“To bear witness to other people’s truths, to gather the bits and pieces and moments and coherently convey the essence of their story in forty-four minutes and thirty seconds — that’s a challenge.”

Peter Campbell, documentary filmmaker and co-founder of Gumboot Productions Inc, has travelled the world capturing people’s stories. Peter returned from volunteering at an orphanage in Haiti, just a week before the devastating earthquake. He is currently working with footage he shot at the orphanage, donating his work to support Heart to Heart Haiti.

Rocketday has supported Peter through a decade of video and film projects, and in each Peter has found himself capturing dialogue unique to this time.

Youth in Media

Rocketday worked with Gumboot Productions and The Sierra Club of Canada to create the Youth in Media project. Youth from across Canada travelled to a remote film school in the forests of the Gulf Islands, BC, where they worked collaboratively to create broadcast-quality public service announcements on topics such as climate change and smoking. Peter Campbell mentored and co-produced the project, empowering the youth to become agents of change.

“Our goal was to bring clear, honest messaging to Canadians about the cause of climate change and practical solutions on how to reduce the impact,” says Kathryn Molloy, former Executive Director of Sierra Club BC and co-producer of the event.

Youth in Media engaged university students as well as a group of street youth. They created public service announcements which aired nationally on 16 television networks. This project empowered youth with a direct voice in mainstream media, and where they spoke on climate change many years before An Inconvenient Truth.

Killer Whale & Crocodile

The documentary Killer Whale & Crocodile tells the story of the first meeting and collaboration between two indigenous cultures, both threatened by globalization. To make the film, Gumboot travelled with John, a young Coast Salish carver from BC’s west coast, far into the wetlands of Papua New Guinea to meet with Teddy, an Iatmul master carver. Teddy then travels to Canada by invitation to carve at the UBC Museum of Anthropology.

The film captures the artistic alchemy between two these master carvers, each of whom bring their distinct artistic heritage and cultural insight to their collaboration. “The result was the most elaborate and complex works of art each had created to date,” remarks Peter.

The idea to introduce the carvers came from Elaine Monds, director of Alcheringa Gallery, who found similarities in design elements between the Sepik carvings and contemporary Salish art. “It was a revelation for John to see Papua New Guinea’s society, where the culture had been celebrated for centuries without interruption,” explains Elaine, “while Teddy learned on his visit to Canada how fragile cultural survival could be, how it had been nearly lost on this coast.”

“For the Iatmul people of Papua New Guinea, the threats are severe. Every country in the world is after their wood, fish, minerals — souls,” says Peter.

Rocketday created the promotional material for Killer Whale & Crocodile from carefully selected film stills. The selected central image reflects one of Peter’s greatest memories from filming: floating down the Sepik River in a dugout canoe chewing betel nut, talking with the guides. “Little did we know that we were heading towards an elaborate welcome ceremony in Palembei that was months in the making — utterly spectacular.”

The film premiered on Bravo and quickly gained recognition at film festivals, winning awards for best cinematography and editing, and was one of very few films selected for the Palm Springs Festival of Native Film and Culture. One of the most rewarding and appreciated screenings was in the remote village of Palembei.

My Son the Pornographer

My Son the Pornographer follows one father’s journey to understand and reconnect with his pornography-making son. Their story challenges conventional ideas about family, and brings to the surface issues of abuse, exploitation and intimacy.

“I’ve been frozen in Canada’s far north and the mountains of Pakistan, fried in the deserts of Sudan and melted by the heat in Papua New Guinea… but My Son the Pornographer was the most difficult film I have ever been involved with.” says co-producer and subject, Art Holbrook, “The constant emotional tug-of-war with my son, and the offensive (to me) circumstances under which we worked, made this film a roller coaster of feelings and frustrations. However, I’m glad I did it as it brought me and my son closer together and gave him a nudge towards a brighter future.”

The documentary featured in sold-out screenings at both the Victoria and Vancouver International Film Festivals last year, and has since been awarded Best Social Documentary and Best Director at the Leo Awards, a Bronze Plaque at the Houston WorldFest and First Place for Editing at the Rhode Island International Film Festival.

screening room

“I document stories to get them out there in the world: land rights in the Philippines, women’s rights in Uganda, reconciliation in Vanuatu… I love visual story telling. I love to parachute into someone else’s world and endeavour to be a trusted witness. ”

Rocketday is pleased to present an online screening of the feature documentary Speaking Out: Women of Uganda (34 minutes, Gumboot Productions, 2003). This film reveals significant developments in education and gender equity within a country combating poverty, disease, civil war and corruption. Many women have been promoted to decision-making roles in both Parliament and local government through Ugandan legislation, though they continue to struggle to maintain their hard-won progress. View the complete documentary below, courtesy Gumboot Productions and Rocketday.

Speaking Out: Women of Uganda (feature documentary)

Peter leaves February 2010 for the Sahara desert to continue working on his next documentary, about the life of a motivational speaker.

In 2007, Rocketday’s director Emrys Miller and Rocketday’s designer/photographer Jocelyn Mandryk ventured to Havana for ICOGRADA’s World Design Congress.

Emrys and Jocelyn joined designers from all corners of the globe for mojito-infused dialogue about communication design, social and environmental responsibility, and world culture. In the days following the congress, Jocelyn explored the streets with her lens.

Thank you for joining us with the first issue of WHERE WE GO FROM HERE, the journal of Rocketday. Stay tuned for upcoming issues featuring the NEPTUNE Project, World Changing, Skeptic magazine, Michael Ableman, Ascent magazine, and The New Humanism.

Rocketday is a communications studio helping companies and organizations communicate more clearly, more effectively and more provocatively. Each month we will profile a client whose work is shaping our collective future for the better. Please do share this journal with any friends who may be interested, and send us comments via wherewego@rocketday.com. Cheers.

— the Rocketday team (Emrys, Jen, Laura, Adam, Josh, Jocelyn, and Rosie)

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