What does freedom means to you?

I am setting off to Israel to talk to a few influential people over there about freedom. Israel seemed to be a perfect backdrop to such a quest as it hosts what it could be seen as the biggest prison in the world. As a filmmaker I don’t want to tap into the political aspect of the country and its conflicts but I want an environment that promotes contrast, that gets the viewer to question their own values and opinions. 

I am not doing this project by myself. Apart form the creative and executive support from Bigballs Films, the production company from which I direct my commercial jobs, the main reason I am actually hopping on a plane is a guy called Kutiman. Richard Welsh, creative director at Bigballs Films came to me with this guy’s name and the strong believe that I should check him out. I did and me and Rich felt we needed to develop something around him or with him. The stuff Kutiman creates is jaw dropping. The guy spends most of his time scattering amongst youtube clips to find what works together so he can create music. Using these carefully selected clips he creates original pieces. In a way he gets people together to jam, to create art, although he does that without their consent and only thinking about what sounds good together. There is no judgement of where this or that person comes from, or whether these guys would actually like each other in the real world. Its a pure use of the internet, of its borderless, belief-less and race less in will to create something rather delightful in many ways. 

Kutiman is my point of contact in Tel Aviv, and he is also co-author of this film-to-be. His editing style and music sensibility will direct my camera through the different places. And after we are done with the filming he will pour some of the magic dust he uses in his pieces over this project. 

We wont answer the question and it would be very pretentious from our part to think we would even generate material thats relevant to the discussion. As an artist, we hope to raise points, promote reflection but most of all to create a film that represents the actual quest for the answer. What each and everyone that comes into contact with the film will make of it I don’t know, the digestion of a film is an individual process and diversity is what make our world so beautiful.

Apart from the film this will be a project that welcomes interaction. We will have many arms spread over the web and you are welcome to join in. tweet us, comment on the blog or even send us your thoughts about freedom. 

so…

#freedomis

Pedro de la Fuente
Director at Bigballs Films