So here is the third and final installment of my 'official' directors statement for the film. I have been struggling with whether or not to make a few changes to the film for th last few weeks. Although it is finished I have been feeling like I could 'up' the pace for the opening and I think it finally clicked for me during the second screening at TVIFF over last weekend. So it's off to the races with that this week and we will roll out the slightly revised version for it's screening at Rivertown Film Society on October 22nd. I certainly hope that any of you out there who are based within the Westchester area will join us.
I am blessed in my life to have been raised across two continents and to have been taught to celebrate differences of language, society and color and I believe it helped me to keep making this film even when it seemed that it would never end in anything but endless boxes of wasted tape.
I am enormously indebted to all the people who helped me make this film and to those who have shared their thoughts on camera. The faces in this film and those who inhabit the many hours are a select group who will remain with me forever, whatever may come my way.
I must also thanks those family and friends who have humored me including my wife and kids who don’t quite get it “Daddy are you still making a film about apples?!”
There are two people whose lives passed during the making of this film. Lola Richardson who originally introduced me to Russell Holze and later became his wife left us early in 2008. I hope she will be watching over Russ’s shoulder. My father died two odd years ago from Alzheimer’s. ‘Zackie’ and I shared a difficult relationship and he knew little or nothing of this film as his disease crippled him, but I always knew Jamaica was his secret sanctuary and the home of his boyhood memories. It was this mysterious and magical Jamaica that I grew up with and may well have been the reason I took this on. His voice can be heard singing in the credits on a recording of Cordelia Brown recorded in 1948.
There remains a single person without whom it could not have been completed and that is my producing and writing partner Kevin Burke. Thanks Brother!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Goodbye to Temecula
Today is the last day of the festival and I have been having some really nice response to the film from various people and we are enjoying what can best be described as a very positive 'Buzz' about the film. I am really pleased with the response and have also decided that I will make a few small cuts to the initial pacing and hope to bring the film from 87 minutes down to about 82. It's been fun and I certainly recommend the festival to both movie goers and filmmakers as a worthwhile venue. Yesterday I met with several people at other festivals and we are hopeful to continue the festival run. Next up is an important public screening at the Rivertown Film Society please join us if you can on October 22nd.
Thanks for reading
Adam
Saturday, September 20, 2008
TVIFF First Screening
We had a great turn out for the screening yesterday afternoon. I think the most exciting part was seeing two people walking up to come into the screening with popcorn and soda. It seems a little too iconic to let it pass by so I had to stop them to take a picture.
Kevin's mom and dad Ron and Mary brought a great crowd of friends who all live within an hours drive and we all had a great time together. Afterwards we had a great post screening party and took in the festival atmosphere. Many thanks to all who joined us!
It was fantastic to see the film projected on a full size movie screen. For those techno geeks out there. The only down side was that the audio was misrouted so that the stereo tracks were being bounced into the surround system. Chris Drozdowski who was our sound designer on Death on Demand joined us for the screening with his wife Susan and found it a little painful, as did I. However I am sure that with the exception of the audiophiles, few people noticed. I guess it's one of the downsides of the festival circuit. Today I will be checking out some of the other films and attending some panels.
Kevin's mom and dad Ron and Mary brought a great crowd of friends who all live within an hours drive and we all had a great time together. Afterwards we had a great post screening party and took in the festival atmosphere. Many thanks to all who joined us!
It was fantastic to see the film projected on a full size movie screen. For those techno geeks out there. The only down side was that the audio was misrouted so that the stereo tracks were being bounced into the surround system. Chris Drozdowski who was our sound designer on Death on Demand joined us for the screening with his wife Susan and found it a little painful, as did I. However I am sure that with the exception of the audiophiles, few people noticed. I guess it's one of the downsides of the festival circuit. Today I will be checking out some of the other films and attending some panels.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Directors Statement Excerpt #2
Well my bags are pretty much packed and I'm making last minute arrangements for my trip out to Temecula. I'm excited about seeing the film screen again and looking forward to hearing more from the audiences. I've been making some last minute changes and additions to the subtitles after having seen it at Rhode Island a few weeks back.
Here is the second excerpt from the my director's statement.
In North America, the notion of color and racism is a monstrous chasm in our society and one I fervently hope is lessening but again, mostly created by and used by Americans against each other, and as tools to negate the value of ‘outsiders’.
In Jamaica, Black is simply a color and one of the many rainbow colors of an Island people with background from India, China, Africa, Europe, the Middle East (my particular background), and their indigenous Taino and Arawak Indians. The concept of being labeled ‘African American” is anathema to the average Jamaican and they use “American” with a kiss of their teeth and an upward glance as a negative reference to someone ‘uppity’.
There has been a tradition of films in the area of immigrant and farm labor that paint a picture of failure, and have become propaganda for various parties to brandish as it suits them. To me it appears that they have done little to solve the negative issues or market the positive. While in many cases they may have elevated the status of the filmmaker, they have not elevated the livelihood of the subjects. I cannot suggest for a second that this film will do anything to solve a grossly disproportionate economy. Or to put food in people’s mouths.
The film is a testament to the contributions of the men who come here and a celebration of the future that they are providing for those around them. While they inhabit an imperfect system with obvious real and potential failings, I wanted to make a strong case to suggest that there is good and bad in everything. The notion of betterment is not an American invention. It is a universal theme shared by those across the globe, and for the farm workers, the acceptance of struggle and sometimes seemingly unfair adversity on that road to self-sufficiency is an acceptable price to pay.
I am forever touched that Philbert Bailey, who started working at nine years of age without the ability to read, has found knowledge, relative prosperity and helped to put several children who are not his own through school. This man who lost his childhood forever, has granted it to others without an expectation of recompense. This moves me deeply even as I write the words.
Look for the third and final part of the statement soon. Adam
Here is the second excerpt from the my director's statement.
In North America, the notion of color and racism is a monstrous chasm in our society and one I fervently hope is lessening but again, mostly created by and used by Americans against each other, and as tools to negate the value of ‘outsiders’.
In Jamaica, Black is simply a color and one of the many rainbow colors of an Island people with background from India, China, Africa, Europe, the Middle East (my particular background), and their indigenous Taino and Arawak Indians. The concept of being labeled ‘African American” is anathema to the average Jamaican and they use “American” with a kiss of their teeth and an upward glance as a negative reference to someone ‘uppity’.
There has been a tradition of films in the area of immigrant and farm labor that paint a picture of failure, and have become propaganda for various parties to brandish as it suits them. To me it appears that they have done little to solve the negative issues or market the positive. While in many cases they may have elevated the status of the filmmaker, they have not elevated the livelihood of the subjects. I cannot suggest for a second that this film will do anything to solve a grossly disproportionate economy. Or to put food in people’s mouths.The film is a testament to the contributions of the men who come here and a celebration of the future that they are providing for those around them. While they inhabit an imperfect system with obvious real and potential failings, I wanted to make a strong case to suggest that there is good and bad in everything. The notion of betterment is not an American invention. It is a universal theme shared by those across the globe, and for the farm workers, the acceptance of struggle and sometimes seemingly unfair adversity on that road to self-sufficiency is an acceptable price to pay.
I am forever touched that Philbert Bailey, who started working at nine years of age without the ability to read, has found knowledge, relative prosperity and helped to put several children who are not his own through school. This man who lost his childhood forever, has granted it to others without an expectation of recompense. This moves me deeply even as I write the words.
Look for the third and final part of the statement soon. Adam
Excerpt #1 from my Director's statement
In recent times I have been writing about this film as I have been creating a directors statement, production anecdotes and such. I thought that I would add excerpts here.
I think this film is brooding. It’s lyrical and it’s guttural. It’s about loss. It’s about tenacity. It’s about a willful spirit to live and very importantly it is about the dignity of labor and the nature of hope. I think I also proved my own tenacious nature to myself in completing the film against some occasionally stiff adversity.
The cultural differences and expectations between an Americans perception of success and those brought up in a depressed second tier economy like that of Jamaica are vastly at odds. This is a film about people who understand the difference between their needs and their wants.
It is comforting and reassuring to me that the American and Jamaicans, who inhabit this piece, are truly magnificent in their connection and appreciation of each other. Together they wage a war that they all somehow know they must lose as the realities of economic globalization take hold. But they do keep smiling and they keep working and together they muddle through. It’s a microcosm of life, an inexact science, and in this vein we have made this piece.
While the film could have been solely about globalization or connected squarely with the racial issues the Jamaicans face outside of the farming community, I wanted to address this film as a success story and a film that spoke of the immigrant labor without the middle class assumptions and political patronizations, which have traditionally suggested them as slaves. I wanted a film that was orchestrated and related like the parts of a symphony and it is for this reason that the music and b-roll often speak so loudly. I wanted a film that held the mirror up to nature and reeducated us to the realities of food production. I wanted people to understand that when they buy that cheap and beautiful red apple from China or Venezuela or France or any number of producing countries that they might well be putting at risk an American farmer or negatively impacting the upward mobility of a young man or woman in Jamaica. I fervently believe in our right to choose that cheap red apple. However I wanted to simply make observations about these cost based decisions, which I hope will have impact on people’s understanding of the global nature of our ever-evolving consumer society.
Please look for more excerpts soon. Adam
I think this film is brooding. It’s lyrical and it’s guttural. It’s about loss. It’s about tenacity. It’s about a willful spirit to live and very importantly it is about the dignity of labor and the nature of hope. I think I also proved my own tenacious nature to myself in completing the film against some occasionally stiff adversity.
The cultural differences and expectations between an Americans perception of success and those brought up in a depressed second tier economy like that of Jamaica are vastly at odds. This is a film about people who understand the difference between their needs and their wants.
It is comforting and reassuring to me that the American and Jamaicans, who inhabit this piece, are truly magnificent in their connection and appreciation of each other. Together they wage a war that they all somehow know they must lose as the realities of economic globalization take hold. But they do keep smiling and they keep working and together they muddle through. It’s a microcosm of life, an inexact science, and in this vein we have made this piece.While the film could have been solely about globalization or connected squarely with the racial issues the Jamaicans face outside of the farming community, I wanted to address this film as a success story and a film that spoke of the immigrant labor without the middle class assumptions and political patronizations, which have traditionally suggested them as slaves. I wanted a film that was orchestrated and related like the parts of a symphony and it is for this reason that the music and b-roll often speak so loudly. I wanted a film that held the mirror up to nature and reeducated us to the realities of food production. I wanted people to understand that when they buy that cheap and beautiful red apple from China or Venezuela or France or any number of producing countries that they might well be putting at risk an American farmer or negatively impacting the upward mobility of a young man or woman in Jamaica. I fervently believe in our right to choose that cheap red apple. However I wanted to simply make observations about these cost based decisions, which I hope will have impact on people’s understanding of the global nature of our ever-evolving consumer society.
Please look for more excerpts soon. Adam
Thursday, September 11, 2008
So, we are off to Temecula
Sometimes it seems like ten years and sometimes it feels like ten minutes. What I know is we started shooting this film in February 2002, and we shot our last interview in March of last year. It's safe to say that it has been a long time coming, but with the film now complete it is beginning to build some momentum.
The invitations to festivals and the screening are beginning to happen and I am happy with the film, even though I see another potential change each and every time I view it.
I'm getting ready to head out to Temecula for our first West Coast screening which will be at the Temecula Valley International Film Festival(TVIFF.) The film screens twice during the festival on the 19th and the 21st and I am excited to hear peoples' responses.
Check back for updates and scheduling of screenings.
We'll be keeping you in the loop and I will try to do some video blogging from the festival unless the technology escapes me, which of course is possible!
Adam
The invitations to festivals and the screening are beginning to happen and I am happy with the film, even though I see another potential change each and every time I view it.
I'm getting ready to head out to Temecula for our first West Coast screening which will be at the Temecula Valley International Film Festival(TVIFF.) The film screens twice during the festival on the 19th and the 21st and I am excited to hear peoples' responses.
Check back for updates and scheduling of screenings.
We'll be keeping you in the loop and I will try to do some video blogging from the festival unless the technology escapes me, which of course is possible!
Adam
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