Films

Occupy Maui

January 30, 2012 by Ian MacKenzie

George – Occupy Maui

This week, during my “time off”, I couldn’t resist joining the crew of Occupy Maui as they launched a week of direct-action against Monsanto. I love visiting various occupations around the world – it’s like discovering extended family you never knew you had.

Friday’s event culminated in a musical performance by the folk musician Human and his merry band, singing “Monsanto Go Away.” Emjoy the vid!

Behind the lens at Occupy Vancouver

December 28, 2011 by Ian MacKenzie

EARLY ON, I noticed another photographer wandering the tent city of Occupy Vancouver. He seemed like a pretty cool guy… and eventually, when we finally met, I was right.

Jonathan Dy is a Vancouver based artist and photographer, inexorably pulled to document the Occupy movement, much like myself. In this piece, I ask Jon about his process behind the lens and why the Occupy movement needs the space to define itself.

The style of this piece was inspired by Jonathan Harris’ project “Today.” And finally, I found the perfect music of Chris Zabriskie, offered to the creative commons, to set the tone.

If We Get Occupy Right, We Get Everything Right

November 26, 2011 by Ian MacKenzie

Original Occupy Wall St flyer

WHEN I FIRST heard the call to Occupy Wall St for a few months, I knew this was big. I knew it would be more than just a “protest.” This felt different than the usual march to voice specific grievances. It was a call for something more profound, and much deeper, than even the original participants realized as they gathered their signs and tents.

I knew because I’d be following the various manifestations of this movement for over a year, working with Velcrow Ripper as he traversed the globe working on his new film: Evolve Love. The premise is complex to capture, but simple to state: humanity is waking up.

On Sept 17, 2011, 2000 people showed up at Zucotti Park. On Nov 26, 2011, they are still there.

The mainstream media, if they aren’t busy denigrating the movement and highlighting its flaws, are still grappling with how to cover it. Who are the leaders? What are your demands? No answer has been given. Instead, they Occupy.

Early on, journalist Naomi Klein recognized the significance as well. She called it “The Most Important Thing In The World Now“:

Yesterday, one of the speakers at the labor rally said: “We found each other.” That sentiment captures the beauty of what is being created here. A wide-open space (as well as an idea so big it can’t be contained by any space) for all the people who want a better world to find each other. We are so grateful.

“Why are they protesting?” ask the baffled pundits on TV. Meanwhile, the rest of the world asks: “What took you so long?” “We’ve been wondering when you were going to show up.” And most of all: “Welcome.”

At its heart, Occupy is not a protest. It’s about creating space. It’s about modeling a new way of being, that requires a fair amount of “unlearning” the way society and human nature has been taught. It’s asking the question: why? Why are things they way they are? Is it, in fact, human nature to be greedy, violent, and cruel? Or is it possible that these are symptoms of a systemic order?

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Love & Shadow

November 8, 2011 by Ian MacKenzie

Occupy Vancouver has shifted greatly since the first movement on Oct 15. While widespread public support had been waning, the tragic death of a girl last week at the Art Gallery was certainly a turning point. The mainstream media storm that followed painted the movement has little more than a drug-infested commune. The occupiers on the other hand, share a much different picture.

Do we blame the occupiers? Tristan Markle writes:

It is not the organizers of Occupy Vancouver who decided what “the issues” are, or who drew up a set of pre-determined “demands.” The issues were already there, and the protest simply opened a fissure through which the nightmare of reality bubbled through. The “tension” created by Occupy Vancouver is the tension of a city forced to deal with its problems.

What we are witnessing is the shadow of Vancouver, one of the world’s “most livable cities.” It is the same shadow that revealed itself after the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup, and the streets burned with inexplicable rage. This is the shadow that we have repressed, and is now returning with a vengeance.

To all those who have condemned the movement for losing its way, please consider: no one likes to look their shadow in the face. And yet if we can learn to accept it, to integrate it, learn from it, our shadow can heal our city in ways we have never known.

Dear Temple of Transition

September 19, 2011 by Ian MacKenzie

In his new book “Sacred Economics” Charles Eisenstein reveals that when asked what is missing from their lives, most people answer “community.”

What happened to community, and why don’t we have it any more? There are many reasons – the layout of suburbia, the disappearance of public space, the automobile and the television, the high mobility of people and jobs – and, if you trace the “why’s” a few levels down, they all implicate the money system. More directly posed: community is nearly impossible in a highly monetized society like our own. That is because community is woven from gifts.

Never was this more true than Burning Man. As I spent the week in awe and gratitude towards all that had manifested the Temple of Transition, I in turn, felt enormously compelled to return the gift. It could be no other way.

I posted my film a week ago and the response was overwhelming. Comment after comment, email after email from fellow burners thanking me for capturing the Temple’s essence. A few even used the direct term “in your debt.”

It wasn’t that I could ever be paid monetarily for my film – it was a recognition that they had accepted my gift, and therefore, are compelled to pass the gift onward. This is how true abundance is born. This is how true community is created.

Not through “shared consumption” as so often characterizes our adult gatherings today, but through “shared indebtedness” towards each other, and our gifts.

Evovle Love Flash – Going Deeper Into The Climate Crisis

August 24, 2011 by Ian MacKenzie

When we begin to live another world, today, we will soon discover that new world reflected all around us. As more and more of us choose an uncompromising life, a life that is truly lived, a life beyond sleep walking, avoidance or the numbing anaesthesia of fear, the more attainable that world is for everyone else. ~ Velcrow Ripper

Just released a new video update I shot back in February this year, with director Velcrow Ripper on his new film Evolve Love. (I’m Associate Producer). Damien Bouchard did a nice job editing the piece.

Interview series with National Geographic Traveler

August 15, 2011 by Ian MacKenzie

In February earlier this year, I flew down to Washington, DC to shoot an interview series with the staff of National Geographic Traveler. The idea was to capture travel writing and photography tips for students of the new media school MatadorU.

Check out the promo:

Back to the Future: 1981 Dance Party

August 5, 2011 by Ian MacKenzie

What do you do when your best friend turns 30? Celebrate like it’s 1981. On a boat.

I shot the dance video below with the nifty GoPro camera, which is actually meant for extreme sports. But it works just fine for sunset boat parties.

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