continues their musician portraits with a documentary about Marianne Faithfull. These are collaborations throughout, and there is little to be gained by pretending we can separate Pollard's contribution from Forsyth's.
We would start with 20,000 Days on Earth, especially for anyone more curious about songwriting than a musician's private history. Its staging is no obstacle to the enjoyment, provided we accept that the subject has helped set the terms. Do not expect a difficult interview.
Biography
Jane Pollard is a British filmmaker and visual artist. She works primarily in collaboration with Iain Forsyth, whom she met while studying at Goldsmiths, University of London, where she completed a BA and an MA in Fine Art.
Pollard and Forsyth are best known for co-directing and co-writing the 2014 feature documentary 20,000 Days on Earth, a portrait of musician Nick Cave that premiered at Sundance, where it won awards for directing and editing, and received a BAFTA nomination. Their other credits include the 2024 film The Extraordinary Miss Flower and television work such as episodes of Neil Gaiman's Likely Stories (2016) and Murder (2016).
