With the recent wild success of The Artist, silent film seems to be turning heads once more. And so it seems a fitting time to share again our collaborative silent film series based on the comical misadventures of the modern tramp, Willie Jones. Being we’re in the thick of winter in Minneapolis, our proof of concept episode feels like the right fit. Enjoy our slapstick romp through a very white MSP. Dig into more episodes at the series website.
In between capturing scenes for our forthcoming documentary, GIVE ME YOUR HUNGRY, our very kind hosts have been spoiling us with visits to Tamil cultural sites within and nearby Madurai, India – in which we have our minds blown daily. We’re on Day 3.
These are scenes form our journey up to a small temple village known as Alagar Kovil. We wound our way up through the Alagar hills to find hundreds of Tamil pilgrims visiting the temple and where a holy spring known as Noopurangangai is perennially sprouting up at the top of the hillock. To the locals, this is a truly holy place. To us, it’s a world we never knew existed.
“I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the true blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes.” ~ e.e. cummings
Stephanie Williams takes time with the earth. And it is with her great care and thoughtfulness that she taught us about the abundance that surrounds us yet is often overlooked. Stephanie is a wild edibles forager and is connected to the earth in a way that challenges preconceptions about how our human energy shapes our natural environment. We spent one beautiful and memorable day with her, roaming the forest while filming for another segment of Living With the Land – a thoughtful and soon to be finished documentary series from Reel Nomad Productions.
The things that hot corned beef and matso ball soup can do to a man’s soul on a cold November day is the stuff that remains unspoken but hangs thickly in the air of the 70 year old establishment in Chicago’s South Loop called Manny’s Deli. The fellas operating the slicer and busing your dishes have all been here for twenty or thirty years. There’s a very specific rhythm they’ve developed and a tradition that no one is even thinking of altering. And why should they? The regulars know what they can expect and take comfort in the food and the faces they’ve been enjoying consistently for three generations. This is soul food. And these are the faces that carve it fresh daily.
It’s quite easy to take a great many things for granted here in the United States. Often it’s a journey to another place and what feels like another time that reminds us what we have and what others do not. Jen and I found ourselves in Tegucigalpa, Honduras last week as we’ve been given the opportunity to tell the unforgettable story of a very unique organization. Hope for the City is an organization that locates corporate surplus (food, medical equipment, basic staples) and delivers it to those who need it the most. Many of these items would otherwise be destined for the landfill, despite the fact that what’s being cast aside is far from garbage. We followed the story of a container of medical equipment (beds, CT scanner, incubators) through Hope for the City’s program and into Hospital Escuéla in Tegucigalpa. Along the way we met some unforgettable people and saw some things that refreshed our perspective on a great many things, including how truly fortunate we are to not have to choose between food or medicine. Not everyone has that luxury. As is often the case when returning from an international trip, we find ourselves looking around our home and daring ourselves to live more simply. We feel fortunate to have returned with images of a beautifully vibrant city and a remarkably hopeful people.
There are some things in this world that were meant to meet, co-mingle, and become something greater than the sum of their parts. I believe we can now add Art and Bikes to that magical list. Myself and my colleagues at Bolster were fortunate enough to team up with bike poster phenomenon ARTCRANK and Trek Bikes to create a visual story that documented an extremely unique collaboration: creating the world’s first bike about art. Enjoy!
After a few days shooting some branded short film content in San Francisco and Monterey, California, Jen and I decided to do some exploring down one of the most dramatic coastlines in America – Big Sur. A place of a counter-cultural revolution in the 1960′s and still home to the mind-expanding Esalen Institute this coastline is as beautifully eccentric as the people who call it home. I had done a little research on the area and discovered a one of a kind accommodation – The Human Nest at Treebones Resort. This artistic creation is half driftwood sculpture, half nomadic treehouse and presents the human inhabitants an unforgettable, gnarled wood-framed view of the Pacific ocean, complete with elephant seal choir and enough moonlight to read Kerouac, Miller or any other literary Big-Sur enthusiast. Enjoy these moonlit shots of the nest and the rugged Big Sur coast.
Looking back at one’s work can remind you of all the joys and challenges you’ve faced – and in this case – it’s my way of saying thank you to the universe for allowing me to do what I love every day and for sending me projects that keep me excited to be making and sharing these visual stories that bring us closer to new people, places and ideas. These are my favorite moments of the many I’ve been so fortunate to have shared.
“And yet this great wink of eternity.” – Hart Crane
For my grandfather, Richard Mueller. Onto your next horizon, April 23, 2011.
On February 17, 2011, there was Ivy Claire Billings and no one was ever the same. Including yours truly, now able to called the much sought after title of, “Uncle Jesse.”
