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Float the Boat!

I produced this video for Clearwater.org’s current initiative. From the fund drive page:

In 1966 Pete Seeger had a seemingly impossible dream – to build a boat to save the Hudson River. Now, 50 years later, we are rebuilding that dream.

Last October, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater began a landmark restoration of the sloop Clearwater’s hull, and today she is just two short months away from splashing into the Hudson River to begin her 47th sailing season.

The restoration project, which is costing Clearwater $850,000 to complete, is our most extensive and costly project to date. Clearwater has managed to raise an incredible $700,000 towards restoring the iconic sloop – that’s 82% of our goal!

Now, with only 10 weeks to go, Clearwater needs your help. We must raise an additional $150,000 to complete the project and ensure that we will be sailing again this June. As Pete Seeger said, “Like the Hudson River itself, the sloop doesn’t belong to a wealthy few, but to all people who care about the river – and our obligation to keep it sailing is for all of them.”
It was the contributions of many people that helped Clearwater become a reality in 1966. Your gift, no matter how large or small, will keep Clearwater sailing for generations to come and continue Pete Seeger’s legacy to protect the Hudson River.

Planetary

PLANETARY - KEY IMAGE © Planetary Collective

One of the films I got to see at HotDocs this year was Planetary, a meditation on climate change and, well, on meditation itself. The 85 minute docu-essay combines stunning cinematography with an enchanting score and interviews with over two dozen philosophers, scientists, astronauts, Zen priests, Tibetan lamas, and tribal elders. Director Guy Reid and his collaborators make a compelling case that our global ecological crisis cannot be solved without more people recognizing that we are all a part of the earth and not just on it.

To read the full review I contributed to Curator Magazine click HERE.

me and Mr. Wiseman

Got to meet one of my filmmaking heroes at HotDocs Film Fest a few weeks ago, documentary legend Frederick Wiseman.

Wiseman

More than a couple times on my own films I’ve started out trying to do something in a Wiseman mode but then quickly changed courses when I realized how difficult it is to simply observe. When future historians or aliens or androids or whoever comes along next wants to see what American (and sometimes French) life was like during the last bunch of decades, they could do no better than cooking up some space corn, settling into their retractable hover-boy, and tuning into any one of  Wiseman’s treasures.

He’s currently in post-production on a new film set in Jackson Heights, Queens—widely considered to be one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the world.

Times Square Yoga

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/70259877]

Check out my latest collabo with Livestream and the Times Square Alliance.

Since 2oo2, Times Square has been hosting a giant, all-day, free outdoor yoga festival on the summer solstice as a counterpoint to the New Years celebrations that take place 10 days after the winter solstice. This year, 16,000 people pre-registered for five different classes. I feel quite fortunate to have been involved, even if it was just editing together all the footage. Though I have to say, there’s nothing like sitting in a darkened room, hunched over a computer, editing 15 hours of yoga classes to make you feel like a knotted snarl of linguine that was left in the pot over night.

Big thanks to Aradhna for supplying the music.