Why We Need You…
NYU Screening - February 2011
Over the last eight months, we’ve shared Bold Native with people across the world through community event screenings, independent theatrical bookings and via DVD and iTunes. We’ve repeatedly been asked what we’re doing to get this film to a broader audience. We always answer with some variation of the following – getting this film to a broader audience is going to be a group effort, one in which we need your help. We don’t have a big fancy distributor… we have something much better. We have you.
Bringing a film into the world is hard and takes the efforts of many people. Researching and writing a script can take years. Putting together the resources to shoot is daunting and challenging. Editing hundreds of hours of footage into a compelling hour and a half can test the patience of even the most dedicated individuals. But we do it because we love the art form and we’re excited to share our stories with others.
The Rebirth of Revolutionary Filmmaking
Peter Biskind’s landmark history of 70’s filmmaking Easy Riders to Raging Bulls details the rise and fall of America’s golden era of revolutionary filmmaking. The contemporary cinema of the 60’s was not reflecting the exploding underground protest movement and the huge cultural and political changes that were rocking the country. A small group of Hollywood rebels changed all that. The surprise success of Easy Rider shocked the Hollywood establishment and ushered in a series of challenging, provocative films that questioned our government and society and pushed the boundaries of cinematic expression. Films like Harold and Maude, Apocalypse Now, Medium Cool, Taxi Driver and Shampoo changed the way we thought about the movies. They were no longer just an escape and diversion; they were a unique and powerful way of exploring the pressing issues of the day and opening minds and hearts to other points of view.
With the blockbuster success of Star Wars and Jaws, Hollywood again found its footing in safe mainstream entertainments and the movies returned to their position as a harmless way of entertaining the masses. Since then, some films have strived to challenge audiences and a few have succeeded. But for the most part, politics and social change have been relegated to the documentary world and fictional treatments that lull us into a false distance from the subject being covered. Most fiction films that attempt to deal with important issues are sanitized by the very expensive process of development and production into glossy reenactments of the dangerous and lively spark that ignited them. There are some exceptions, such as the brilliant German film The Edukators.
With Bold Native we sought to work in the spirit of the great revolutionary films of the 70’s, films like Easy Rider that were both inspirational and challenging, films that didn’t let the audience off the hook and didn’t pull their punches. We looked at the subject of animal liberation and saw a story that was filled with all the cruelty and barbarism of which our species is capable, as well as all the compassion and hunger for justice and freedom which makes us so proud to be human. We wanted to provoke thought and discussion and celebrate that thing within us that makes us take extraordinary risks in order to save another’s life.
Who is the Bold Native?
Bold Native is the culmination of almost ten years of work by literally hundreds of people. It was conceived in the summer of 2001. It was shepherded through numerous drafts by Denis Henry Hennelly, Casey Suchan, Mary Pat Bentel, Jeff Bollman, Jessica Hagan, Todd Helbing, Ted Deiker, Jashub Absher, Danielle Lurie, Jimmy Franklin, Peter Alton, Goody-B Wiseman, and too many others to name here.
From the spark of its beginning to today, we’ve watched as terrorist attacks, oppressive government regimes, and draconian laws have radically changed the landscape of political and social protest in our country and the world. We’ve maintained a hope that we could create a film that spoke to the hopes and dreams of millions of compassionate people and the suffering of billions of non-human animals that have at every moment occupied our hearts and minds.
The film would not be possible without the generosity and kindness of everyone who gave their time and labor. The film is dedicated to you. And it’s dedicated to the brave, anonymous women and men who risk their freedom to give freedom to another. It’s dedicated to the individuals and groups who fight for legislative and social change, work to educate the public, and care for abused and rescued animals at farm sanctuaries. And it’s dedicated to the billions of animals who were never saved and whose brief time on our earth was filled with pain and sadness.
Finally, it’s dedicated to everyone who watches this trailer and says, “Yes.” Yes, the time has come to reject the notion that the saving of a life or the protest of an industry is terrorism or violence. Yes, there is something more important than our momentary pleasure or convenience. Yes, the lives we take have value and their interests, no matter how different from ours, deserve consideration.
Who is the Bold Native? Find out this summer.
Paradise Recovered
My friend Andie Redwine recently did two things I never would have expected. And I am enormously proud of her and humbled by both.
I went to high school with Andie. We co-wrote a column for the school paper called “Mo’ Better Bagels” in which we pontificated upon numerous subjects and generally raised questions regarding society, culture, and our sanity.
Andie grew up in a repressive religious environment, and as an adult she has dedicated much of her time to helping others who have escaped from cults. A few years ago she mentioned to me that she was interested in making a film about cult survivors. Living in LA, I’m surrounded by people who say they want to make a film. The vast majority of them never do. Andie does not live in LA. She lives in a rural southern Indiana community. She knew nothing about how to write a script or make a film. But she taught herself how to do both in the most efficient way possible… by doing it.
Here’s the trailer for the film she wrote and produced totally outside the Hollywood system, created solely by her passion and energy.
The second thing Andie did that I never expected was to go vegan. Her film is called Paradise Recovered. I think it’s worth noting that in Paradise (Eden), Adam and Eve were not consuming animals.
She recently wrote me and my business partner Casey a letter about her decision. She agreed to let us share it. It’s one of the more moving things I’ve ever read.
Dear Denis and Casey:
Despite the fact that I feel absolutely fantastic about not contributing to the deaths of animals and eating their pain and grief…and that should be enough there, right?…I want to share with you both the benefits of going completely vegan for 30 days. Completely vegan means no animal products with an emphasis on low fat and fiber. A lot has happened both physically and spiritually for me. It’s been pretty amazing.
