Category: Global Warning

Tags: la, source, documentary, haiti, relief, docuweeks

Director Patrick Shen discusses his film, "La Source", which is featured in DOCUweeks. Patrick tells us about the incredible process of filming a humble Haitian immigrant and his mission to create a source of fresh water for his village back home. The journey from Princeton to Haiti is detailed, and the continuing-but ultimately uplifting-struggle of a part of Haiti is brought to light. GUEST BIO: While attending college to pursue degrees in psychology and philosophy, Patrick Shen began to receive job offers to produce and edit corporate videos and commercials for such clients as Kingston Technology, Gucci, Toshiba, and Yamaha. In 1996, Patrick landed a full-time position at E! Entertainment Television performing roles such as audio engineer, Chyron operator, and teleprompter on Emmy Award winning shows like Talk Soup and E! News. Four years later, he left E! to pursue work in documentaries full-time, beginning with a role as Second Unit Director on the Emmy-nominated We Served With Pride, which resulted in a meeting with President Clinton in the Oval Office. Shortly after leaving E!, Patrick founded Transcendental Media, an independent film production company whose goal is to create films and documentaries to "agitate the sleep of mankind". The first feature project to be completed under the TM designation came in 2003 with the multi-award winning, Flight from Death: the Quest for Immortality. Flight from Death was Patrick's first feature-length film, which he directed, edited, co-wrote, and co-produced. This critically acclaimed film, beautifully photographed in eight countries and three years in the making, earned seven "Best Documentary" awards at film festivals around the country. Flight from Death was released domestically in 2005, in Australia and New Zealand in 2006, and continues to screen at universities, theaters, and TV stations all over the world. It's currently available on Hulu, iTunes, Netflix, and DVD. In June of 2009, Patrick's newest feature documentary, the award-winning The Philosopher Kings, premiered to sold-out audiences at the AFI/Discovery Channel Silverdocs Documentary Film Festival where it was nominated for Best Documentary. The Philosopher Kings, a documentary about the wisdom found among custodians employed at some of America's most prestigious universities, opened theatrically in Los Angeles May 2010, had its U.S. broadcast premiere on The Documentary Channel September 2010, and is now available on Hulu, Netflix, iTunes, and DVD. Patrick's current project is the documentary feature, La Source. ADD'L LINKS: http://lasourcemovie.com/ http://twitter.com/#!/lasourcemovie http://www.patrickshen.com/ EPISODE BREAKDOWN: 00:01 BYOD Intro 00:10 Welcoming Patrick Shen, director of La Source 00:41 Telling the story of pre-earthquake Haiti through the eyes of a janitor. 02:27 Philosopher Kings leads Patrick to make La Source. 03:03 The meaning of "La Source." 03:48 La Source, Trailer. 06:10 Don Cheadle gets involved in the project. 06:38 Funding the project, and his subject's involvement. 07:50 A Princeton janitor becomes a celebrity in Haiti. 09:02 The process of filming in Haiti, and a connection to David Darg. 10:50 The involvement of the Princeton community, and the MLK award. 12:21 La Source, Clip: 14:18 A fascination with janitors and fringe people. 15:15 Shooting and equipment issues. 17:16 A cellphone mishap. 17:38 Measuring progress in Haiti. 19:50 Going back to Haiti to screen the film. 20:38 Thanks and Goodbye. Published on Aug 21, 2012 by TheLipTV

 Send to a friend