Kickstart My Heart
What is love? What does it mean? Is it REAL?
In a world that is plagued by wars, religious conflict, terrorism, fear and genocide, recent generations seem to have lost track of LOVE. It seems to take losing a loved one or losing love altogether for people to realize how primal the act of loving is. The majority of us are led by a thirst for money, power, and social status.We seem to have categorized LOVE as an ancient emotion that has now become almost impossible to define. It is merely viewed as a practice of fairly tales, legends and glittery Hollywood fabrication.
After 6 months of struggling to define love we have come to one conclusion: none of us are capable of defining it clearly or without discomfort. It’s weird, it’s private, it’s… secret. We are not as much trying to define love but rather seeking it in a world that has glamorized it, when in fact it is merely something we have no control of. We may have simply forgotten to just feel it.
Our focus has now flipped.
With this film, we seek to remind people that love is indeed an existing human instinct within us, one that we may have just stopped listening to.
We would like you to join us in our search for true LOVE. Take pride in owning part of a meaningful piece of art that everyone can relate to in some way.
We are in constant search for love. Over the next year, we will be interviewing every walk of life. Talking with them candidly about love. People about to get married. People that love in strange ways and People that don’t believe in love. Divorcees, Arranged marriages, Mail order brides and On-line dating. Young love, Prince Charming, First kisses and Love after 50, 75, 90. People searching desperately for love, Unconventional love and Every part of love. Religious people, Scientific people, Men or women in love with inanimate objects. Interviewing therapists, psychologists , love doctors and matchmakers.
We want love stories.
With your help we can make this even a stronger project.
kickstarter.com/projects/love/love-a-documentary
The funds collectively will be used to produce this documentary. We will have production costs such as equipment rental and purchase. We will have travel expenses for interviews. We will have post production costs like editing and sound design.
get involved: alovedocumentary@gmail.com
Defining Love
What is the definition of love? What does it mean, what does it feel like? what is it? Is there love at first sight? Is love a human need to love and be loved? How is love influenced culturally?
Why a documentary about love? We are two young filmmakers fresh out of school, we’ve both been in love at least once, or at least we think we have. We’ve gotten our hearts broken, have been used, have used others. We’ve felt invincible and destroyed to shreds all at once. We’ve cried and we’ve laughed about love, about boys, about girls, about past mistakes, about bittersweet memories that seem buried in our hearts forever. And yet we are at an age when we should be considering marriage, planning an adult life with someone, a family, a career. And we are utterly incapable of it.
Is it the time we grew up in? Or the mix of cultures that make love such a complex subject. But we know it’s confusing to the majority of human beings around us. Can lust be love? Can love be lust? Where do we draw a line? When can we safely say “I am in love”, and when do we know the feeling has faded? Why the need to pursue such a feeling when we know it is fleeting, rare, and ever so short lived? What makes love so wonderful we are capable of allowing ourselves to feel it for a second knowing very well it will scar us for years, maybe life. Are we that insane, that irresponsible?
Over the next year, we are looking for people that are willing to be interviewed and that will talk candidly about love. We want people that are in love or know about love or have something to say about love. We are looking for: People in love. People that want to fall in love. People searching desperately for love. People that have lost love. People that are bitter, people that don’t believe in love. People that love. We want love stories. People that have experienced love at first site. We want stories of crimes of passion. We want unconventional stories. Stories of true love. Stories of all kinds of love. Tell us about you.
Please email us if you are interested in getting involved. contact us at – alovedocumentary@gmail.com
I am part of a new documentary about love. Currently in the beginning stage of creation.
Co-Created by Joti Poirier and myself
The Village Lighting Project partners with Creative Visions
Our Project has been inducted into the Creative Activist Partner Project by Creative Visions. We are so excited and we would love to have you involved.
The Village Lighting Project gets a kickstart
How would sustainable, safe, and adequate lighting transform lives in a village that has never had it?
We are on the quest to document the transformation to a better life that light will bring, in a film that will help this prototype lighting project receive the support it needs to be replicated in so many other villages that would benefit.
We want you to be a part of that adventure!
On behalf of The Village Lighting Project, Joti and I would like to thanks those who have contributed thus far. Your very generous support of this production is greatly appreciated. We are still in need of help. Only 17 days to go to meet our $5000 goal.
Where we need your help:
We will be flying into Kathmandu in early March, followed by a journey into the Himalayas. We will be spending 3 weeks in the village of Namarkhu, documenting the villagers using kerosene wick lamps and transitioning to LED lanterns
The funds collected via Kickstarter will be used in support for this documentary film. They will help offset ‘on the ground’ and travel expenses during our trip and continuing support in post production.
GO TO: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/852920435/the-village-lighting-project to make a pledge and be part of this adventure.
Currently in pre-production of this project, Black Diamond Equipment (www.blackdiamondequipment.com) and Patagonia Clothing (www.patagonia.com) has given a very generous donations to this project. The Creative Visions Foundation (http://www.creativevisions.org) has lended a big hand with thier resources for our use. Thank you!
We encourage you to take part of this opportunity to help document this endeavor. Many other villages will hopefully benefit from your support in this documentary. With your help we are on our way to reaching our goal of lighting the village of Namarkhu
We greatly appreciate your interest and contribution to this project that we believe will help the well-being of so many lives of so many people in these villages, like Namarkhu.
HOW IT WORKS:
GO TO: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/852920435/the-village-lighting-project to make a pledge and be part of this adventure.
Amazon processes all pledges. If you have an Amazon.com account it’s a snap. if you don’t, it’s like two snaps.
Your card will not be charged now. Pledges are collected at the end of funding only if the funding goal is reached. You can easily adjust or cancel your pledge anytime before funding ends.
Getting your rewards. If funded, The Village Lighting Project will send you a message to request any info needed to deliver your reward (mailing address, etc). These messages will be automatically forwarded to your email address.
Joti Poirier & Hunter Metcalf is wholly responsible for completing this project as described. If you have any questions/concerns, please contact Hunter Metcalf directly via the “Send Message” button on any project page.
Love – A Documentary
I am part of a new documentary about love. Currently in the beginning stage of creation.
Co-Created by Joti Poirier and myself
What is the definition of love? What does it mean, what does it feel like? what is it?
Is there love at first sight? Is love a human need to love and be loved?
How is love influenced culturally?
Over the next year, we are looking for people that are willing to be interviewed and that will talk candidly about love. We want people that are in love or know about love or have something to say about love.
We are looking for: People in love. People that want to fall in love. People searching desperately for love. People that have lost love. People that are bitter, people that don’t believe in love. People that love.
We want love stories. We are especially interested in people that have experienced love at first site. We want stories of crimes of passion. We want unconventional stories. Stories of true love. Stories of all kinds of love. Tell us about you.
Types of people that should apply. ANYONE. People of all ages, races, ethnicities, gay, straight, lesbian, transgendered. Unconventional love even. Every walk of life. Every part of love. Religious people. Scientific people. Sugar Daddy. Sugar Momma. Dominate and Submissive. Prince Charming. Men or women in love with inanimate objects. We would also like therapists, psychologists , and love doctors.
We would like to follow people about to get married. People that love in strange ways. Divorce. Arrange marriages. Mail order brides. On-line dating.Young love. First kiss. Love after 50, 75, 90. Any sort of love story.
Please email us if you are interested in getting involved. Tell us about your love story why it would be a great story to chronicle and share with audiences.
contact us at – alovedocumentary@gmail.com
As part of our research, we are asking people and potential participants to fill out this quick questionnaire in hopes of getting a sense of each person’s beliefs concerning love. Feel free to skip any questions you might not feel comfortable answering, or adding pages to the questionnaire if the mood strikes you to express more. We also encourage you to attach names of songs, images, paintings, photos, quotes or anything that might depict your idea of love, might remind you of it. We are seeking for honest and true love stories, not lust, not quick hook ups, but experiences that have marked or scarred you, stories that are now part of you for life.
“Love- A Documentary”
Research Questionnaire
What is your personal definition of love? In your own words, what does it mean, what does it feel like? What is it? Do you believe in it?
Have you ever lost your mind over love, gone “crazy”, lost touch with reality?
Do you believe in love at first sight, and have you ever experienced it?
Have you ever experienced love with someone from a country other than your own, how was it different? Were there clear cultural differences between the two of you regarding love?
How has your cultural background influenced your perception of love?
How has your childhood influenced your perception of love?
In your opinion, what is the difference between liking, loving and intimacy?
What is your personal definition of romance?
Are you afraid of love?
Anything that reminds me of love:
Finally,
Age:
Location:
Occupation:
We look forward to hearing from you. Thank You!
Hunter Metcalf, Co-Creator
The Affordable Village Lighting Project
“In the Himalayan mountains there are tens of thousands of scattered villages and homes. The locations of these settlements were chosen long ago with 2 primary criteria in mind: access to a water source and land to grow food and sustain their animals. Many if not most of these settlements are still without electricity and the villagers are extremely poor. They are living on the margins of society, being barely able sustain themselves. Most of us take for granted the electricity in our homes and the ability to turn on a switch and have nice lighting for a myriad of uses like cooking or reading at night. In these villages, artificial light is available in the form of kerosene wick lamps. The light is very dim, the kerosene is expensive, and the smoke from the kerosene irritates the eyes and lungs. The open flame also poses a fire risk.”
“Last October’s (2009) trek took me to an off the beaten track area in Nepal. One particular village named Namarkhu had a good source of water power located about 20 minutes walk from the village. The villagers could not afford to pay for a hydroelectric power system in part due to the expense of the transmission line that was about a mile away from the village.”
“Our need for light is a given, and the currently lighting in these homes is in inadequate, expensive, and injurious to one’s health. Watching villager women struggle to cook in the dark or students trying to do homework by the minimal candle power of a kerosene wick lamp is heartbreaking. Can we come up with an affordable and better lighting alternative for these villagers that cost less than the current cost of kerosene without the problems of kerosene? Assuming the technological and village organizational hurdles can be surmounted; I think there is tremendous scope for replication of the project in thousands of other locations throughout the Himalayas. This would help achieve the goal of providing more and better lighting at a lower cost than kerosene lighting, while eliminating the problems associated with kerosene.”
- Mitchell Silver, Project Creator and Director
We are also working on putting together a documentraty film about Namarkhu (the Village) and the integration of this new lighting opportunity.
Project slated to begin in Napal – March of 2010
©2010
Currently in stage one of the project, Black Diamond Equipment has jumped on this opportunity and will be graciously donating the supply of Apollo Lanterns needed for this project and Patagonia Clothing has given a very generous donation as well as gear for our travels. THANK YOU!
I will serve as Head of Production.
http://betterlight.wordpress.com/
www.bdel.com
www.patagonia.com