Village Premiere

We screened in the Chief Palace, two nights. With my portable projector, village amplifier, generator, and a big sheet. It was great. Wish everyone could have been there. (Thank you Cheri for riding your bike 4 hours through a wind storm and bad directions (not from me). The village was though and that's what counts. Below, their comments.

"You made a true story."
"Can you show it every night?"
"I like the whole movie. Every part is good. You won't fall asleep."
"We aren't educated and we can't read, but this puts something in our minds we can think about."
"I was planning to go (south), but now I won't. I would like to go for a visit to know our capital city, but not to stay."
"Some people used to think others were making it up."
"I like the juxtaposition between Accra (capital) and the Village."
"I now understand how girls can get seduced by boys."
"I like the message the movie has, especially sickness and stigma."
"The movie starts out funny, but then it gets serious."
"The station (in our village) looks nicer than it is."
"I am not planning to go anymore, I would suffer more than the characters!"
"I was worried about the character at a certain point."
"The movie is educative about what to watch out for and steps that can be followed."
"I had heard of fire (destroying buildings in the south), but now I've seen it."
"Even though we are discouraged from going, people will, because of poverty."
"Nowadays people have changed. Youth move around and our children do whatever they want without consulting us. This movie can advise them like we (elders) can't."
"Our minds now tell us not to move."
"I like seeing Accra in the movie since I've never been there."
"I see using condoms is good, or we could abstain."
"I don't want to go south but if my husband asks me to I will. I do want to see the nice buildings."
"At night we can think about the movie instead of negative things, which is especially good for us elders."

Doing the Splits

I was showing a 7 year old how it's done, rather - how it's not done. There was a huge popping noise as my pelvis hit the floor, I went down toooooo fast... it really hurts, increasingly.

Subtitling

I think I've spent about three weeks in front of the computer subtitling. First our movie and now the Mango Movie. It's liberating to finally know what people are saying. But also frustrating to be sitting in front of a computer for two weeks. Luckily I am not dreaming about it. I used to dream about editing and there was no escape.

My Urban Migration

I awoke the last day of the festival missing the village and wanting to leave. I flipped a coin and stayed, but the next day made it home in 7 hours - before dark. I hadn't been to Voggu in close to 3 weeks and everything was dusty. Usually people "yell" at me for "keeping long" but they were okay. The most okay I ever saw them after being gone so long.

Bon Appetit.

At the beginning there was bread. Then there was french bread. Goat cheese, soft serve ice cream, yogurt, cotton candy, chocolate croissants, crepes, steak sandwiches, and last but not least strawberries. It was a tasty time. There are men walking around with big boxes on their backs, guess what their carrying? Fresh baked bread and President's butter. 50 cents will get you a full baguette with butter in a piece of brown paper so you don't dirty your hands. Why didn't I learn French?

Burkina Faso Film Festival

(Feb 28-March 7)

We had a screening of our movie, but it was bad. There was a sky light! So no one could see the movie. Just the subtitles, which had to be changed at the last minute cause they were too long. I was still burning the disc the night before the show when the others managed to get us free badges to get in to all the movies.

Me and Daria and Cheri shared a bed in our new friend of a friend, Lucy's room, a model and freelance interpreter who loves movies. Unfortunately Nash (Director) and Kari couldn't come at the last moment because Nash's father fell sick. I didn't invite Abdulai (Producer, Writer and Star) cause we were going into the unknown and he can be a baby.

One highlight was a meal we were invited to by people in the Burkina Faso/ French film/ TV industry. The waiters and waitresses were on roller-blades and they juggled, ate fire, contorted, and flipped. They served us salads and a slab of meat cooked by hanging in fire - we all ate too much and felt sick after.

I got to watch Real Films. My favorite one was 20 minutes. Shot on 35mm, sadly showed on video, called Nora. It was about a real modern dancer from an African village. She tells the story of her early life in surreal scenes cut with brief text. The main characters speak in dance and everyone else acts "normal." The filmmaker was around and I heard she organizes an artistic film festival in Russia, where she is from, but lives in the US. The modern dancer is living in New York but from Africa.

While I didn't talk to her I did talk to a bunch of Kenyan filmmakers who came with a nice short called "Killer Necklace." It was shot on the Red, borrowed from South Africa. They also had an unfortunate screening with skylights in the room! I was interviewed by BBC and that's what I told them about when asked about movies I saw. I actually heard it the night I got back to Ghana! (I had a brief identity crisis and introduced myself as a Peace Corps Volunteer, but maybe that's why they aired it.)

I knew the festival was a big deal, but upon meeting people from around the world there, learned it was the "biggest" in Africa. Mostly I hung with an Ethiopian/ French couple who lives in Amsterdam. Others included a group of Scottish and British living in Ghana, a Ghanaian journalist/ filmmaker, a German graphic designer, a Malian/ German couple, an African/American filmmaker with a funny movie about an after school program, a couple with a Ghanaian Beach Resort, a Global Film Producer (former PC Volunteer in China), and a German film festival rep. We also got a tour of an impressive production studio by locals.

The Big Movie : Hilariousness & a Type of Confusion

Hilariousness:
Our ringleader in the city slum, Mohammed, was put to the task of finding and dressing 2-3 school children on a Sunday while we were shooting with the lead actress, Asana. At an interim between scenes with her, Mohammed tells us to hurry and shoot with the kids. Because of his tone of urgency I reluctantly said okay.

David entered the room where he keeps the equipment and was totally surprised when more than 25 three year olds dressed for school started crying! David and I had to hide behind a corner with the camera because they were afraid of us (common at their age). Finally the kids calmed down, after given candy, on a bench. Of course the bench topples and they all start crying again!

Type of Confusion: Asana disappeared after shooting with the kids and we thought the mafia man took her only to realize later she fell asleep while waiting for us.

The Big Movie : Utter Fear and Hilariousness

Utter Fear;
Upon arrival to the city slum we had to get permission to shoot. Similar to the customs at the village we had to go around to different elders and opinion leaders to present our identity and cause. Everyone accepted until we got to the "mafia man." Like out of a movie he threatened to impound the camera if we didn't comply with him so we did what he said.

The first time we met him was next to a bus at the main station for exporting goods abroad (his job-area and terrain). When he didn't offer us shade I knew something was up. He said we were rude for not greeting him at his house and that we would need to come back in an hour. An hour later he is nowhere to be found. The next morning we go to his house and back to the station. We had to wait outside a fast food place more than an hour for him to let us in. Then after talking at him and his goons he said he had to go to a baby naming and we needed to come again.

At this point we had wasted quite a bit of shooting time waiting for his permission and everyone knew it. We were told to forget him. But how? When one is surrounded by people in a market, who surely work for him? Finally, divided and confused, we run into an NGO worker and fluent English speaker. He explains that this man is just a "youth leader" in a certain area and we can "forget" him. The camera will not be imploded and we have rights and this man just wants money.

So we start shooting. We didn't trust anyone anymore for leading us to this trap.

Hilariousness;
As we are starting to prepare the first shot in the Slum some men call David & Abdulai over to ask them what the hell they think they are doing. I decided I would watch from a distance, and as the crowd and voices grew I was scared and took out my fear on the kids getting too close to the camera I was guarding. It ended and I frantically asked David what happened. He said there was one guy who was really angry and the others were yelling at him. In the end they said "we should do a really good job."

The Big Movie

Dec 10 - Jan 9

It was planned, researched, re-planned, interrupted, refreshed, then finally - it happened. There was a lot going on. Abdulai was in recovery, I was in re-entry, and new people on the scene; Nash Imoru, a friend (and Kari's BF) living in Tamale as a teacher for the deaf, and David Kavanaugh, a friend from learning film. They both appeared like magic as the clock almost stopped ticking and wound it up.

We had a wild ride of utter fear, hilariousness, generosity/ bribes, role confusion, mis-communication of all kinds, theft, fire, hunger/ thirst, depression, alienation, jubilation, realization, and companionship. Too bad we didn't shoot it but then we'd have another list. I'll try to share some highlighted examples.

Organic Mangos & Integrated Tamale Fruit Company

They like me. I like them. They are my new parents. I am making a seasonal technique video for them and they are making me a volunteer in Ghana that gets to eat and sleep without worrying about how that would work otherwise. But I still stay in the village. It's hard to edit without electricity so I move around a lot. On motorcycles if I want to.
www.itfcorganic.com/

Hooray for The USA

I Love obama. Like a Super Hero.

By the way I am in the USA temporarily...
and I have witnessed the sudden transformation of the nation.

America is now Cool.

Except for the gay marriage ban. Not Cool.

Just wait, Super-Obama is in the white house.
(Knock on wood x3)

Miss Scarlet with the rope in the Dining Room

I got 157 pieces of candy. My sister got less but evened it out a little with a game of poker. My sister and I drove a few blocks to a better neighborhood and went around as guests of Clue. One lady told us we looked like midgets. It was great to celebrate my favorite holiday.

Way to Go.

So after being sent to the USA and "early terminating" peace corps, my good friend and counterpart, abdulai, rode a motorcycle and ran into a sheep that "jumped out" in front of him driving along without a helmut on. He almost died.

PRO-Choice

So peace corps has a rule against riding motorcycles. This makes sense in the city where there is pavement and crazy drivers. But how about the bush? A lorry is just as dangerous when it's filled and stacked to the seams with people, animals and cargo. I am pro-choice in this matter of how you want to risk your life best. Just wear a helmet and watch out for the stupidity of sheep ...

Mobile Movie Making Bike Ride

We - 6 volunteers & sometimes Abdulai - biked around the District to 5 villages for 6 days. Each village made quick "educational" videos about HIV/AIDS & then at night we showed them on a big sheet with a projector and amplifier. Most began with an introduction by the respected Chief & Elders whose faces look great on the big screen & People loved it. Then students or youth would do short dramas... a few even had more than 7 scenes. Quick scenes. Then we shot people trying to put condoms on wooden penises correctly. Always fun.

We had some strange technical problems but got through most of them. Why will my camera not export audio properly? Doesn't make sense. I got feverish toward the end too but I just need sleep I think.

Cheap Flights!

www.asaptickets.com

thanks jojo

we went to KAYAAYO

We have seen it to believe it. We lived it for a small time. It's a microcosm of the north squished into several blocks of wooden shaks with small passageways. Girls, small and tall, sleeping 16 to a small room. The community is called Sodom and Gomorrah. Today it's not but perhaps yesterday it was.

The girls told us they are happy to be making money for themselves and not just their parents. But the families are not so happy when the daughters get pregnant and the men disappear and not knowing really who to Blame.

Economically speaking, which it what it is all about, I heard it's the highest source of income the north has. I think it is call for Revolution. Peace, love, and rock and roll? perhaps I am being optimistic...

A YEAR

Today (or yesterday depending who you ask) I have been in Ghana for a year. Not sure I've stayed in one country this long. Though I certainly move around the country. But this is my first time back in Accra, the big huge city we flew into. It didn't look so big then. But now this is like Europe or the USA. Except still no movie theater. Someone needs to change that. I should write letters. They could make lots of money. Lots. But I celebrated with a strawberry smoothie and real whipped cream. MMM.

RAMADAN

I am fasting with my people. They appreciate it plus I'll cross it off the roayl to do list. But it's kinda normal-ish. It's harder when it's sunny and I am thirsty. But no water no food until sun down at 6:15pm. Then most people get up at 4am and have a meal but I prefer to sleep. We were at a workshop in Kumasi for a week which made it easier since we weren't moving.

New Danish Collaborators

http://www.artrebels.com