Category: The A Team

Why do we keep marching forward in something that seems so foolish?

Why do we keep marching forward in something that seems so foolish? Seriously, sometimes I wonder if I am just stubborn or foolish myself. Either way, we seem foolish for pressing on. Today, I finally finished editing “Becoming Fools”, and we received our first response back from a film festival where we submitted the project. It read:

“I’m sorry to inform you that your project was not selected … Best of luck with your future projects.”

Not exactly the most encouraging news on this milestone of production.

Let me set the stage for this message. I’ve been working on the “Becoming Fools” documentary for two years, full-time for the last year and a half, and honestly, “full-time” is an understatement. It’s more like 16 hours a day, six days a week. I don’t share this for sympathy; I share it to emphasize just how truly foolish I feel.

From the very beginning, every step of this journey has felt foolish. It’s been a marathon of impossible hurdles designed to challenge our resolve to keep going:

– The protagonist of the story passed away while we were in pre-production.

– Amelia and I lost our day jobs within three weeks of each other, leaving us without a secure income.

– Our Kickstarter fundraiser failed to raise the necessary funds to produce the film.

– Funds were not raised to pay for the live theatrical event documented in the film.

– The lead character of the live theatrical event quit and returned to the streets.

– We had 485 hours of footage that needed to be translated before we could edit it down to feature length.

– The editing process took five months, working 16 hours a day, six days a week.

– We missed the opportunity to enter several major film festivals for the season.

– Technical difficulties complicated the finalization of the edit.

– Our first film festival notice was a rejection.

– We currently lack funds to release the film.

And yet, we continue. Why?

There are days when I wonder if I have wasted the last few years of my life investing in this seemingly foolish endeavor. Some days, it really stings and makes me feel like a total failure. But then I take a deep breath and remember why we started this project: it is a story that needs to be shared to inspire others.

What is failure? What is foolishness? Italo could be seen as both. He lived his life in accordance with the passion that God gave him, risking everything to care for kids who seemed unlikely to change. In fact, many of the children he helped still struggle with addiction and have not completely left the streets. But Italo didn’t die in those streets. Instead, his passion sparked the creation of a community of “fools” who believe they can make a difference together.

Was Italo a fool? Yes. Was he a failure? Absolutely not.

Like Italo, we continue because we are “fools” living our lives according to the passion God has given us. With that purpose in mind, there is no way we can fail. So, we keep marching forward.

2012 was a year of adventure and blessing for Athentikos

We are grateful to share our journey from 2012 with you:

Athentikos took a risk by beginning production on the Becoming Fools documentary without full funding, believing that God would provide. As of December 2012, the film is 75% complete.

For over five months, homeless youth were mentored by professional artists in preparation for a live theatrical event aimed at raising awareness and inspiring community involvement in the fight against homelessness. Athentikos fully funded the clowning classes and the theatrical production.

Ericha Penzien spent seven months in Guatemala facilitating film production and managing rehearsals for the theatrical performance. We were also blessed to have our first production intern, Brandon Rojano.

Scott Moore dedicated two and a half months to Guatemala to build relationships with homeless youth, mentor Guatemalan production volunteers, and capture footage for the Becoming Fools documentary. Our work gained visibility through features in magazines, radio, and television.

In June, Athentikos partnered with Guatemalan churches, NGOs, and local and federal governments for a consultation event to address homelessness and present an official report to the Guatemalan government. During this month, homeless youth shared their stories through a theatrical performance in front of over 400 people at Guatemala’s historic Teatro Abril.

We captured more than 485 hours of footage for Becoming Fools. As part of the project Reparando, Shorty had the opportunity to share the stage with Guatemala’s Vice President and present his testimony to over 10,000 high school students.

Athentikos was part of a leadership team with Lemonade International and Vidas Plenas to host an annual art camp for 100 at-risk kids in the La Limonada community, Guatemala. Through individual donations and a grant from LEGO, Athentikos provided over 70% of the funding for this initiative.
Vidas Plenas received a $64,102 grant in response to the awareness raised by our documentary, “Reparando”.
We believe that stories inspire change and hope. We are thankful to share these incredible blessings from 2012, which would not have been possible without your support!
Please help Athentikos continue inspiring through the art of storytelling by making a tax-deductible gift of $50, $100, $200, or more. Your investment will yield exponential returns as it inspires through storytelling in 2013 and beyond!

Thank you for believing in our mission and generously sharing your time, talent, and resources. Together, we are all part of this inspiring story!

www.athentikos.com

Guate Cirko

We are excited that the very talented Guate Cirko is collaborating with us in the Voz De Las Calles event at Teatro Abril in Guatemala City on June 16, 2012. Here is a look at their Comparsa event earlier this year.

It’s a Team Effort

The kids involved in Fergie’s classes are not the only ones learning.

Throughout my time here in Guatemala and throughout production, I have been learning a lot about filming, photography, technology, scheduling shoots, coordinating crew members, organizing transportation, and even a bit little of clowning.

Our Guatemala production team is learning too, as they are authentically responding and volunteering their talents. We have been blessed with such a great crew of volunteers willing to help us along this process!!

“I feel so happy and privileged to be volunteering with Athentikos. It has been a great experience getting to know the crew and all the people involved in the documentary. I’ve met people from different backgrounds and situations that are passionate and have a heart to see a better Guatemala. I have so much to learn from them, they have inspired me and challenged me to give my best in this project and to stop being indifferent to the need around me.” – Alex Ortiz

The Athentikos team has had a filming shoot just about every week since I arrived here in January. We have had informal shoots and formal shoots, shoots with the kids and shoots of random scenes around the city. We have shot a clown show, a memorial service, conducted several interviews, and now every Tuesday and Thursday we are documenting the kids process through learning the art of clowning with Fergie.

With all the cameras around, Mefi has even started dreaming about what it would be like to one day be in a movie. Mefi asked me once… “Gary have you been in a film before? Because I like a girl and I think she likes me, it will be funny if I take her to the movies to see myself.”

Along the way we have experienced ups and downs. We struggled through technical issues at first as we worked to learn about the equipment. But most issues have been resolved. We know have a procedure we follow to ensure all footage in dumped and filed correctly, memory cards are formatted, batteries are charged and then all equipment is ready to go the night before the next shoot.

“One of the things that happen when you’re working in audio is that you have to be super careful with not getting any outside noise in the recording. Therefore, you have to be silent and try to find places that won’t have a lot of people laughing or talking. When we recorded Panchorizo’s show, I didn’t know what to expect. I heard the show was very entertaining, but I had my goal of being there to record audio. The funny thing starts, when I realize I’m recording audio and that the ZOOM is super sensitive to noise, but I just can’t stop laughing at Panchorizo. He was so funny and creative; the show was so welcoming that I literally had to cover my mouth and nose so I wouldn’t make noise that would go into the recording. That’s probably been one of the hardest settings I’ve been recording in and still is probably the funniest…” – Hubert Bendfeldt.

With the kids well on their way to become clowns, we are now well on our way to becoming a professional film crews. And through this process relationships are forming.

“For me the best was when byron came behind me and hugged me. I cant describe how good that felt….” – Josue Porta.

‘Becoming Fools’ together has been such a blast!

Art Camp 2011

Thanks to a grant from LEGO, Athentikos was able to partner with Lemonade International to take children from one of Central America’s largest slum communities to a week long Art Camp on the Guatemalan coast.

WATCH THE HIGHLIGHT VIDEO BELOW.

The camp was appropriately named ‘Emocionarte’, a combination of the Spanish words for emotion and art. Many of the children from Limonada have experienced violence and abuse, so “Emocionarte’ was designed to teach students how to process emotions and communicate them in a healthy way using various art forms. One of our friends suggested that it was a time for the kids to express their emotions and for us to hold ours back.

Our seven hour journey from Guatemala City took us on three school buses through the mountains, desert and jungle of Guatemala to El Faro, an absolutely beautiful retreat center located on the coast of Punta de Palma, Izabal. Most of the children had never left the dangerous red zones of Guatemala City. The wide-open spaces of the camp were a whole new world to these young explorers from the small concrete alleys of La Limonada. Words cannot even begin to express our delight as we watched them run and play in the lush green grass and swim in the ocean for the first time.

Athentikos taught 90 kids and 30 adults in classes involving painting, sculpture, drama, collage and LEGOs. Every night ended with a special event including a costume party, an acoustic concert by Amy Stroup, bonfires on the beach and a movie night. As camp started, the LEGOs were still held up in customs at the Danish Embassy, and we didn’t know if they would be released in time to make it to camp. Miraculously the LEGOs showed up via boat on the second day. We were thrilled to be able to share this incredible gift from LEGO with the children from La Limonada.

The kids were very creative with their LEGO projects even though they had never played with them before. They built houses with meticulous detail, including toilets, TVs, trash cans filled with trash, stoves with propane tanks, lamps and couches. One boy shared that he built his home with red and white bricks to represent the peace and love that he always wanted to fill his house. Another designed his house with a very large kitchen because he wanted to be able to serve food to his surrounding community. These thoughts were so profound coming from children with such painful stories. We constantly had to remind ourselves that these were children from La Limonada.

On the final evening, we screened Reparando, our documentary that features the community where these children live. They were fascinated to see familiar people and places on the big screen. After the film, the Athentikos team gave each child a doll made by Maria (the Doll Lady) and explained the purpose of the story’s metaphor. It was a perfect way to close the emotional week and a very special time for the Athentikos team to share with the kids.

Upon returning to Guatemala City, we hosted an Art Show for the La Limonada community. Families were invited to see the children’s creations and hear firsthand from several of the students about their experience. The energy level was high and applause filled the room as each group shared. We were extremely proud of the kids and honored to partner with the staff of La Limonada in this life-changing camp! Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible!