Gaza, Dear Child II, Bepuwaveh, Lupe and the Galactic Corn Cake: A Halloween Reflection

 In the hero's journey, we first meet the horeoine in the Ordinary World, her normal state of affairs. It is only when the Inciting Incident occurs that the heroine is catapulted into the unknown. Ilsya Spencer's Beupevah ought to be considered the Ordinary World of every child: a fun, welcoming, creative, school environment where children are nurtured and are allowed to shine and flourish. This Halloween, I would like to reflect on the very real horros facing a child in Gaza, courtesy of a brilliant short animation film called Dear Child II, directed by Devin Peters and inspired by a letter written by Pulitzer Prize winning author, Chris Hedges.

"You know only the security barriers and fences patrolled by soldiers that surround Gaza."

Bepuwaveh is all about bridges, friendship, fun and freedom rather than barriers and fences: "Pojoaque Middle School students create a dialog, drama skit and culture around welcoming at their school and in their community." The children of Gaza experience the opposite - unspeakable horrors: "Trapped under the piles of smashed concrete. Your playmates. Your schoolmates...You see the chalky faces and limp bodies when they are dug out. I am a reporter. It is my job to see this. You are a child. You should never see this."

Creativity abounds in Bepuwaveh. In the first few seconds of the film, we are welcomed with a drawing of an alien in a spaceship. A few minutes later, we see an art teacher explain how "Faux Food" -  a delicious looking burger - was made from toilet paper, water and paint!

"You are hungry. The bakeries are destroyed. There is no bread. You eat one meal a day. Pasta. A cucumber. Soon this will seem like a feast."

The next part of the letter sounds like a good plot for a Halloween movie. Sadly, it is the reality of many people around the world: "I tried to tell your story. I tried to tell the world that when you are cruel to people, week after week, month after month, year after year, decade after decade, when you deny people freedom and dignity, when you humiliate and trap them in an open-air prison, when you kill them as if they were beasts, they become very angry. They do to others what was done to them. I told it for seven years. Few listened. And now this."

Dear Child II is "stylish, artistic and horrifying, yet hopeful that we can do better, centering the story around children in this way affirms a message - that we must." Children are at the centre of Bepuwaveh, but there is no denying that the adults - the teachers and the filmmaker, Ilysa Spencer - believe that we can do better. From their actions, it is clear that they are doing better and are doing right by the children.

One adult, a New Mexico history teacher, gets emotional when talking about her grandmother: "She always made me feel welcome in her home...she always had food, my favourite food."

A child and her grandmother are at the centre of "Lupe Q and the Galactic Corn Cake", directed by Javier Badillo, written by Nat Marshik and Javier Badillo: "Lupe doesn't care about her abuela's cooking lessons, she just wants to rock with her badass punk band. But when Lupe finds herself battling an alien monster with her band, her abuela's lessons remind her that punk rock is more than just loud music, and connecting with her latin roots may just save their lives."

In the book "The Undead and Philosophy: Chicken Soup for the Soulless", Noel Carrols's chapter is titled "The Fear of Fear Itself: The Philosophy of Halloween". He tells us the history of Halloween then writes: "In fact all manner of monsters can inspire Halloween mumming - even those who hail from outer space - since they would fit into the Christian redefinition of the Halloween universe as demons..."

During the inaugural Global Artivism conference that was held this September in South Africa, Louisa Zondo listed some demons that we must fight: “We must address the scourge of poverty, inequality, corruption, gender-based violence, deteriorating mental health and well-being and the imminent threat of climate change. We must push for the end of genocide in Gaza."

You can read the full letter by Chris Hedges to the children of Gaza at: https://scheerpost.com/2023/11/08/chris-hedges-letter-to-the-children-of-gaza/

Global Media & Information Literacy Week and ROFFEKE

Tomorrow (October 24th) is the beginning of Global Media and Information Literacy Week. The 2024 theme is “The New Digital Frontiers of Information: Media and Information Literacy for Public Interest Information”. It will address the transformative impact of emerging technologies such as Generative Artificial Intelligence and the new generation of digital content creators on the production and dissemination of public-interest information, highlighting both opportunities and risks." https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/celebrating-global-media-and-information-literacy-week-2024?hub=66833

I uploaded to notebooklm a document that has the first two laws of UNESCO's five laws of media and information literacy, and ROFFEKE's motto (Friendship, Fun, Freedom) and mission (to promote rock music in Kenya via film by dispelling myths and misconceptions about rock music). Here are some excerpts from the podcast:

00:18 ...rock music, especially in Kenya, isn't exactly mainstream...ROFFEKE is providing this entry point. It's a place where people can experience a culture and art that they might not ever come across otherwise.

00:37 ...when I hear barriers to information I usually picture Internet censorship but simply not being exposed to a certain type of music...that's a barrier too.

00:50 ...ROFFEKE showcases rock music through film...suddenly those financial and geographical barriers start to disappear. The genre becomes open to people who might never even have thought of listening to rock before.

1:25 ...music, film, these are powerful ways to share information too...stories woven into them, emotions, ideas that can actually challenge how we see the world and even build bridges between cultures. ROFFEKE is using that power to dismantle common misconceptions about rock music.

2:08 ...ROFFEKE becomes a space for people to come together, bond over this music they love and just express themselves without holding back."

You can listen to the full 3-minute podcast HERE:

World Mental Health Day: Excerpts from ROFFEKE Interviews - podcast by Google's Notebooklm

I (Mildred Achoch) compiled a mental health document comprised of excerpts from ROFFEKE interviews, uploaded the document to Google's Notebooklm which then generated a podcast based on the information in the document. Below is the podcast and the interview excerpts, with links to the full interviews.

Interview: IVA ("Run" producer/singer/performer) and Camilla Natta ("Run" music video director)

ROFFEKE: IVA and Camille, how do you find your inner strength in a world and an industry that can be quite challenging for women?

CAMILLE: I’m excited to see things are changing in our industry, I think it’s an inspiring time to be a woman in our industry right now.  While only 22% of Hollywood directors are currently women, we’re still making changes faster than other industries like neurosurgery where less than 10% of neurosurgeons are women.  I have made an effort to surround myself with smart women in my industry (like IVA) who have been so generous in sharing their experience and supporting me.  Because of the importance of mentorship in our industry, we still have some way to go.  When you consider that twice as many main characters are male than female and then you break it down further, you see that in films with at least one woman director and/or writer, females comprise 57% of protagonists, whereas in films with exclusively male directors and/or writers, females only account for 19% of protagonists, it becomes very apparent that, as women, we still have great need of a greater pool of role models and it’s so important to support each other.  I’m grateful to be part of the female directors who can lead the way for the next generation of filmmakers, I want to be there for them, to encourage them.

The daily practice of showing up is also something IVA and I worked on together.  We’ve had a ritual of warming up our voices together every morning for the past 18 months and it just set us up for success.  It’s kind of like meditation, but we did it together, so it added a dimension of showing up for another person so you double up on your accountability and also your sense of achievement as a team.

IVA:  We had a beautiful, wild ride creating this video together, and we have collaborated many times, which made our working relationship even more powerful on this film, both when things went right and if things went wrong - like losing a much desired makeup artist at the last minute or facing a large budget and finding ways to make it smaller while holding true to the vision. We had inner strength from a mutual trust and respect for each other’s artistry, and from having each other to lean on. Camille and I have a very strong friendship. We lift each other up when our self esteem is damaged by the industry, and help each other navigate through when life and work becomes challenging. We have a pact to be fully honest with each other, and we can hash through differences and fight sometimes and then discuss openly what happened with no hard feelings. As a musician, I focus on sharing my truth in the most effective way I can, which I find is through my music, and Camille helped me emanate a deeper, stronger version of myself in this video. A few years ago I lost my mother suddenly, and was also in a romantic relationship where I was a victim of domestic abuse for many years. I was grieving for a long time and felt somewhat defeated, and Camille helped me feel ready to “Run” with passion again. Camille and I also provided firsts for each other with this video, she as lead director and I in having the creative direction of someone of Camille’s caliber and deep knowledge of me as an artist. I was able to look into the camera with my full being, unafraid of being seen. That has given me a new perspective on my artistry, and about who I am. I know most of all that standing together is our strength, and I am grateful to have a friend and colleague like Camille who gives it to me straight and loves me with all her heart, as I do her. I hope that as two women creating this music video together we will be able to reach many more people and inspire other women to realize their creative visions fully, and as often, as possible.

Read the full interview HERE:
http://kenyarockfilmfestivaljournal.blogspot.com/2023/03/interview-iva-run-producersingerperform.html

Interview: Dr. Lisa Spencer aka llysa - writer of Bad Syne

ROFFEKE: Bad Syne begins with the graffiti artist saying: “if there are more public places specifically allotted to the public creativity and the public's idea of whatever they want to do with art...in Europe, it’s a lot easier, just walk up to a wall and write on it, no problem, it’s legal.” There is always a tension between freedom of expression and those who want to regulate art. What are your thoughts about this?

DR. LISA SPENCER: The regulation of art is dangerous. In history, we see artists being persecuted because they often were brave enough to express commentary on social and political mores and structures. One of the purposes of art is to make change in thought and in the action of art, the world continues to open up, change, and heal. The freedom of expression should only be regulated by consideration for others in terms of, for example: racism, sexism, exploitation, etc. Governments...have banned forms of religion, language, and art, dance and song, punishable by death. Art’s significance is vast, but its freedom plays a role in human freedom and human rights.

Read the full interview HERE:
http://kenyarockfilmfestivaljournal.blogspot.com/2024/01/interview-dr-lisa-spencer-aka-llysa.html

Interview: Dr. Nolan Stolz - composer of "Gravitation" (Part 2)

ROFFEKE: Advice for musicians, music scholars and creatives in general?

DR. STOLZ: My advice depends on their goals.
For creatives not relying on their work as their primary income, I say "create the art that you want to exist in the world: music you want to hear, films that you want to see" and so on. If it's mainstream, great! If it's experimental, great! I wish that could be the case for all, but if you are trying to make a living at your art, diversify by finding as many ways to earn an income by providing a needed service. This means you may need to play music you don't like, do lighting for a show you don't like, etc. Doing this is a business choice, not an artistic one. Both are perfectly acceptable, and it depends on the person and the balance that is right for them...

For scholars, know now that you won't make much money off of book sales or royalties. Income from scholarship will come in other ways, such as a teaching position and invited talks. My advice is "write the book [or article, etc.] that you believe should exist but doesn't." There is so much joy in knowing your contribution serves its purpose. It pays off in other ways, sometimes not until years later. If I hadn't written those essays for that collection (which was essentially for free—my payment was a physical copy of the two-volume book), I probably would have never gone to England, France, or Sweden to lecture on Black Sabbath, written the book on Black Sabbath, gotten a personal email from Ozzy Osbourne. . .

Read the full interview HERE:
http://kenyarockfilmfestivaljournal.blogspot.com/2024/01/interview-dr-nolan-stolz-composer-of_8.html

Interview: Federico Santini - composer of "Boysong" from the film Quest for Feilong (Part 1)

ROFFEKE: In your “About Me” page on your website, it is mentioned that you teach piano and music education at middle schools, high schools and music schools. What would you say is the importance of music education in middle school and high school?

FEDERICO SANTINI: I believe that musical activity has an important contribution in strengthening cognitive, emotional, linguistic, motor and relational skills, especially in developmental age, where the brain is still in the training phase. This is why I believe music education in schools is important...the music, by involving the emotional sphere of the individual, especially at an age where this is not yet fully mature, guides him to greater awareness and maturation of the same...Music is also often recognized as having a social and aggregative role. In fact, I have participated in several projects whose main objectives include not so much the students' musical performance but socialization and integration in areas and situations of social hardship. Music urges us to listen to others in order to work in unison and each member of the group or orchestra is important, each one with their part. In essence, I believe that musical activity within schools includes various aspects and substantially integrates the individual's education."

Read the full interview HERE:
http://kenyarockfilmfestivaljournal.blogspot.com/2024/02/interview-federico-santini-composer-of.html

Interview: Simone Massi - Director of "in quanto a noi" (From our side)

ROFFEKE: In these hectic times, how do you take care of your mental health?

SIMONE: I try not to follow the media, not to rush. And then I try to take the good in life, accepting defeat and respecting others.

Read the full interview HERE:
http://kenyarockfilmfestivaljournal.blogspot.com/2024/04/interview-simone-massi-director-of-in.html