dance big people

Thursday, July 26, 2007

I've been back in New York for 6 months, and so much has changed, while this blog has remained frozen in the year before my birth. Yet it is still the top google hit for my name. Sigh? More up to date music from my new band The Mystery Keys is at www.myspace.com/themysterykeys, and a preliminary web page for my film projects is at www.honeycombfilms.com. Soon there will be a fuller website there, and also a separate site for the Birds of Passage documentary, new trailers, multimedia extravagance, etc. XOXO

Monday, October 23, 2006


Neptunia, Uruguay, 4 February 1976. When Ñato, Ernesto, and I had a band in the 70s, this was supposed to be the cover of our album. Sadly, between the dictatorship here and the global vinyl shortage, the record never came out. Now, 30 years later, Ernesto and I look pretty much the same, though he cut his hair a few years ago; but Ñato is unrecognizable, having lost the belly, and its hard to imagine he ever had that much hair. (See other videos of performances, coming soon.) The instrument I am holding is a cuatro that belongs to reknowned Uruguayan guitarist Ney Peraza, who took the photo and rowed us out to these dunes, located across a creek from his house. The dog in the lower right hand corner also belongs to Ney; he swam out behind the rowboat to join us. I did not bring a camera this day, since I had been out filming Yisela in a carnaval parade till 6 am the night before and I simply couldn't deal. Naturally, an absurdly picturesque day ensued, complete with rainbow (see video below). Ney's digital camera, though quite advanced for its time, only had enough memory for a few photos and the short video. So the images of this unforgettable day, along with the music we didn't record, remain captured with decent coverage and sound only in our memories. What you see on this blog is all that is preserved for future generations.

Neptunia, Uruguay, 4 Febrero 1976. Cuando Ñato, Ernesto y yo teníamos una banda en los 70, esta foto iba a ser la tapa de nuestro disco. Lamentablemente, entre la dictadura acá y la escasez global de vinilo, el disco nunca salió. Ahora, 30 años después, Ernesto y yo se nos ve igual, aunque él se cortó el pelo hace unos años; pero el Ñato está irreconocible, habiendo perdido la panza, y ahora cuesta imaginarse que alguna vez tuvo tanto pelo. (Veanse otros videos de actuaciones, próximamente.) El intrumento que tengo yo es un cuatro que pertenece al guitarrista uruguayo reconocido Ney Peraza, quien sacó la foto y nos remó a estas dunas, que quedan a través de un arroyo enfrente a su casa. El perro en la esquina inferior derecha también pertenece al Ney; nadó atrás del bote para prenderse. Yo no traje una cámara este día, ya que había estado filmando a Yisela en un desfile carnavalero hasta las 6 de la mañana la noche anterior, y simplemente no me la bancaba. Naturalmente, un día absurdamente pintoresco resultó, completo con arco iris (vease video abajo). La cámara digital de Ney, si bien adelantada para la época, sólo tenía la memoria suficiente para unas fotos y el video corto. Entonces las imágenes de este día inolvidable, juntas a la música que no grabamos, permanecen captadas con cobertura y sonido decentes únicamente en nuestras memorias. Lo que tú ves en este blog es todo lo que se conserva para las generaciónes futuras.

despite their cheesiness in photos, rainbows are pretty great in person. a pesar de su cursileria en las fotos, los arcos iris estan buenisimos en persona.

Saturday, October 21, 2006


Paysandú, 13 October 06. I am only allowed to post pictures of myself if they include cameras.


Photo: Directress RIPL and Producer Martín Ubillos getting lots of footage of landscape in motion. (15 October 2006)
My documentary has entered a new phase in recent months with the addition of producer Martín Ubillos to the crew. Martín has over 6 years of experience producing commercials and shorts. He is also a songwriter. During the last few months of production he's helping coordinate shoots and seek sponsors and funding, as well as contributing on the conceptual side and with some camerawork. After I go back to the states, he will be overseeing graphic design, post-production other than primary editing, and distribution within Latin America.

Foto: Directora RIPL y productor Martín Ubillos filmando el paisaje en movimiento. (15 Octubre 2006)
Mi documental ha entrado en una fase nueva en los últimos meses con la adición del productor Martín Ubillos al equipo. Martín tiene más de 6 años de experiencia produciendo publicidades y cortos. Además es cantautor. Durante los últimos meses de la producción él está ayudando a coordinar los rodajes y buscar apoyos y financimiento, así como también aportando al lado conceptual y con trabajo de cámara. Después de que yo vuelva a EEUU, él va a supervisar el diseño gráfico, la post-producción que no sea la edición principal, y la distribución dentro de América Latina.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

AMERICAN DOCUMENTARY CATEGORIES
Or, Why My Films May Never Get Into US Festivals
by Rachel Lears
Disclaimer: The lister’s intention is not to belittle any individual film, for many films that fit these categories are really great, even genuinely inspiring (with which the lister has no problem!). It’s the patterns that get to her.

Shorts
1. Eccentric/ quirky person tells life story, with inspiring results.
2. Eccentric/ quirky person tells life story, with disturbing results.
3. Person engaged in offbeat or extreme activity shows such activity and talks about it, with inspiring or disturbing results, or perhaps just results in audience proclaiming, “wow, only in America!”

Features
1. White people help brown people, with inspiring results.
2. Someone, often the filmmaker or someone s/he knows, undergoes a harrowing medical treatment, with inspiring results.
3. A member of some historically oppressed or disadvantaged group overcomes lots of harrowing issues in order to accomplish or achieve something, with somewhat disturbing but ultimately inspiring results.
4. A musician you have heard of allows filmmaker to follow him/her around for a while, spewing lots of platitudes about the Meaning of Music, with amusing/ inspiring/ disturbing/ rocking results.
5. Someone, often the filmmaker or someone s/he knows, with a mental illness or something else wrong with his/her brain allows filmmaker to follow him/her around for a while, with results that may be inspiring or disturbing, but they will definitely make you contemplate the depths of the human psyche.

Special Jury Prize for Politically-themed feature or short
1. Flashy graphics frame the presentation of an issue you are familiar with from reading the major headlines, with results that are at first disturbing then inspiring or even comforting as you realize that you can (but probably won’t) “take action”.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

same possible beginning (english version)

Watch the video
Same sample title sequence, with english titles and subtitles. Working title has been changed to Birds of Passage (Aves de Paso). Note: most musical samples are same as those featured below. Comments welcome.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

one possible beginning

Watch the video
Rough sample title sequence for documentary provisionally titled "Cancionero del Viajero". This is not a trailer, so it does not attempt to lay out all major themes of the film, though it does foreshadow them. Comments welcome. No subtitles.

Friday, May 26, 2006

Meet the characters in my documentary: three young, unknown (for now) songwriters living in Montevideo, Uruguay. All find themselves at musical crossroads, moments of creative ferment and renewed dedication to their emerging careers. All have been shaped by experiences of migration leading them to this modestly cosmopolitan city, straight from the borders of neighboring Argentina and Brazil or through a circuitious route of return via New York City. Without claiming to speak for all Uruguayan musics or musicians, their distinctive voices and stories illuminate a range of perspectives on what it means to dedicate yourself to popular music in this country.

Bios, stills, and musical excerpts below. Trailer still coming soon.

ernesto diaz: los momentos


Watch the video
excerpt from song "los momentos," words and music by ernesto diaz. ed: voice and guitar.

ERNESTO DIAZ is 32-year-old songwriter from Artigas, located on the border of Uruguay and Brazil. Tri-lingual in Spanish, Portuguese, and the dialect Portuñol, Ernesto links his music strongly to his birthplace and to the Brazilian popular music he grew up listening to. His experience as a bilingual migrant has made him committed to questioning and diversifying mainstream notions of what Uruguayan music is. During the 10 years he has lived in Montevideo, he has studied literature and published two books on the oral culture of Artigas. Currently he works as the coordinator of a residence for students from the interior, and also repairs PC's. With his current band, Bombeia, he is for the first time in his life using electric rock instrumentation. Bombeia is composed entirely of Artiguenses, and rehearses sporadically in member’s houses since they cant afford to rent a rehearsal space as most rock bands do. They are hoping to start playing live soon, and have applied for a grant to record an album.