Is there a particular documentary film or filmmaker that had a major influence on your career?
Wow that’s a tough question! I feel like where I’m at today as a filmmaker and artist is due to countless filmmakers I’ve met who have been so generous with their time and expertise. This particular film was inspired by the more subtle, quiet stye of films like “Si Pudiera Quedarme” and “All That Breathes”. I went to journalism school at UNC Chapel Hill have to credit so much of what I learned to my professor, Pat Davison, and countless alums like Jon Kasbe whose work served as a constant source of inspiration and motivation.
What motivated you to make this film?
My storytelling organization, The Home Collective, was actually invited into this story back in 2022 I believe. We focus on stories of ‘home’ and what home means in our changing world as our generation tackles climate change, housing shortages, mass migration and so much more. Our producer from Brazil, Bruna Kadletz, actually reached out to us and presented this idea as a way to explore Indigenous displacement through the lens of home.
Please tell us what camera(s) you shot with primarily – and any other special equipment that you used and why you used it.
Our goal was to be as non-invasive as possible so we kept both our team and our equipment quite small (our budget was also very small). The entire film was shot on a Canon 5D IV and drone footage was shot with a DJI Mavic Air 2. While not the fanciest equipment, we achieved the look we wanted while gaining so much access, trust and friendship with our film participants and their families.
Please tell us about any special styles or techniques that you used during the production of your film to help tell your story.
The biggest challenge of making this film was not being able to shoot in Maria and Marucha’s homeland back in Venezuela. This challenge quickly turned into a wonderful chance for us to be creative as we relied on their memories of their homeland to location scout for places that looked and felt like home to them both. It was a journey we all went through together in that regard and we had so much fun exploring!
The film is largely based on memories and we wanted the audience to feel immersed in someone else’s memories. To do that, we threw out all of the traditional rules of cinematography and opted for blurry shots, vaseline and plastic wrap covering lenses, and purely handheld footage to achieve the look we were going for.
How did your story evolve from day one, to the very last day in post? Is your story what you thought it would be?
We had no idea what the story was when we initially came into this project. What we did know was the messages we wanted to convey and the impact we wanted this film to have on audiences and organizations when discussing Indigenous displacement and cultural preservation efforts on the frontlines of the refugee crisis. For a while, we were telling the stories of multiple grandmother-granddaughter pairs within the Warao community (and we actually have an entire photo story that encompasses all of these narratives). But in the end we chose to focus just on Maria and Marucha as their relationship was so playful- filled with wonderment and goofiness that allowed us to really explore what childhood can look like when growing up in two very distinct places.
Please describe the most rewarding experience you had while making this film.
Upon completion of the first cut of the film, our team traveled back to Boa Vista, Brazil to screen the cut of the film for community feedback and to host a celebration in the largest Indigenous refugee camp. We printed out large prints of the photos we had taken and displayed them for everyone featured to see (and to keep) and set up a photo booth to take family portraits of anyone who wanted a photo to keep. This was so fun and meaningful as most families had no photos of their own or had to leave all their family photos behind in Venezuela. It was a wonderful way to celebrate our collaboration and to see the community’s reactions and feedback while keeping everyone updated on the process.
What advice can you give to other impact filmmakers?
Don’t get bogged down by the technicalities and the process of filmmaking. You don’t need the best camera or the biggest budget to make good stories. Ask questions and really listen. Hire locally. Don’t be afraid to let the story evolve or to scrap everything and start new.
What’s your favorite part about the filmmaking process and why?
I absolutely love the process of collaboration when making a film! A huge value of The Home Collective is to acknowledge that the process of making a story is just as important as the story itself. Using this value as our guide, it was wonderful to just work slowly and intentionally with a community- listening and learning from them. Days spent sitting next to a grandmother as she would weave baskets and tell me stories, going into classrooms and watching students draw pictures of what they considered to be home, wielding a machete and helping with Buriti harvests deep in the jungle… having the time and space to create deep relationships, immerse into a place and to foster a true sense of collaboration is simply magic.
What’s the one item you always take with you when working out in the field and why?
Chocolate, candy, fruit, sugar of any kind… it’s a great way to keep my energy and mood up and a good reminder to myself, my team and our participants to take a break. Sitting down to share a snack or a meal together has proved to be such a way to create bonds and to alleviate any stress when in the field.
Please share a personal story about your experience making this film.
This was my first attempt at a film that would try out the festival circuit and sort of marked my transition from the world of video journalism to the world of filmmaking. I knew next to nothing about the industry, distribution, etc but wanted to make sure I did this story and the Warao community justice. This past year has felt like my film school with many bouts of imposter syndrome, but I’m so grateful to the fantastic support from friends and filmmaker peers.
Can you describe any obstacles you encountered in making your film and/or in your distribution/exhibition efforts?
A large obstacle for us was language! We wanted this film to be in Warao and in Spanish as those were the two languages Maria and Marucha were most comfortable speaking. It also felt like a nice way to honor the Warao language while showing the dichotomy between the two generations even in terms of the language they spoke. Our team was comprised of folks who spoke English, Spanish, Portuguese and Warao but not everyone spoke every language. Some only spoke Spanish and Portuguese or only English and Spanish or only Warao and Spanish so we had a bit of a game of telephone going at times to make sure everyone was understood properly!
What do you want audiences to take away from your film?
Indigenous displacement has global cultural ramifications. Despite comprising less than 5% of the earth’s population, Indigenous communities account for the majority of the world’s cultural diversity (representing as many as 5,000 different cultures and over 4,000 languages)! In the face of this unprecedented mass migration, there is an urgent need to resource and support displaced Indigenous communities’ efforts to hold onto their unique cultural identities, languages, and traditions — or we risk vast portions of the globe’s cultural diversity disappearing.
Please list key points that should be covered in a post-screening discussion:
1) What is your (the audience’s) definition of home? How might it be similar to someone’s notion of home on the other side of the world? What can our commonalities of home teach us about the world and empathy for others’ circumstances?
2) Why is cultural preservation so important for Indigenous communities in particular but all migration/refugee communities?
3) What role do grandmothers play in cultural knowledge memory? I urge you to learn as much as you can from your own grandparents and to ask questions about their childhood and memories of home.
What opportunities are available for those interested in getting further involved?
We are currently collecting cameras, audio equipment, laptops, etc to provide to the Warao community in the form of a community media center we are building just outside of Boa Vista, Brazil. Our goal is to train and resource storytellers in the Warao community so they can continue to tell their own stories, advocate for their rights, and to preserve music, dances, languages etc and pass them on to a new generation growing up in displacement.
If folks are unable to donate gear, they can also support our efforts on GoFundMe and/or follow The Home Collective on Instagram and our website to stay involved.
Please provide any additional resources (websites, links to additional videos, forms, articles, etc.):
https://www.gofundme.com/f/indigenous-cultural-preservation-storytelling
https://thehomecollective.org/
https://www.instagram.com/thehomecollectiveorg/
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