Monday morning, we presented at and exchanged thoughts with ADISMI, a nonprofit near San Miguel Ixtahuacan that has been resisting the mine for years.  Many G Project volunteers have visited in the past. Our filmmaker friend Marcos entrusted us with some important footage from the community.

Then, during the next several days we spent time: at Diodora’s farm with her amazing family and animals, at Gregoria Crisanta’s house with her beautiful children and supportive spouse, and at a community meeting of FREDEMI (Front in Defense of San Miguel Ixtahuacan). We were even stood up twice by the Mayor! And the mountains. Oh, the mountains! It is easy to see what people are fighting for.

Back in the city, it was first things first. Right to the (country’s only?) Canon servicer to get the highland dust cleaned from the Canon MarkII 5D sensor. (We don’t want spots on the big screen, right?) Then, we had a tremendous interview with journalist and ecologist Magali Rey Rosa at her home office, which, by the way, is nearly entirely off the grid. Finally, on Saturday, after many hours of negotiation with the pilot and the weather, we embarked on a somewhat terrifying but then exhilarating two-and-a-half hour helicopter tour of most of Western Guatemala.  We saw so much: Xela, Huehue, San Miguel Ixtahuacan, a huge volcano we don’t know the name of (don’t worry, it’s not part of the movie), Lake Atitlan, several key points in Guatemala city, and of course, the mine.

8 days. 6 airports. 2 Cameras. 5 Lenses. 5 days in Juan Martin’s van. Gas, food, lodging, cabs, equipment rental, equipment servicing, cell phone, chopper, Andrew’s megabus to the airport, and 300GB of footage, duplicated on 2 hard drives and ready to edit.

Quiz: How much did all of this cost our little project together?

a) $1.2 Million. Mel Gibson joined us on the helicopter ride, complaining throughout about the watch he lost during the filming of Apocalypto.

b) $220,000.00. We’re not so much Mel Gibson-financed as we are public tv financed. Merely 3 star hotels and imported water for us.

c) Free. Feature-length documentaries don’t cost a thing. All you need is your own point-and-shoot camera.

d) $7,425.22.*  Production assistants? What production assistants. All of the equipment fits on our backs. And yes, we sleep on the floor when available.

You guessed it, the answer is (d). We pride ourselves on our ability to do what it takes to complete documentaries of professional quality in the thriftiest of manners, and nothing short of that is required in order to tell this challenging story.  And we continue to appreciate all the help we can get in terms of spreading the word and financing the next steps for the project. (Only around 30K to go!)

* For those interested in exact figures, this amount includes direct expense only. Does not include cost of owned equipment or crew pay, which is currently suspended. Yeah, we know.

BEST OF ALL, WE ARE READY TO TELL THIS AMAZING STORY! After a successful trip, principal shooting is now a WRAP and we’re moving on to post-production.

For more information about our experiences, including more photos, visit (and share!):

www.gprojectfilm.org
www.facebook.com/gprojectfilm

Thanks to all of you for your financial commitments, your shared enthusiasm and your participation in our project.

Saludos!
The G Project Crew

(Director/Producer Andrew Sherburne filming in Guatemala)

“We had a beautiful day of filming today,” said JT Haines. “We returned to the farm of Diodora Hernandez, to hear from her and her family about how their lives continue to be affected by the mine.  Amidst Diodora’s stories of water shortages and violence, we were lucky also to witness Diodora shepherding her animals down the steep slopes of her family’s land – a regular occurrence for her, to be sure, but an incredible sight for us.  We can’t wait for our visit tomorrow with Gregoria, to hear more about the status of her amazing story as well.”

(Andrew Sherburne filming Diadora)

First of all, WE ARE SO CLOSE!  Closer than ever before. (That last bit is a truism, but exciting nonetheless.)

We are producing an important movie together, and it’s going to be a reality soon. Thank you for reading our updates, and for your continued support of the project. If you haven’t yet had the chance, please check out the list of G Project supporters on the website (www.gprojectfilm.org/thank-you/).  It’s inspiring, and it is this group that is enabling us to bring the stories of Diodora, Gregoria and Crisanta back home, where they need to be heard.

In Guatemala, the struggle continues. So does our work. We have booked tickets for another production trip to Guatemala in March to revisit the people of the San Marcos community. In addition to connecting to the people at the heart of this story, we hope to spend time filming the beauty of northwest Guatemala and the impacts of the mining industry.

This will likely be our final visit to Guatemala before focusing our efforts full-time on editing, working with musicians and preparing the final cut. We’re getting close! Can you feel it?

Back stateside, several G Project volunteers and crew members presented on the project last month at a World Without Genocide conference. Working with organizations like WWG is rewarding and crucial to establishing a network of partners in advance of the release of the film. To further these connections, we are expanding the Allies section (www.gprojectfilm.org/allies/) of our website. If you know of any organizations that share our goals, please put us in touch!

And, of course, YIKES, is it hard to raise money these days. We are stretched incredibly thin as we go down the home stretch, and need to put together at least $5,000 this month for the trip.  We’re trying many different strategies but the thing that has been by far the most successful is individual-to-individual contact. Can you commit to reaching out to 5 other people you know who would appreciate an opportunity to be involved in this important truth-telling effort? Will you send them the website, and follow up with a phone call afterwards?  We have current donors threatening to make contributions that they can’t afford, so we better widen the circle.

As recent donor Justin Lea told us, “These types of projects I believe are so crucial for the future of humankind, and they seem to be a lot of fun too.” We agree Justin, thanks for joining with us on the journey!

Who can we reach out to that would like an opportunity to be part of this exciting team?  (Don’t forget the gift receipts, the appreciation levels, and that donations are tax deductible. www.gprojectfilm.org/donate/)

Thank you for all your work.

Peace,
The G Project Crew

We need to translate some new footage from community member interviews, and we’d love for the right person/people to help!  What you’d need:  a computer with a mic and audio recording software (e.g., mac with quicktime), excellent Spanish, and a desire to pitch in.

The project will involve getting copies of interview footage (for example, an hour long interview with a farmer that hasn’t been translated yet), and recording voiceover translations (your voice) in 5-10 minute chunks, then delivering the files.  The work can be performed at the G Project office, or on your own, whichever is easiest for you. We will provide an external hard drive for file delivery and return. We will use your voiceovers to help edit, and later replace with subtitles.

In general, written transcriptions are not required at this time, so for someone with very good Spanish, the project could be fairly straightforward.  Estimated minimum time commitment is 5 hours, with more available if desired.  The project will be ongoing through March and April, 2012, as we work with more new footage.

Please contact jt@gprojectfilm.org if you’re interested.  Thank you!  And, as always, please also spread the word through our website (http://www.gprojectfilm.org/) and facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/gprojectfilm) to all those individuals and organizations (http://www.gprojectfilm.org/allies/) you feel would be interested in being involved with the project. Go team!

Give the gift of making a movie and we will include the name of your choice on the G Project thank you page. And if you’re donating on behalf of a loved one, here’s a printable gift receipt (PDF)!

Grahame in Collinsville from G Project on Vimeo.

A brief timelapse filmed from the top of Rockefeller Center in New York City on our latest production trip.

NYC Top The Rock from G Project on Vimeo.