FOWR is making a film!
Friends of the Wekiva River has been working closely with film maker Jordan Kahn, Director of Photography, Editor and Producer of Lightwave Filmworks, on a video about the Wekiva basin. Grey Wilson, board member of FOWR, is the visionary and leader of this exciting project and has shared some of his thoughts about the film. Enjoy his commentary and a short preview of the video to come! Thanks Grey, Jordan and everyone else involved in making this important piece of art, that represents so much of what is important to us, as we all work together to help protect, preserve, and restore our beloved Wekiva.
“The main purpose of the film is to highlight the Wekiva area. It offers a small peek at some of the natural highlights of our area. By bringing a quality presentation out into the community - it introduces or reintroduces this incredible area especially the river which, as you and our board & members of Friends already know, is a gift that needs protection.
As Katie, or maybe it was Nancy, stated - we love the Wekiva River area and we protect what we love.
Capturing an audience’s attention can be done in a variety of ways. My vision is let the river introduce itself. It is speaking to us - all we have to do is listen with our senses. The film covers 2, but in addition creates sensations for touch & smell & perhaps taste - remembering the scene with the young person swimming underwater towards the cypress base.
A good filmmaker might be caught up in just getting a project done. A great one, and I believe Jordan is just that, understands the importance of advocacy and implements subtleties that address concerns without turning off an audience.
It’s a delicate methodology. Having an audience allowing themselves to ‘come onboard’ at least for the 6 minute journey may well result in the beginning of a conversation with a few during the subsequent talk.
The film may well bring the reality to some of the more insightful viewers that this ongoing effort to protect, preserve and help parts of the area recover is a never ending effort. We are just part of a continuum.
The film isn’t for the immediate moment. If it is, we have failed somewhere in our mission. It will all too soon become an historical piece representing a picture or in this case a document of how things were.
The great photographers like Clyde Butcher often make those comments. And are almost in tears when speaking about it. They are capturing nature in a moment where it existed and still there. Now some of those areas are gone.
But know such failures are not of our doing, it would be the result of unstoppable forces - uncaring & selfish.
I believe the film will be a long term mechanism - part of a stream of efforts, experiences and caring by a wide range of individuals tied or not tied to Friends.
We need to think outside our own organization and reach out to the surrounding local communities to instill a curiosity to get out into nature in and around the Wekiva. It is a microcosm of similar places throughout the state, country and world - yet each unique, special ones.
The film will be a front piece, a simple invitation to at least create an awareness of the Wekiva. It will serve for me as a starting point when going out to give presentations.
The great thing about the main film and the ‘mini’ ones is they can all be used for situation specific needs - recreation opportunities in the Wekiva, citizen science participation, yoga/meditation awareness, water safety, and much more.”
- Grey Wilson, Board member of Friends of the Wekiva River
