We Will Forget

Fueled by his religious beliefs, Robert Fitzpatrick spent over one hundred thousand dollars of his life savings on subway ads warning that the world would end on May 21st, 2011. 'We Will Forget' follows Robert in the weeks leading up to the 21st, and ultimately to Times Square where he awaits the rapture with fellow believers, onlookers, and naysayers.

2012,13’19

 About The Film

I first became aware of Family Radio's doomsday claims while on vacation.  I noticed a large group of people wearing shirts identifying May 21st, 2011 as the day the rapture would occur and I was immediately intrigued.The date was only about two months away, and I found it pretty odd that people would want to spend what little time they had left on a cruise (I later came to find that these were mostly likely not doomsday believers, but people taking advantage of Family Radio's “free vacation if you spread our gospel” program). After reading some of their promotional materials, I felt I needed to find out more about their beliefs.

Once I was home, I immediately got to work on tracking down as many believers as I could (at this point May 21st was only a few weeks away). Through a mix of searching Facebook, Twtter and approaching people on the street, I lined up several interviews. Robert stuck out the most to me, mostly due to the fact that he was the most eloquent and open of all the people I filmed. So, with about two weeks left I decided to focus as much on him as I could.

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I ended up shooting several days with Robert. He was originally planning on spending the final moments prior to 6pm on May 21st at home, but a reporter from The Daily News (or maybe it was The New York Post...) convinced him to come to times square.

I was hoping to keep shooting with Robert after the 21st, but understandably he was no longer interested in being filmed.

It took me about a year to edit the film, at which point I wasn't even sure anyone would care about the May 21st prophecy anymore (at that point it certinaly wasn't going to be coming true).  To my surprise, the film was accepted into DOC NYC, Rooftop Films and selected as a Vimeo Staff Pick.​

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The score was composed by Karl Hohn, and also features several tracks about the end of days written by Robert and a friend.  

Robert is still studying the bible, although he no longer believes he can predict the rapture.  I frequently get asked how he's doing, and the answer is: just fine!  While he spend a hefty chunk of money on his ad campagn, he still has his pension, his house and his inquisitive spirit.

The film was shot on a wide variety of cameras, including the DVX200, Canon 7D, VX1000, and several others I don't remember.

We Will Forget was released online in late 2012.