People are People

I started my day by watching this video recounting Forbes reporter Helen Coster's travels to Pakistan with Acumen Fund Founder and CEO Jacqueline Novogratz. Coster's article is the cover story of the magazine's current issue.


Thinking about why the video resonates with me, I realized it speaks to one of my core convictions that has shaped my outlook on life.

We should not stereotype entire cultures, countries and continents.

People are people everywhere - good and bad. But we often make the mistake of defining individuals by their governments and/or religions.

When I was a teenager, President Ronald Regan described the Soviet Union as "the Evil Empire" during a speech to the National Association of Evangelicals. A few years later, at age 16, I was on my way to the USSR to discover for myself what it was like. I found exactly what I expected - the young Soviets I met wanted peace, freedom and the chance to follow their dreams. Just like me and my friends.

And despite the constant media coverage of Pakistan as a failed state run rampant with terrorists, ordinary Pakistanis simply want the chance to pursue a better life. Much like most Americans.

I'm struck by Helen Coster's observation in the Forbes video:

"The people that I met were so hungry for attention from the outside world that was positive..."

One of my main motivations as a documentary filmmaker is to make connections between people who are worlds apart and to illuminate individual stories that are in contrast to the negative narratives about their cultures that we hear more often. I only wish I had more opportunities to do just that!

BTW - If you aren't familiar with Acumen Fund, follow the links at the top to watch the video and visit their website! The fund invests "patient capital" in entrepreneurs in the developing world.

The Dangers of Story Overload

Let me start by saying that I believe in the power of a good story...to transcend culture, to spark imagination, to create connections, to engage strangers, to empower the voiceless, to provoke change, to inspire ideas, to nurture understanding, and on and on. But as I witness the proliferation and dominance of story - corporations, politicians, activists, evangelists all out there busking - I'm becoming concerned about the impact on our real lives.

Stories are simple. Stories are constructs that take complex and often messy realities and craft them into a narrative with a beginning middle and end. Just the act of choosing a beginning is artificial. Our daily lives are not linear, orderly progressions. An encounter that holds the promise of future romance or a business partnership can fizzle into nothing at all. Unless you create a life together or launch a product or make a film or a baby or whatever - that storyline just ends. We all have countless dead-ends in our lives. The same is true for history and biology. My concern is that if we constantly see everything in the form of a story, we may lose our capacity to confront - and even embrace - the very real complexities of life, love, politics, business, and nature.

But it's not only the simplification, it's also heightened drama that is a concern. In a recent Wall Street Journal Article about the "stars" of the award-winning documentary STARTUP.COM, both entrepreneurs talk about the difference between their actual experience and the dramatized version that was depicted on screen. One of them eloquently explains:

"They had to sell the story, and they had to pick the pieces that made everything larger than life. And that's part of the brilliance in the work that they did. It's not part of the reflection of reality - it's the reflection of the artistic license to tell a story - an exciting story." - Tom Herman

I'm starting to better understand why innovator and entrepreneur Iqbal Quadir resisted becoming a "character" in the documentary film I wanted to make about him...we were calling it 'Startup.com with a global twist.'

I can give another example. My documentary CATCHING OUT features several contemporary hobos who dissent against mainstream American consumer culture by traveling for free on freight trains. The film has received criticism for not being more dramatic - no encounters with railroad police, not enough actual trainhopping footage. Sure, it's far from a perfect film, but even with hindsight I would not amp up the action. True, you can get a big adrenaline kick when you are scrambling around a train yard, but more often riding the rails is about endlessly waiting and watching. You go nowhere fast. It's boring stuff that involves a lot of napping, reading books, and philosophizing with fellow travelers. The exhilarating part of hopping a train is the existential journey of abandoning social convention and cultural expectation - a more complex and nuanced experience than encountering a bull or a catching a train on the fly.

Or consider my more recent filmmaking adventure: when I went to Kenya to document the making of the feature film TOGETHERNESS SUPREME, I thought I would capture a straightforward story about the trials and tribulations of producing a film in a slum on the outskirts of Nairobi with a local cast and a crew of local youth trainees. But as I started shooting, that story felt shallow, contrived. A more complex and more compelling story presented itself about the interplay between the fictional narrative of the film and the real lives of the cast and crew. There's no question that the more complex story would have been harder to tell and part of the reason that I recently pronounced the project a "Fail" is because I couldn't figure out how to bring it to fruition. But I'd rather not make a film at all then craft a contrived story.

Of course, I want passionate and talented storytellers to continue to create stories that offer us the chance to dream and imagine and visit worlds we would otherwise never know. I particularly want storytellers from distant and diverse places to challenge our standard western narratives. But I also want to encourage the storytellers of our time to experiment with deconstructing stories, breaking them down, pulling them apart, and exposing their simplicity and artifice.

Producing a #Fail

There's a movement afoot to embrace failure as a way to collectively learn from mistakes. A good example is Failfaire which looks at failures in the realm of tech (internet, mobile, communication) for development. And the #Fail hashtag is perennially popular on Twitter. So it's in that spirit that I'm announcing that Producing Pamoja is a #Fail...

Don't get me wrong, I'm not taking this lightly. I've always prided myself on perseverance and creative problem-solving. And it goes against my sense of integrity to give up. My heart is heavy knowing that many supporters believed in me and that my friends in Kibera were counting on me. It was only a couple months ago that I was pronouncing I would finish the film "Somehow, Someway." So, what changed? I've come to believe that the challenges are insurmountable.

These are my lessons:

1) Perfect Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance. In the case of Producing Pamoja, I threw caution to the wind and spontaneously embarked on an adventure to capture the making of Togetherness Supreme with less than three weeks to prepare. The truth is that I didn't really know much about the project - only that the story focused on the Post Election Violence that had erupted in Kenya and that the production would employ local youth as cast and crew. When I arrived in Kenya I discovered that many of my assumptions and expectations were false. Do your homework before you start shooting!

2) Money matters. Despite seed funding from Shine Global and the generosity of supporters who contributed via The Point I struggled to capture the footage I needed. I embarked on a wing and a prayer but the project stalled due to lack of resources once I returned from Kenya. While I believe in taking leaps of faith, it helps to have a safety net. Lack of a sound financial foundation can undermine a project.

3) Don't go it alone. Perhaps the biggest challenge I've faced in this endeavor has been not finding a creative partner / team to help sustain the project. Collaboration is a key to success.

To my friends in Kibera: I'm humbled and grateful that you shared your stories with me. I believe in you and your capacity to create a better future in Kenya. Bahati njema!

Insider / Outsider

A recent tweet from @whiteafrican aka Erik Hersman, one of the co-founders of Ushahidi, triggered a dialog that sparked my thoughts about insiders vs outsiders in development and documentary. The dichotomy is central to choices I've made in my life so I thought I'd share.

Way back when, I was working as the interim director of the Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania, a local NGO that used a profoundly "insider" approach. Rather than go into communities and tell them how to improve environmental sustainability, we launched a campaign to publicize our grant program. We encouraged local communities to apply for funding for their own projects. The only real criteria were 1) demonstrate broad community support and 2) improve sustainability. I was blown away by the creativity and ingenuity of the projects that were proposed, and I was also struck by the contrast between our work and the work that international NGOs were doing. I loved our "insider" approach.

Later in my life, I made a documentary about modern-day hobos. The journey of making the film became another unexpected lesson in insider vs outsider dichotomy. I started out with grand plans and ambitions only to learn that many trainhoppers had very legitimate concerns about how their pastime was portrayed. For example, I was careful not include any specific information about how to hop a freight train in the final film (much to the dismay of many critics and viewers). I believe that CATCHING OUT reflects an "insider" perspective.

The insider approach is a grassroots, bottom-up approach, but are the terms synonymous? When we speak of insiders, we speak of their knowledge. Insiders know the local landscape -- social and environmental -- and how to navigate it. They recognize boundaries established by history and culture. They understand hearts and minds. They know secrets and superstitions, habits and traditions. They can anticipate what people will protect and what they are willing to expose.

In my experience, these common pitfalls are true for both documentary and development:

• Outsiders fail to listen to / solicit insight from local stakeholders / subjects
• Outsiders come w/ assumptions (ambitions) that cloud their perceptions of local realities
  
• Outsiders aim to do something (make a movie; start a project) FOR rather than WITH the local people. Better to consider how the process can engage and empower the local people.

This isn't to say that outsiders have no role! I was an outsider in Tanzania and in the hobo community. Outsiders can bring fresh eyes to a problem or a story. They can provide a broader context and bring a wider scope of experience. Outsiders may have access to expertise and resources that are locally scarce. So, I think the question is: how can outsiders and insiders work together?

The concept of "creative coopportunity" that I'm currently exploring and developing is very much focused on transcending the insider / outsider dichotomy by infusing local inspiration and creativity with the diverse resources of a crowd of collaborators!

One last clip!

Over the past few days I've shared a few video clips that offer a glimpse into the talent and spirit of the young Kenyans who worked as cast / crew on TOGETHERNESS SUPREME and will appear in PRODUCING PAMOJA. I posted one last clip of behind-the-scenes crowd control below...

I still need to edit clips of Geoffrey, the actor who plays the role of Otieno, and Owino, the aspiring politician who plays the role of a political organizer in the film. I also want to share colorful clips of a local musician and a group of dancers, but I'm out of time for editing, and I need a little technical help with some of the footage!

In other news, I've reapplied to Chicken & Egg Pictures for funding that would allow me to spend some crucial time with my editor - to craft a real fundraising sample and create a rough outline of footage / scenes for the film. I'm also actively exploring the outreach strategy for the film and during my upcoming trip to Holland I will meet with the amazing organization Butterfly Works to discuss!

Introducing Chemaiah

Wrapping up the introductions (for now) with Chemaiah. (Please see this post for background)

In this clip, the star of TOGETHERNESS SUPREME is feeling down after shooting a scene where an anti-Kikuyu mob burns down the home of his character, Kamau. The scene reminds Chemaiah of the actual events that took place in Kibera when his grandmother was threatened and forced to flee her home permanently. We also have an interview (in Kikuyu) with his aging grandmother.

Introducing Chris

As I explained in my previous post, I'm posting a series of short video clips to introduce several of the young Kenyans who will appear in PRODUCING PAMOJA.

Today I'm introducing Chris, who plays the role of Masher in TOGETHERNESS SUPREME. Masher is a Luo thug who hates Kikuyus and leads a mob to burn the house of the main character, Kamau, at the end of the film. In this clip, Chris talks about how he is similar to the character he plays, and he shares a story about an event that changed his life. We also have footage of him reenacting the event near his childhood home.

Kibera Rap!

Taking a break from introductions today...

While filming in Kibera, these local kids wanted to perform this rap on camera. It's a little overexposed, but I hope you enjoy!

Introducing Faith

Continuing the series of video clips that I announced here...meet Faith!

Working as a trainee in the DIT department, Faith impressed everyone with her determination and dedication. She is a shining example of what can be achieved by the youth of Kibera when opportunity is offered. In this clip, she describes how a mob scene in the movie feels very real to her and reminds her of her own experience during the post-election violence.

Introducing Jahill

As I explained my last post here's the next video, introducing Jahill!

A sound trainee during production of TOGETHERNESS SUPREME, Jahill is also a DJ on the community radio station Pamoja FM and an aspiring musician. In this clip he takes us on a journey through the winding, narrow passageways of Kibera while he shares his thoughts on the film and life in Kibera.

Somehow, Someway

I made a promise to myself that I would complete PRODUCING PAMOJA somehow, someway. The path forward is still not clear to me but I'm very gingerly, cautiously returning my attention to the project. I say gingerly and cautiously because the obstacles seem so huge that I can't face the challenge head on. Instead, I'm tiptoeing around and hoping to sneak up on it.

First, I've hammered out a rough outline of the film and figured out how I want to approach the story stylistically. Of course it's subject to change, but at the moment I envision a series of vignettes each focused on a youth trainee who worked as either cast or crew on the production of TOGETHERNESS SUPREME. I imagine each vignette as a separate chapter, strung together like beads on a necklace. Together they will tell a story about the blur between fact and fiction: how the fiction of TOGETHERNESS SUPREME reflects the real lives of youth in Kenya aspiring to a brighter future.

This graphic (designed by Julie Betters) is a good illustration:


I've also been thinking about an outreach strategy for the completed film and how to take audiences from passively watching to actively engaging. Suddenly it struck me: the number one message echoed by every one of the youth trainees in my footage is that what they lack is opportunity -- not talent -- but the resources to exercise their talent. And I think I've come up with a way to deliver opportunity to the youth of Kibera. Strangely, it's possible that the outreach project is my true calling. Certainly something I could happily devote the rest of my life to. When I think about it, I feel the fluttering of butterfly wings...

But, like the film itself, I'm easily overwhelmed by the challenge and I'm trying to figure out how to transcend Mistake #1 on this intriguing list of common blunders:

8 Mistakes that Filmmakers Make

2010

Since we have crossed the threshold of a brand new year, I thought it would be an appropriate time for me to write.

For me, 2009 was not easy to characterize. It held so much promise early on when I embarked on my adventure in Kibera. But I encountered some unexpected obstacles during production and then the project seemed to lose it's momentum and awkwardly stall. I'm deeply indebted to my family, friends, and other angels for providing early support to get me to Kenya, and I want to provide more than a karmic return for this outpouring of generosity. I also feel a strong sense of responsibility to the cast and crew of TOGETHERNESS SUPREME who shared their stories with me. I want to make sure their voices are heard. So, I'm determined that 2010 will see the fruition of PRODUCING PAMOJA. Somehow, someway.

I'm also determined to launch a documentary project called MOBILIZING THE MASSES. Not yet sure what form it will take but I want to share stories about the amazing mobile innovations springing up at the grassroots level around the developing world. And meanwhile, I've been thrilled to transition from being a big fan of Ushahidi to playing a (very minor but super rewarding) role on the team.

2009 was also consumed by renovations on our house (a couple photos posted below). We lived at times without exterior walls, without a roof, without heat as winter descended and managed five months without a faucet or a drain in the kitchen! We made significant progress and learned many lessons along the way. Dare I hope to finish the work in 2010???

Fingers firmly crossed.

Back to Blogging

This is a long overdue update: I apologize for the long stint of silence.

The truth is that nothing much has transpired since my return from Kenya...except that major renovations on my house are in full swing (see photo of missing wall below) and the house has diverted much of my energy and attention. The other major diversion is our precarious financial position and my focus on bringing in some immediate and needed income. Which leaves me with little time to devote to PRODUCING PAMOJA...

I have submitted applications to both Cinereach and Chicken & Egg Pictures for funding to cover initial editing costs. Fingers crossed!

UPDATE: Cinereach received over 600 letters of inquiry and, sadly, PRODUCING PAMOJA is not one of the lucky projects that they will support...

Trading Faces

Today I want to share an idea I've had for ages and ages. It has morphed many times over the years: originally it was conceived as a feature documentary interweaving four stories about coffee growers and coffee drinkers and in it's current incarnation it is a series of stylized mini-docs called TRADING FACES. Here's how it goes:

TRADING FACES mirrors the lives of producers and consumers in order to suggest the human relationships behind the complex system of global trade. Each 3 minute episode is a visual palindrome: one character reflects the other’s actions on a split screen. Music fuses their worlds together. We are aware of both the distance between them and their common bonds, their separate lives and their inherent connection through global trade.

With countless products produced and consumed daily around the world, the possibilities are truly endless, but potential episodes include:

- Coffee harvested in Nicaragua fuels a poet’s reading in Savannah
- Sneakers made in Pakistan are sported by a hipster teen in Boston
- Cocoa gathered in Ghana becomes a sweet treat for a Belgian boy
- A tree logged in Brazil is crafted into eco-flooring for a Seattle couple
- Spices grown in India flavor a chef's soul food dish in New Orleans
- Cotton from Mali is manufactured into a toy for a tiny tot in Paris
- Diamonds mined in Canada glitter as a lucky girl in London says I do!

So the question is, if I can only produce one, which one would you watch? Or share your suggetions about people connected by other products!

Beginning

Every story has a beginning, middle and end. It is so simple when the story unfolds as you are living it, but when you want to share the story with others, it is trickier. If you want to engage your audience, you sometimes need to reconstruct the story, choose where to begin, which twists and how many turns to follow. The ending is easy if the story happened in the past. But if you stand at the beginning of a story as yet untold, conjuring the ending requires imagination.

This story begins here: immersed in the view from an open boxcar on a freight train carving itself through a monumental landscape somewhere in the American West. Here, drenched in an intoxicating freedom, absorbing the iconic experience of hopping freight trains, I am inspired to make my first feature length documentary, CATCHING OUT .

And now many years later I find myself facing the challenge of finding a new subject and making a new film. The story of my search for ideas, my efforts to find funding, and eventually shoot and edit will unfold here in this blog.

The ending that I imagine is simple: bringing a new film to fruition.