Interview with Jeffrey Durkin, director of the upcoming film project “Art as a Weapon”, a documentary about art, politics, religion, using the closed country of Burma as a case study.
TBF: What inspired you to do this film and what is the film about?
JD: The film is going to be a study on the intersection between Buddhism, art and human rights, using the closed country of Burma as a case study. The film was inspired by an artist called Shepard Fairey. He came to my neighborhood in San Diego and painted a thirty foot tall Buddhist monk, as a message of resistance about what was happening in Burma. I knew nothing about Burma or Human Rights. I didn’t know much about Eastern Asian politics in general, but I saw this painting. And I filmed him painting it. I filmed three days of the process people talking to him, asking him about it, learning about it. And I saw the effect it had on my neighborhood, on my community. It got people thinking about a country no one had ever thought about. That became an interesting idea for a film. I had art, religion and politics all coming together in this one peace of art. And I thought that would be a great concept to start a conversation about.
This project will only be funded if at least $30,000 is pledged by Friday Dec 9.
1. Donate to the film on the kickstarter page (tax-deductible) >>
2. Spread the word on facebook, twitter, blogs and to your network. Just use this link http://kck.st/qkUTKXTBF: What did you learn about Burma?
JD: Then, right after this painting happened I got an Email from UC Berkeley that said that Aung San Suu Kyi was going to do a telephone call to a group of students – her first phone call after her house arrest. I’m a UC Berkeley alumni so I was able to go there, get the recording and listen to her speak. I quickly started to learn about Burma’s struggle for democracy, the political situation and their violent background. I talked to a group of Burmese students and professors there and I quickly learned about what’s happening there. And what new hope is on the horizon now that Aung San Suu Kyi was free and talking to the students about her plan.
That became inspiring to me because I felt I had discovered the
project at a good time. Her house arrest was ended, hearing her talk and
hearing those words, it all started to really inspire and motivate me
to bring a political angle into it and help bring the message out to the
younger westerners who are into graffiti and spray art. It seems like a
nice connection between those two.2. Spread the word on facebook, twitter, blogs and to your network. Just use this link http://kck.st/qkUTKXTBF: What did you learn about Burma?
JD: Then, right after this painting happened I got an Email from UC Berkeley that said that Aung San Suu Kyi was going to do a telephone call to a group of students – her first phone call after her house arrest. I’m a UC Berkeley alumni so I was able to go there, get the recording and listen to her speak. I quickly started to learn about Burma’s struggle for democracy, the political situation and their violent background. I talked to a group of Burmese students and professors there and I quickly learned about what’s happening there. And what new hope is on the horizon now that Aung San Suu Kyi was free and talking to the students about her plan.
About a week after that I interviewed a Burmese monk for a different project about Buddhism, I was working on. He told me about the Saffron Revolution. So in one month I went from knowing zero about Burma to having three pieces of audio and video format. I said I’m a filmmaker and this is a story. I need to learn and get internationals. This is a project I decided to start.
TBF: Where will you film, are you planning to go to Burma?
JD: It depends, do you think they will arrest me? (laughs) Right now I am planning to go to Mae Sot and Chiang Mai in January. I try to team up with the US Campaign for Burma. The are going to be there for a week. And maybe try to work with them to get some interviews, some footage, then kind of stay in Thailand. I might need to go back for a second trip to get some additional footage and interviews. Maybe at that point I could think about going inside Burma.
I would like to go to a Burmese orphanage in Thailand, film children doing art, being creative. How to use their creative voice. I think it is powerful to show how art can heal and educate. I think art is a form of freedom. You don’t do art when you are not free. So I think it’s an important connection to see kids doing art who came from Burma and never had that freedom. And now they have that chance. I think it is a very beautiful thing to have someone very young who is not very political or had the trouble of live, like an adult and show them being creative. I think that’s kind of inspiring, especially for kids in the US who would see that film in a classroom. The aim of the film is doing something to help them, not just filming them but show them about creativity and art.
In the second story I would like to film King Zero (co-founder of the Best Friend Library) and learn what he’s doing with the library. I heard he is also a poet. That’s a form of art, the power of word is interesting to me. If I could get that aspect into the film because I think that shows how art can educate and inspire.
The third story would be about Shepard Fairy. I want to talk with him about art and democracy and the power of art to change the world. To tie those three stories together into one film, that’s the premise.
TBF: What do you hope to achieve with the film?
JD: My goal number one is by bringing in art and graffiti and street art, I want to help the next generation of the western world hearing the story of Burma. It’s been going on very long, there have been a number of documentaries about it but I think most of the young people don’t know whats happening. Because the documentaries are political and there geared toward an older audience. So I want just help the next generation of the western world see how art and creativity are used in Burma. I want the film to be a part of it and show the beauty of life, not just the struggles of Burma, the military regime, the genocide – that’s going to be a part of it. But it’s going to be an art film about the beauty of life and I haven’t seen that done yet on the subject of Burma.
TBF: How can people help or get involved with the film project?
JD: We are in the fundraising phase and we have only four days left. We need another three grand to make our goal of thirty thousand to make the film. That’s the part were people can get involved. They can reach out and join. They can buy the movie, per-order T-shirts, DVD’s, they can get their name in the credits and the donations are tax-deductible. We got a lot of support and momentum.
This project will only be funded if at least $30,000 is pledged by Friday Dec 9.
Two simple ways you can help:
1. Donate to the film on the kickstarter page (tax-deductible) >>
2. Spread the word on facebook, twitter, blogs and to your network. Just use this link: http://kck.st/qkUTKX
http://www.thebestfriend.org/2011/12/05/%E2%80%9Cart-as-a-weapon%E2%80%9D-%E2%80%93-only-four-days-left-to-reach-the-fundraising-goal/
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