HAPPY HOLIDAYS
Prologue
🚨 Spoiler Alert - Self-Promotion Ahead. 🚨
WATCH NOW: AMERICAN SANTA // AWARDS ELIGIBLE
I’m late, I know! But I’m working hard and so much has happened… Here’s the non-sound update:
Since being honored on the Shortlist at DocNYC, we've been embraced by the LA Times, featuring our film as their December highlight in the ShortDocs series. Then, to add to the excitement, the remarkable Billy Porter has joined us as Executive Producer.
On December 1st, "American Santa" launched on the LA Times homepage, kicking off a month-long celebration of storytelling. The response has been incredible, with standout screenings in Los Angeles and New York City drawing full houses and stirring discussions.
For those who haven't had the chance to watch, "American Santa" is streaming for free on the LA Times website and their YouTube channel. As we approach the holiday season, the film offers a moment to contemplate the true spirit of Christmas and how we can all contribute to a more inclusive celebration. It's more than a film; it's a movement. Watch it, share it, and let it inspire your holiday traditions.
And if you are moved, please let me know.
Okay, back to the saga wherein we continue our journey through Rwanda on the (culinary) adventure of a lifetime!
Project: Saving the Gorillas: Ellen’s Next Adventure
Cast of Characters:
Abbie - Director
Billie - Producer
Mike - DP
Ted - Cam Op/AC
Ani - AC
Craig - EP
June 01, 2022
It Begins
At breakfast, Ted asked me if my bed was hot. Well, yes, I explained, there's a heating pad, and then I told him all about my relatively sleepless night. Ted too was beguiled by the "magic bottle" to the point where he described the whole night as a "clambake." However, Ted's coping strategy was decidedly different from mine - he placed all his pillows on the bed in a row and then slept on top of those as a kind of heat shield. Billie, on the other hand, loved the bed as it was like a "hot pocket." Mike was similarly thrilled to have been nocturnally slow roasted. Or is that broasted?
Then we loaded into the Cruisers and drove off to the park to meet up with Prosper. Along the way, we passed by what seemed to be a gigantic Gorilla-Wicker-Man, and in my haze of previous-night-sweats and Malarone, I wondered if this whole trip was in fact an elaborate ruse to deliver me to this "naming place" only to be immolated inside the wooden simian totem.
But no, really we just sat down with Prosper who broke it all down for us as we all dodged the rain. What to expect, how you ought to have no expectations; you can’t pre-plan a gorilla trek. After all, Prosper is the head warden and the park can be high density. He has always worked on engagement between the community and the park. His passion for wildlife began at a young age. In university, Prosper worked with rangers and trackers. The more he did it, the more he smiled every day. He's helped to turn poachers into conservationists. The first time he saw the gorillas in person he could see the design of his cousins and the organization of nature. We have a lot to learn from mountain gorillas, so now ask yourself what you can do. He had many questions about how humans lived after the genocide. And yet, here were gorillas - organized, friends, so perhaps we could learn something.
And then the rain came hard as we headed to lunch. The butternut squash soup teed things off nicely. It was warm, creamy, with a gentle acidity that lingered on the tongue and salted just enough to make a statement. I wrapped a snuggly blanket around myself and asked for a green tea. Perhaps this meal would redeem us all. At least half of us ordered the beef medallions and the other half went for the tilapia. I had been leaning towards the fish but tilapia just screams "frozen in a giant foodservice bag" to me so I followed Mike's lead to Beeftown.
After a lifetime of waiting, and still no tea, the meals arrived. Ani got his fish but the sides were all wrong. When he protested he was basically told to take what he was given. As Eric Clapton's 1990 hit "Pretending" played, I began to imagine what Gordon Ramsey might do to a place like this. My beef medallions also had the wrong sides, but I too kept my mouth shut and accepted my lot - clearly overcooked circles of meat and a ketchup-like sauce dribbled over the edge. As Mike said of the dish's flavor: "you gotta work for it. It's not giving it away." On the other hand, Ani stated that the fish was "good but a bit salty." Look, there were lamb chops on the menu, but after yesterday's boot-leather experience, I thought I'd go another way. Well, Mike was right, it wasn't going to give it up and in fact the further I got into the meat, the more it fought back. Like a bare-knuckle brawl, I traded jabs and crosses while it parried and pivoted from my knife. I made my way to the end, more out of attrition than delight, but once again I was full.
After forgoing dessert, we met up again with Felix and shot some of the reforestation projects at the campus. Over in Bisate, we toured the school and Felix took home a beet so large it ought to have won a 4-H award somewhere in America's heartland. At the Trackers' field compound, I got to use the latrine. Lastly, on our way to Nadia's house, we got "officially lost" but then were found. Nadia has many cordless phones. Someone walked into her house with their filthy shoes on.
Dinner was eaten. I can write no more words. I pray for sleep to take me at last. Tomorrow we go to the mountain.
One more promotion
All good thoughts,
Avi