Artist Statement?

here it is! ( i think )

The Trek Project is the culmination of a journey. For me this project has been an experiment, an investigation, an interrogation. Creating this project has sent me into some of the most uncomfortable places in my soul; time spent interrogating systems of oppression that I have both opposed but also supported. Examining all of this I repeatedly asked myself what is my stake in all of this? Who am I to create this story?
It is a question that this movie does not answer, rather it pushes it further, complicates the lines of borders, travel and story. I created this project to give back to an organization that has given me endless opportunity and perspective. What I give to you, the viewer, is a piece of this, a piece of the journey and a chance for perspective. What will you do with it?

I create this project to tell a story. A story that can be compared to the millions of other similar stories, but also one that is completely rooted in the unique history of one specific community. This story is, I hope, a piece that pays dignity and respect to it's subjects in a way that continually challenges and pushes my reality. I am not a voice of authority or vast knowledge. I speak as an observer, an outsider. There is no quick fix to the problems that I present. However, my hope is that with more awareness we can re-think the way we see ourselves, and within that, how we see others.

Home Stretch = January

to do list for january:

FINISH The Trek Project

this means completing the editing of El Trompo
creating the map/timeline of Latin America
compiling the maps from the mapping workshops
finishing a documentation notebook of the entire project from October 2008 - January 2010


There is a second rough cut of El Trompo on vimeo-
http://vimeo.com/8583078

the password is the same as last time, if you want it email me at hhconnects@gmail.com

ALSO I am proud to present the *almost* final trailer for El Trompo,
check it out:

Rough Cut

SO! Although last week was crazy and hectic in terms of editing it all paid off because last Saturday I got to go to NYC for the day and attend the last post-trek meeting with most of the Trek team participants. The movie seemed to go over well with them, and I am excited about finishing it! Anyway, I am using the next week as a time to get feedback on the documentary. If you would like to watch it and provide feedback please let me know and I will give you the password.


http://vimeo.com/7263840



-helyx

Colonialism/Capitalism Journal Writings

We are forever spinning in a world of our own creation
Capitalist Marketing Schemes pulling us farther into spiraling chaos
What choice is there but to keep spinning, or we fall.


Breaking the cycle
Deconstructing our own interactions
how do we see each other
human to human relationships
country to country destruction
is it our place to cross borders
created by our ancestors
destroyed by our governments
why do we do it?


The title of the documentary is El Trompo, which refers to a spinning top, a toy for children all over the world. Personally I suck at throwing them, but Olman would patiently let me try time after time. The spinning, the spinning reminds me of the world, of our lives, of me, and him and Gualacatu and Los Estados.


ALSO
As far as a production update goes:
I am almost done with the trailer (i swear), and am currently working on getting a rough cut of the documentary together by Saturday for Post-Trek 2 in NYC.

I still need help if anyone out there wants to help with:
animation
setting up the US-Latin American Timeline
color correction
music/audio
using the programs motion or after effects

Journal Reflections

Excerpt from a conversation I had shortly after returning from Nicaragua:

me- "My host mom had never heard of the Jews, and when she told us this we asked her if she had ever heard of Hitler and she said no, she hadn't"

someone else- "You'd think that would have come up in a history class..."

...

I didn't really know how to respond to that, my host mom only had a basic first grade education. When she was elementary school age the revolution was happening in Nicaragua and she had to flee to Honduras with her family; and Nicaraguan refugees were not allowed to attend the schools in Honduras. She eventually returned to Nicaragua and at age 18 she took first grade. I am pretty sure that she had her first son when she was 19. She never had a history class.

Mapping Workshop!

You. Me. World.

A workshop on local and global citizenship



On June 24th from 7:30pm-9:30pm Helyx Chase of HH productions will be hosting a dialog and workshop to support The Trek Project. The Trek Project is a project that will follow students from buildOn (buildon.org) as they travel to Nicaragua to construct a school. The workshop will be a chance to talk about the ways that we see ourselves within the world and also to participate in the mapping project where we will examine the ways that we see ourselves in a global setting.

The Trek Project (thetrekproject.blogspot.com) is a multi-faceted, multi-media exploration of global identity, and citizenship. Filmmaker Helyx Chase (youtube.com/hhthinking) is embarking on this project to create a documentary about how we see ourselves within a global and local community; and how we are accountable/responsible within both of those communities. They will be traveling to Nicaragua this summer and following a group of youth from buildOn after school clubs in the Philadelphia and New York City areas as they build a school in a remote rural village. Ultimately, the maps and discussion generated at the workshop will be included in The Trek Project. While the event is free we are asking for donations to sponsor the trip to Nicaragua and supplies needed while in the country.

Chase is a queer, non-gender identified video maker, social justice activist and youth worker. They are 19; they were born in Philadelphia and raised just west of the city in Upper Darby. Chase, originally Hannah Horwitz, graduated from Upper Darby High School in 2007, with 2 scholarships for media production. They started seriously pursuing video when they were 15 and participated in the Scribe Video Center’s Documentary History Project for Youth in 2005. After the project was completed in January of 2006 they were an active member of Upper Darby High School’s broadcast journalism program.

They have produced multiple short pieces both independently and for classes, the most recent of which is a 25-minute documentary about the ways that women are portrayed in the media and how those images effect girls while they are growing up, it is called "Impacting Girls Influencing Lives". They produce video pieces that promote social justice, queer visibility, youth empowerment, and independent artists. They are heavily influenced by the work of Marlon Riggs and they possess a strong desire to create dialog about issues that are often not covered by the mainstream.



Helyx Chase blogs at HHspeaking.blogspot.com, and can be reached at HHconnects@gmail.com.



7:30 pm at the A-Space on 47th and Baltimore, Philadelphia PA