Every time I travel to Mongolia, I try to shoot something coherent, only to find that I can’t manage the things that have to be dealt with AND wrap my head around how to tell the story. Over the last two years I’ve accumulated wonderful footage of the kids, the families and the landscapes, but I am far from being able to compose a story in three acts.
Over the years I have had a few requests from filmmakers to shoot a documentary about my work, but that particular angle never interested me. What I am interested in is portraying the kids' lives and giving them a voice. Also I found it difficult to imagine being a subject rather than filming one. But often it’s all about the right question at the right moment.
Before I left for Afghanistan, I attended a luncheon for The Lottery, a documentary directed by Madeline Sackler and DP’ed by my very good friend Wolfgang Held. Thanks to Wolfgang, I got to work on it for a day as additional camera operator.
To keep this story short ☺, Blake Ashman-Kipervaser, the producer of The Lottery had read my website top to bottom and expressed interest in developing a documentary. I had my usual reaction, of not wanting to do an ‘intervention’ movie that would focus on me. We both agreed that the heart of the film should be the children and my unusual relationships with them, which are intimate, but separated by culture, language and distance.
At first we thought we’d hire a Mongolian cinematographer and I would direct, but we soon realized that that’s not the way to go. Blake decided to jump in and become the team: director, cinematographer and producer.
I am very excited about this development, as I envision portraying the children as individuals, rather than the recipients of good deeds. I also have a very selfish reason; I have always wanted to hear their stories in detail, as well as their thoughts and opinions about what is important to them, but never could make the time to just hang out and chat. But here we come.
Blake and I will leave for Mongolia next week, for three and a half weeks, and we will post visual and written snapshots of our adventures.
No comments:
Post a Comment