Fault Lines: A Nomad Filmmaker's Journal

People who query me about the shape of my life often say, “ My, what an interesting life you have”. I sense they’ve caught a glimpse of a Martian. They confirm the wholesomeness of their lives in contrast to that of someone who is constantly on the road, often in unsafe places under unhealthy conditions. To make documentaries? Always in debt to do that? I have no hope of explaining. I might hint at a love of adventure, a fascination with danger, a professional interest in life and death situations. Beyond that I don’t want to be tasteless about what I put on the table; feeding the human psyche seems to require ritually agreed upon absolutes from the larder of good and evil. My worldview may be too surreal for polite company. But really, it’s all about staying awake while you dream, about maintaining a vitality of spirit that some achieve with illegal substances. About the heightened awareness and love of life others find only under fire. It’s clear to me that an acceptance of death enhances the intricate pleasures and games life offers, leading to a greater awareness of the power of love, a lack of righteousness, and a rejection of any cause that is not an expression of pure and simple humanism. -- Release Print, April 1994