filmmaker 文书

Fimmaker Atthe age oftweke 1was deporiedto reland -by my mother She thoughtthe change ofscenemy and some ime spentwith herside ofihe family would be good for my overy inquistive nature 1quicky ranslated her actof banishmentinto my own delberate act ofselrexile_In my stubbom twehveyearald mind his seemed more dramatic somehow Atthat age,Ihad itle wisdom and what some would cala Hairy banal Mish Catholic upbinging: my father was agited horseman araging alcoholic and a erslsomenting brant Needless io say, home wasaplace 1didn't mind leaving. Tspenttne nextyear andahalliving and working on auralfaminthe lish countyside 1studied French and ish at St Aioysious Colege butlchose to focus on mechanical drawing,a subjectthat alowed meio representa constnuct of my vastiweive yearald universe_1had been seriousy drawing on my own since the age ofnine and mn ialand lseizad he opportuniy to study drawing tachniques mm School along wih the complementary sublecls of math and physics My migratonffom alargefamiy nthe Unitad statesio an austere and isolated farm spurred my independent intemal creative ifa My auntand uncle had no TV, no phone and na records posL1970 Wihouttelevision or nelghbors for the frsttmein my Me.1was soleyy responsible or my own adventures ycing the countyside,sketching farm animals,and applying my mechanical drawing skils to restoration kaiches olthe famiy fa When lwas away fom the fam,1spenttime with aarge collection ofcousinsi amost al were invovedin iocal theatre_ Watching rehearsals for their plays 1became skilled nthe arlotlistening and observing .1 iscovered an sh imagination imbued with a complexty of paety, politics humor and histoy which pervaded he works they parormed on the stage .1was fascinated by the nimble play of the anguage, theinticacies of characler and the tming of proper siences as an element of sound inttgued by the personar ofa character - the essential qualties that made a person unique -1starlsd drawing charcoal keiches ofiocal characters porraits and 1even wrote character skits and improvisations Afterlretumed rom my exle in reland 1fnished high school then eamed ashcyearvdegreerinthe atonal competitive cycling scene My weekriong races around the US on Greyhounds $49.00 student Haresied meto setlein Ulah_ There high in the Wasatch Mountains 1retred fom bicycle racing and shudied painting drawing,and printmaking woodcut and hography)n colege Athome ,lcontinued my oilpaintings with aseries of porraits Working with fiends and borowed equipment 1wrote ashort absurdist clique of he network TV coverage ofthe Albervile Winter Oympics Aftera deluge of unforecasted snow ruined our original scrpt 1wrotea new oneinjust one night We shotourvideo in Park Ciy, Utah, durng thefolowing two days ofthe stomm and itlater won wo awards inalocalfim iestval After colege graduation,the curiosity fueled by my chidhood experiencesin reland compeled meto travel so joined the Peace Corps ten days after commencement 1arived mn Morocco where had the opportunity io desin the Englsh program at the FSTMa brand-new science and technology universiy The students thera came fom aanguage-study background oftranslatng and ranscribing_ They new perfecty wel howito conjugate verbs but they would fal silent when asked forthe tme of day Wih no available texbooks or yadilonal teaching aids 1created aseries of courses using theater video, drama and debate as inan experimental approach to teaching Englsh,  Outslde ofteaching, Peace Corps volunteers are required to creale secondary projects* When the Peace Corps Washinglon selected ascriptthat had writen fora salety raining video 1was chosen for the lead rale My successinthis project ed to another work opportunity this time with the Moroccan Eucational insttute for Radio and Television Over a year and ahalt we wrote and developed an eightminute piot epilsode fora series using Englshrianguage TVtime asa meansto address current issuesin Morocco We worked with Japanese technicians in French,an ranian directorin Arabic and an English speaking writing staftto produce a plotthat would pass strct censorship standards and stll remain enteriaining to our viewers Laler on other projects brought me backto the drawing board 一 araly -Mustrating USAID-funded heahh manuals for Peace Coms Volunteer prolects， Before fnishing my service as a Peace Corps Vonteerin Morocco wrote aseries of staged evenis ithatIplannedto examine inavideo essay or mackumentay, My objectve atthe tme wasto exploit Hthe naivete of Americans overseas,those gulible new volunteers who were wiling to swalow asword Justto scratch their stomachs On the surace,the resuling fim wasa humarous and caustic reatise on American values and group identity Butihe summeriong exercilse of seting up,shooting,exhibiting,and discussing the video spured meto explore my own ralas as praject oreator actor and oulside Commentator Once had completed my Peace Corps sevice,lheaded norhto ateaching postin Paris As fate wouid haveikh my ofice was two blocks fom the Cinematheque fancalse, Here,1spentihe majority of my fist wetwinter days minging with a group ofyoung video-makers who were exploring simiar questons of identgy_1began work on aserles ollarge fommat porralts using 35mmn Prints on canvas_1completed my frsteommissioned pholo in 1998. Since 1999 Ive been working a day job in Kafkaesque environs writing appeals and legal pettions Meanwhile ive begun another proiect aporiaitofa unique and gifted man James Donaldson_ 1wanted io create a video narralve that wauld address serious socialssues in an indirect and poatic mamner As the sublect of my cumentinvestgation nto character and uth James lle and music have forced me as astonyteler lo confont my own technical limiations James spent his youihin American juvenile rphanages aler winessing atthe age offive his own father brutaly murdering his mother Thiteen years ater he met his father again both men prsonersin the same penitentiary James rose io fame and prominenee asa Bilboard recording artst with Chess Records and,now at age sixdty-iwo he fghts abatle with homelessness， This project which has consumed my lfe forihe lastthree years has enabled meto develop my own Voice andto explore my role as the storyieler of my own work -whetherihe story is aboutatowm or another man Ever since my early childhood encounters with famm animals and sh theatrical characters, Thave ooked forplacesto store the lives ofthe people1meet Ithink of my drawings and photographs as ithe preiiminary sketches for my fims and videos, which are, essentialy concemed with tuih_ Notrealty oreven facts necessariy butthe kind oftuih that only artseemsto address tnuih that comecs with the essentials of human experience ALUCLAS MFA p