The closing gala movie of this year’s Glasgow Film Festival Janey is the feature length documentary about Scottish Stand Up,Actress,Broadcaster and Novelist Janey Godley as she battles Stage Four Ovarian Cancer while doing her “Not Dead Yet” tour across the United Kingdom to sold out audiences.
The film directed by John Archer tells his story through use of archive video material, unobtrusive camerawork and contributions from those who’ve come into her orbit which includes her close friend Shirley, the former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, fellow stand up Jimmy Carr who had his bad moment in the media spotlight and her manager of 17 years.
It’s a warts and all documentary that isn’t shy to touch on the moments of darkness as Janey revisits where she grew up in the city,the abuse from her uncle,the death of her mother alongside the 15 years she did running a pub & how it led Janey to becoming an established stand up alongside the time she was cancelled due to historic tweets from a decade ago.
There is levity in the documentary from the quiet moments before,after and travelling to gigs, her receiving chemotherapy for ovarian cancer alongside news footage of her giving the now former US President a warmest of Scottish welcomes when he visited his Turnberry resort and her social media presence during the madness of Covid creating humorous voiceover content which garnered worldwide attention.
Janey is the type of documentary that flies by giving you a snapshot into the subject matter and what makes that person tick while wanting you to learn more about them when it ends.
The most touching part of the documentary are the emotional moments between Janey and her daughter fellow stand up Ashley Storrie (who has her mother’s gift for comedy) backstage and on stage when her mum takes a coughing fit in the middle of the set.
I was a university classmate with Ms Storrie way back in the late 00’s and we had the same circle of friends so I heard many funny stories from her while standing outside the student union while they all smoked & I didn’t because I was laughing so much at the tales she told.
Janey is an emotional,honest,thoughtful documentary that audiences will be laughing and in floods of tears.
Janey screening at the Glasgow Film Festival March 10th, 2024
The Film Collective Scotland 
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