Make Use of Suffering

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Project by DDM Films

Durham, North Carolina | Film Short | Documentary

About this Project

Story | Budget Items | About the Team | Updates

Make Use of Suffering is a short documentary about an artist, Lynda Simmons, who faces the tragedy and darkness in her past with courage and openness. It's a reminder of the beauty that can be found in suffering.

The Story

Make Use of Suffering is a story about the resilience of the human spirit in the face of tragedy. And it is a story about an artist finding their voice while recovering from great personal loss.

Lynda Simmons lost two of her three sons tragically over the past two decades, and since then she has dealt with an unusual amount of death: her close friend drowned, a family member died of COVID, and a couple others passed unexpectedly. To help cope with the deaths of those close to her, she turned to painting and collage, which she credits for saving her life, saving her from a depression that may have otherwise consumed her.

She has facilitated art groups across the state of North Carolina for people to share personal experiences with each other. And she continues to look for opportunities to engage her community.

Make Use of Suffering is a documentary that honors Lynda as an artist. At its core, it is a portrait of how she became an artist and what that looks like today. The title comes from a quote from a Swiss philosopher Henri-Frédéric Amiel, which is her personal favorite quote and is a core theme throughout the movie, “You desire to know the art of living, my friend? It is contained in one phrase: ‘make use of suffering.’”

What are some of the themes in the movie?

The predominant theme of the movie could be described as a movement from the private internal dialogue of Lynda to the external work she does in the community. The title of the movie “Make Use of Suffering” takes on a changing meaning throughout the movie. At the beginning, the meaning is fairly obvious: she creates art to process her loss. Towards the end of the movie, though, this meaning shifts as we see Lynda connecting with people in profound ways through the techniques she has developed to communicate her loss. Her art becomes not a way to say something herself, but rather a way to connect with others. It challenges the viewer to not just think of Lynda’s art as something internal that she is processing but rather to think of her art as playing a role in her own community.

Why the beautiful shots of nature?

The movie is also grounded in a spirituality that is perhaps best summed up in the concept WB Yeat’s calls Spiritus Mundi, the spirit world, a world just out of reach where spirits live and where poetry and art comes from. Lynda firmly believes that there are worlds outside of our own that influence our everyday life. Magic occurrences in our mundane lives can sometimes be credited to this other world. She sees magic in surprising moments in her life (she does not believe in coincidences). Much of her art carries symbolism that she believes was sent to her from some higher being. Make Use of Suffering assumes this world to be real and that it does interact with Lynda through her work.

How did the project get started?

I met Lynda through volunteer work we each do with restorative justice groups. We both are trained as facilitators to help mediate restorative justice circles and cases, and we met as part of an event for facilitators to learn from each other. As part of the event, Lynda shared her personal experiences. Afterwards I introduced myself, and we talked briefly. It was obvious how inspiring of a woman she is.

A few months later, the organizer of a restorative justice group in Durham heard I was interested in new project ideas, and she knew that I liked working with artists to tell their stories, and she mentioned that Lynda was a painter/collage artist. This piqued my interest, so I drove out to Sparta, North Carolina to meet with Lynda. I recorded a few hours of audio interviews, and within ten minutes I knew this was a story I wanted to share.

Lynda and I have been friends and have been working together on this project ever since our first meeting. We’ve filmed a couple times in person, and we correspond weekly via text.

What is the current status of the project?

We are in the middle of production. We have filmed around 15 hours of media, and plan to organize a number of shoots over the next year. Our plan is to continue production through the end of 2025. Post production has already started, but it will begin in earnest in Q4 of 2025, with a target of having a rough cut in early 2026. By the middle of 2026 we will begin submitting to festivals with the aim of distribution in 2026.

$50
Friend

+Social media and newsletter shoutout
+Name listed on the partner wall on filmfundraising.com for the year

Incentives

$250
Contributing Partner

+Social media and newsletter shoutout
+Name listed on the partner wall on filmfundraising.com for the year
+Access to more in-depth behind-the-scenes materials
+Invite to the private premiere screening of Make

$1000*
Associate Partner

+Social media and newsletter shoutout
+Name listed on the partner wall on filmfundraising.com for the year
+Access to more in-depth behind-the-scenes materials
Invite to the private premiere screening of Make Use of Suffering
+Name listed as an Associate Producer in the credits
+Recognition on IMDB

*If you are interested in making this contribution tax deductible, Make Use of Suffering is a sponsored project of the Southern Documentary Fund and contributions can be made through them as a 501c3 contribution. Please be in touch with filmmakers for more information.

$2,500*
Executive Partner

Make Use of Suffering Creative Team

We are a team of Emmy award winning filmmakers based in Durham. We are all independent producers and filmmakers, and most of us have worked together for over a decade on numerous projects!

David Delaney Mayer (director) Is a filmmaker and entrepreneur resident in Durham. He is passionate about independent documentaries, especially stories related to the American south. He is an Emmy-nominated American director/producer and winner of Forbes 30 under 30 award. David is the founder/CEO of Elemmir, a marketing startup that powers video production for b2b tech companies, and David is the co-founder of DreamxAmerica, covered in Forbes magazine. David has produced multi-million dollar television shows and his films have been shown in festivals across the world. In 2011 David played basketball at Duke under Coach Mike Krzyzewski before leaving the team to produce films.

Ned Phillips (Director of Photography ) is a filmmaker based in Durham, North Carolina. He graduated with honors from Goucher College and went on to earn a certificate in Documentary Arts from the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. Since then, he has shot and edited multiple films, including work that has screened at Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, DOC NYC, Riverrun International Film Festival and Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival, among others. He currently works as an editor and cinematographer with Emmy and Peabody award winning production company Markay Media, while also working as an independent producer with PBS NC. In 2017, Ned founded Green Hero Films, and he is currently in post-production on his first feature documentary, The Last Partera, which has been supported by The Southern Documentary Fund, New Orleans Film Society, Big Sky Pitch Competition and Points North 1to1 at the Camden International Film Festival.

Pranay Shrivastava (Editor) has over 25 years of experience in the industry, having directed and edited over 30 documentaries on issues such as Human Rights, Forest conservation, sustainable environmental practices, Tribes and cultural heritage of India. He delights in creating stream of consciousness films, and is currently shooting for a documentary series on meditation.

Budget Items

Total Goal: $7,000

Production - $4,000

We have an Emmy award-winning team that plans to shoot another 7-10 times in Western North Carolina

Post-Production - $2,000

We need to edit the film, add color, mix the sound, and source music.

Distribution & Festivals - $1,000

We need the funds to submit the film to festivals and get the film distributed to national audiences.