Sian-Pierre Regis on Multi-Generational Living

Your Fellows project will be a podcast called Raising Adults, which will tell the stories of families living multi-generationally. Can you share the genesis of this project?

In 2021, I theatrically released a personal documentary film about my mom. Three days later, she moved into the NYC apartment I shared with my gay partner because she had nowhere else to turn. Without any savings and a significant rise in housing costs, it made more sense for her to live with us than struggle to find inadequate housing at an inflated price. For me, questions abounded. How would I care for and support this 78-year-old woman? Would this be temporary, indefinite or permanent? How will this affect my relationship with my partner…how will it affect her?

I began to tape moments in the home as a way of processing this dynamic shift happening around me. And then, all of a sudden, it hit me that multi-generational housing is fast-becoming the new norm in a country that for so long taught us to send our elders off to some faraway place. And so I began to reach out to others who are living multi-gen by choice, circumstance or culture.

Your film, Duty Free, addressed some of the same themes that will be explored in the podcast. How did you decide to pursue this project as a podcast? Has anything surprised you while working in this different medium?

After the success of Duty Free, I heard from hundreds of people whose parents passed. They expressed how much they wished they could have had the experiences I shared with my mom on film. I realized time was precious, and that I didn’t want to have a camera in between my mom and me in her last act…that I always wanted to be looking at her directly in the eye. And so, I thought that audio was the best way to be present in any moment with both her and my partner.

But audio also best serves my assumed audience. If this is a podcast that aims to reach listeners who understand what it’s like to be a caregiver, or are preparing for a role reversal soon, then they’re busy! And I hope that audio allows them to go on about their day while also giving them subjects and stories that help them feel seen, understood, and prepared for this burgeoning rite of passage.

What’s your best piece of advice for families living multi-generationally?

Gosh. Be patient always. Communicate with kindness. Assume best intentions. And be creative about small ways in which you can have fun together. Because, in our best moments, the experiences I have with my partner and my mom at my side are the ones I hope to replay, and the stories I hope to retell, for decades to come.

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