Good Day World,
The heat of summertime is upon us here in southwest Missouri. As the sun sanitizes, we are looking at our own homes and hearts. I am doing a lot of thinking lately about my values and how to act on them. Actions reflect our values because actions don’t lie. I can say I want to run a marathon until I am blue in the face, but it’s the first jog that will get me there. At Carbon Trace Productions, our values are truth, education, and creativity.
We pride ourselves in our documentary-style cinematography, no matter the project. Our upcoming full-length film Songs From the Street is a perfect example. Be sure to send them some love this week as they raise funds to amplify the story. The Carbon Trace team always wants to hear from real people, speaking from the heart — never a script.
Education happens through action. We offer interdisciplinary internships every semester with hands-on film making experience. We also are always looking for film ideas. If you have any thoughts, be sure to send them to us by going to our website. I believe values are won and lost through those life experiences. Creativity via documentary film leaves the viewer feeling as though they have lived through these life experiences themselves. We hope to give people the window to look out in hopes it will cause them to act on their values.
-Shannon Cay, Executive Director
Songs From the Street Fundraising Video from Michael Mayrand on Vimeo.
The student team with Songs From the Street is reaching the finish line with the development of this film. It’s the story of a choir made up of homeless individuals fighting to be seen in their community. The crew is currently raising funds to support the film after release — for marketing and distribution to spread the story of the Street Choir to as many people as possible! Please take the time to donate or share. Anything helps.
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We are starting to pull together the stories of American volunteers in Matamoros, Mexico as Witness at the Border moves through the editing stage. These volunteers are the only lifeline for Central American refugees caught between two governments hostile to their situation. As the U.S. asylum courts deny their claims and the Mexican government takes daily steps to make camp life difficult, the refugees and volunteers are waiting for justice.
This is the story of the residents at Eden Village, the result of a decade-long concern with homelessness held by David and Linda Brown — two wealthy residents of downtown Springfield. They see the homeless not as annoyances but as neighbors. To alleviate homelessness, they are opening up tiny home villages. The purpose of Eden Village is not to provide “adequate housing” for the disabled homeless but instead to establish a sense of community. Our crew had to pause this project to protect the health and safety of the All of a Sudden’s subjects. We have implemented new COVID safety measures and will return to filming as early as this week.
Missouri State University and Carbon Trace Productions are searching for the real indicators of social and economic conditions in rural areas such as Shannon County, Missouri. We want to go beyond county-level population trends and employment, income, and poverty reports to meet the real people who live in such a rural part of the state. Working together, we hope to shed light on stereotypes and assumptions of the rural Ozarks. See more about the story on our website.
Witness At Tornillo is available on pay-per-view after winning Best Documentary at the KC FilmFest International 2020. This is the story of individual action against the injustice of family separations and internment camps for children at the U.S. border. The documentary utilizes the “subversive act of seeing” to encourage us all to examine our ethics and compassion. You can watch this award-winning film HERE.
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