Don’t you forget about him: Austin (left) and the elusive Hughes

This past August, the world lost John Hughes for the second, and last, time. Eighteen years before his untimely death, the legendary director and 1980s teen-movie master had pulled a disappearing act worthy of J.D. Salinger, leaving Hollywood in his early 40s to live quietly in semi-retirement in his home state of Illinois. He produced movies sporadically and wrote screenplays, many of them under an alias. Despite his absence, Hughes’ body of work continues to influence new generations who cherish his distinct humour and a deep-hearted sensibility sorely lacking in today’s typical teen fare.

Shot over a few years prior to Hughes’ death, Toronto filmmaker Matt Austin’s documentary/love letter to the Hughes era, Don’t You Forget About Me, arrives on DVD today (Nov. 3), features interviews from various Hughes enthusiasts and alumni, and trails Austin and his crew as they hunt for the elusive auteur.

This documentary feels very personal for a movie about a famous director’s work. How did you come to the decision to integrate yourselves so prominently into the film?
The first idea we pitched was that we’d pack ourselves onto a school bus, travel through North America getting our interviews, and then end up at Hughes’ house. That idea was scrapped because we didn’t want this to be about us, we wanted it to be about Hughes. Almost four years later, after we showed people what we thought could be the final cut of the film, everyone said that it was missing something: us. So we packed ourselves into a van.

This is obviously an investigation of John Hughes. Do you also see this as an investigation of yourselves?
I think that comes with the territory and it’s also why we were reluctant to be in the film throughout the process. It’s a weird situation when not only is our film up for review, but also our personalities. People are only getting a small snapshot. So we started a blog detailing our odyssey.

You talk to Judd Nelson and Jason Reitman, among others.  Was every interviewee supportive of what you were doing?
Everyone was open and generous with their time. I wanted to be extremely mobile in terms of crew and equipment. We normally travelled [in groups of] three or less, without lighting or grip equipment. Because of that, everyone was comfortable and it felt like a relaxed, spontaneous conversation.

How was the final shape of the film influenced by John Hughes’ death?  
We added an epilogue, and it slightly changed the graphic design, but we locked our film before he passed away and wanted it to retain that spirit. We made this film about his life, not his death.

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