RIVER BOY

"RIVER BOY" is the story of transformation made possible by a dug out canoe and an outboard engine. This short film will follow a poor, Colono family in Peru who has come down from the mountains in search of opportunity. Driven by a desperate hope for the life depicted in magazines and on television, they have left behind their traditional ways, with its communal support, for a world of individual hustle and blind risk, in which families get fragmented and success is uncertain. The Colonos face daily challenges trying to get their produce to market. Their journey along the Apurimac River is fraught with potential mishaps brought by dangerous currents or mechanical failure. In their heavy, motorized cargo canoes frequently loaded with family including small children, there is little room for error.

"River Boy" captures the opportunities and hard realities of trying to make it in a changing economic and social system.

I have 35 years experience as a freelance cinematographer, and a number of the films I have worked on have won awards. I now use my extensive experience to make short, intimate films focused on the dignity, pride, and passion of hardworking, often invisible, people in Latin America, where I have spent many years. My visual poems, which have been featured in local and European film festivals, transport the viewer and renew their ability to see and care. My films combat indifference and broaden the conversation about those who are seen as less fortunate.

Funding of my recent project will enable me to spend time filming in Peru, getting to know and follow the story of a particular Colono family.