Notes and Thoughts

LUND--Budapest was amazing, my new favorite city. The morning we left I put a copy of "News From El Salvador" in the mail to Bettyann Larson who will be showing it several places in the next weeks. Finally, a few days ago, it arrived and her response to watching it was very favorable which was a huge weight off my shoulders -- finally someone who has never seen any of the film (though is very familiar with the subject matter) has seen it and thought it good. It is interesting to think of it being shown to 100s of people in San Francisco and elsewhere. A film shot in El Salvador and edited in Sweden.

There is a scene I want to add, which I am working on now, but the film in one version is finished. Soon it will be wrapped up for good, this film, though I hope to find funding to return and make a film exclusively about the currileros, the children of the mangroves -- a more intimate portrait of their lives and not just the somewhat of an overview of conditions in El Salvador that this film is.

And Budapest. We met my old girlfriend Blair and her husband Chris there. I shot a lot of photos, taking only my Nikon D1x (and pocket Canon digital and pocket Olympus Stylus film camera and Sony palm cam). I felt distinctly unfaithful to my Leica but developing film is very expensive here and I knew I would be mostly shooting touristy stuff. I did get some footage of the statue park. Shots of the imposing Lenins and workers and proletarian soldiers that might come in handy for my upcoming Ukrainian documentary.

I have been pre-packing my bags for that, making sure everything is present for video work including the new 20 foot XLR cable and monopod Blair brought me from the US. Budapest was the beginning of what promises to be an ongoing exploration of Eastern Europe. It is exciting to begin a new project in a new place, some familiar themes but a very different look and feel I am sure, to Central America which I miss but from where I needed to take a documentary break.