Not long ago I had a conversation with a relative who asked me if I had a blog, which I replied to with an emphatic “no, I can’t imagine that many people being interested in anything I had to say.”

Not long after, I started a blog.  I cannot say why, but perhaps after further reflection I realized that if I had been making films and writing for the better part of 15 years, for the sole purpose of communication, why not write online as well?  It’s possibly part that, as well as a sense that the mere fact that I was writing down my thoughts on films and personal activism, the more I felt I was actually moving forward.  So with that, I am hoping to make my presence felt here in this space more frequently, if for nothing else than to push myself along.

My short, “Useless Things” is playing in Toronto in a week.  I’m going to be there, and I am fairly excited about the fact because after years of work and so many drops of sweat and tears, I get to enjoy one of the very few perks being a director: namely be the guest of a festival dedicated to filmmaking.  I was recently reminded of the first film festival I ever got invited to, the New York Underground Film Festival, with a film I made with Paul Kell called Do Not Ruin Your Credit.  I met a lot of filmmakers doing a lot of the same things I was, and got watch a lot of films that still influence me.  It was one of the best memories of my life – my only wish is that these congregations of like minds happened more often.  A teacher once told me about the syndrome of the “lonely artist” – it’s easy to get lost in your own head and burn out when your only major interactions regarding your work happen once every few years.  I suppose the answer is to get more films into film festivals.

As I embark on the adventure that is my newest fiction short, I want to give a thanks to GreenGround Productions which has awarded the movie with their SeaChange production services grant which comprises of a rental of their Red camera, and other related post production services. It’s a wonderful opportunity to begin shooting using higher end cameras, although my experience using my HVX and a 35mm adapter was also rewarding. That said, it is time to move up.

Found an article written about Useless Things on the web, prompted by the upcoming screening in Toronto. The article can be found here.

I also thought that I would plug Adam Reider’s soon to be completed short film “Dog Sitter” which I produced. It’s taken us a while to get this film finished, part because of being busy on other projects, and part because we were trying to find out about music rights (which by the way, as a filmmaker can be an impossible and incredibly annoying task). We finally figured it all out and are working on the colour correction with editor James Hoffman and sound edit with Emory Murchison. On a somewhat related note, I’ve just signed on with Emory and Gabi Kislat on a documentary project as producer, and I’m really excited about it. Their company, Hot Smoked Pictures, is finishing up a doc about a Parkinson’s patient entitled “Musically Medicated” (it’s a subject I am very close to and have given them advice here and there about the production). Now, it’s time to get a new project up in the air, so to speak.

Lastly I am going to be producing a music video for the United Steel Workers of Monteal with James Hoffman directing. It’s for the song “Little Girl” off their latest album Three on the Tree. We’re collaborating with animator extraordinare Eva Cvijanovic and making a part animated, part live action / live show piece which I am sure to post here when it’s made.

The screening times for the ReelWorld Film Fesitval have been published, and Useless Things will be playing at the Cineplex Canada Square on April 8th at 6pm and April 11th at noon. Tickets are available online through the website: http://www.reelworld.ca/ or by calling the festival: 1-800-595-4849 1-800-595-4849 or visiting the film office at 438 Parliament Street, 2nd floor or going to the cinema. I hope to have a great screening and I’ll be around afterward if anyone wants to ask questions, or go for a drink afterward.

Useless Things has been selected to be presented at the ReelWorld Film Festival in Toronto. The 10th annual edition of the festival takes place between the 7th and 11th of April and I will be attending. I am very excited about this festival because this will be the first time I will get to see the film with an audience other than our “pre-premiere” screening in Montreal for the cast and crew with guests a while back. I wasn’t able to make it to the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival when it screened there, and then when it played at the Rendez vous cinema quebecois here in Montreal, I was in Trinidad. Ah, irony. More information soon on screening times.

My most recently completed film, Useless Things, will be screening at the Rendez Vous Cinema Quebecois in Montreal at COURT MÉTRAGE DE FICTION – PROGRAMME PASSAGES – SÉANCE Thursday 18 February, 17h15 Cinémathèque québécoise – Claude-Jutra Cinema. Sadly I will not be able to attend since I am still in Trinidad & Tobago filming a documentary. The film will also be presented at the Reelworld film festival in Toronto sometime in April, details to be announced shortly I am sure.

I didn’t actually make this title, mine was “Bangladeshi Garment Workers”, just to set the record straight. In any case, this was a short film I made for Current TV while visiting Dhaka while showing My Cultural Divide at a film festival there. It was important for me to reconnect with the issues and people while visiting again, and I was really glad to have met a lot of new activists and workers that are trying to make changes to the way things are done. Please take a look and tell me what you think:

Lots of people are watching My Cultural Divide online, and it makes me very happy. I think putting the film online with a CC license was one of the best things I have ever done – it gives me great satisfaction that this issue is in the minds of many people, and the film creates discussion and hopefully creates some good. I am about to shoot another documentary, albeit one not as focused on politics as my first, so it is exciting that this doc lives on in this space.

The holiday season is upon us and it’s time to start collecting those presents for friends and family! In celebration of this festive time I’ve decided to put my entire feature documentary “My Cultural Divide” on the internet for anyone to watch free of charge. In fact – you can download it, pass it along, and screen it for groups if you’d like. My Cultural Divide played in many film festivals around the world, including the Montreal World Film Festival, the Visions du Réel (Switzerland), and even now in film classes at the University of Zurich.

Here’s the link: http://vimeo.com/6393377

And the film’s website: http://www.lutchmedial.ca/myculturaldivide/

There’s a reason I am doing this now, and it’s because of the documentary’s focus on sweatshop labour in Bangladesh and the rest of the world. It shows garment workers inside the factories and their plight, as well as the difficult choices conscientious consumers face when standing at the checkout. And although the film is about clothing manufacturing, the same applies to virtually every product we buy including electronics, toys, and even a lot of our food. That said, I am not telling you to stop buying entirely – just when you do go out shopping this year, take a little time to think about where the things you put in your basket came from, and at what cost. Often there are alternatives out there, and even when there are not, a quick email or letter demanding sweatshop free products to a big corporation actually does make a difference. Better yet, email you Member of Parliament or Congressperson and tell them this issue means a lot to you!

I am not going to say much more because the film speaks for me – but here are a few places you can get information about the subject of sweatshop labour:

National Labor Committee: http://www.nlcnet.org/

Unitied Students Against Sweatshops: http://usas.org/

The Maquila Solidarity Network: http://en.maquilasolidarity.org/

You can always contact me about the film as well at info@lutchmedial.ca and if you are interested in buying a DVD copy of My Cultural Divide (better quality and you can play it easily on a TV) they are now available for $15 + Shipping and Handling.

Happy Holidays, and enjoy the film!

I will be making a short film called Mr. Crab in the coming year thanks to a grant from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. It’s a film that explores the immigrant experience through the imaginative eyes of a child of Trinidadian parents now living in Canada. This may not be the only project I will be working on in the coming year about the West Indies, as plans are being made to go to Trinidad & Tobago in the new year to shoot a documentary. It a sequel, in spirit rather than content, to My Cultural Divide.

My most recently completed short fiction will be having its World Premiere at the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival 2009 on Wednesday the 16th of September at 3pm and Sunday the 27th at 1pm.  This is a wonderful treat for me because this is my father’s homeland.  I hope that many of my extended family attend – and I look forward to hearing how the screenings go.  You can see a trailer of the short here: http://vimeo.com/6130131