Clan II destine recording 'Breeze in the Wind'

Dave Montour

Editing 4 the finish line

Hi everyone! I realize it has been a long time since I last posted but we have been busy editing POISON WIND. Right now we are working each day to have the film "locked" by the end of next week. The Phoenix Film Festival final submission date is 12/14 and so are a few other festivals I am entering the movie into.
A quick update regarding Clan II destine! Dave Montour and the band came into the studio 2 weeks ago and recorded 'Breeze in the Wind' for the film. Its really terrific and will be a shining point in the movie. I'll post some pics from the recording session later on. This past weekend we scooted over to New Mexico and recreated scenes, that show what conditions were like for the miners.
Right now its back into the "editing cave..."

4th Annual Southwest Native American Film Festival

I received word today that the preview clip for POISON WIND will screen at the Coconino Center for the Arts in Flagstaff on October 6th between 2 and 4:30 pm! We have a 6 minute clip that is being shown as a work in progress. (At this point our final cut will be running almost an hour in length.) Co-producer Norman Patrick Brown and I will be in attendance...as will Damon Watahomigie from Havasupai. Music news: Dave Montour of Clan/Destine has been awesome and the song he has written for the film is tentivly titled: 'Breeze in the Wind.' I meet with Dave again on Monday morning and I'll post more on that next week. The POISON WIND clip had an unscheduled screening this afternoon at the University of Advancing Technology in Tempe, AZ. A room filled with almost 100 or so Faculty and Deans gave the clip an amazing response, which I am very thankful for. This is the school that has donated the Hi Def cameras and the editing equipment to us..so the documentary could be made. This coming week their PR team will be sending out a press release for the film and I will post about that when I have a copy.
This past week we went back up to the Grand Canyon to interview a member of the Walapai. Uranium mining interests have been pressuring them since this past Spring about mining on their land. This has to be stopped.
It seems right that the film began in the Grand Canyon when I met Damon there almost a year ago. Now it has come back to the Canyon with our final interview....full circle.

Film & Music News

Hi, Everyone! Last week I sent a DVD with our clip out to a few people and one of them was Michael Blake...who won the Academy Award for writing DANCES WITH WOLVES. We had the opportunity to speak with him a few months ago, at the Smoki Museum in Prescott, AZ, and I was hoping, that he might take a moment to watch our 6 minute clip and respond. Well, I have to tell you he called me yesterday and said, "If the documentary stays with the level of what you have in the clip...I think it will be tremendous." (direct quote) He said his only complaint was that the clip made him want to see more! (yeah!) I spoke with him for almost an hour Monday morning about the movie and he said that he was honored to be a part of it. (I almost fell out of my seat!) Having Mr. Blake's support hopefully may help us get into a few film festivals. In any event, I feel we are on the right track with how we are putting this together and it seems to be hitting a cord with folks. He also told me he would be there to help POISON WIND thru to the very end.
I also met with Dave A. Montour of Clan/Destine on Tuesday and he has a song he wrote awhile ago that he thinks might work for the film. It is AWESOME!! He also showed me a beautiful flute he's carving...so beautiful.
IMDB for Michael Blake filmography: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0086658/
Clan/Destine: http://www.myspace.com/clandestinerezdawgs
Keep everyone posted! Please feel free to email me and for a DVD of the teaser clip.

Poison Wind update!

Hi to everyone and I have some news that about the film. We are coming back to the Gallup/Grants area on July 22nd and will be there until the 25/26. I have some interviews scheduled and we'll also be focusing on shooting some exterior footage & b-roll for the film. After that the picture will be "locked" and we'll be concentrating on getting it ready for submission to the Sundance Film Festival. A cut will have to be in their office in LA by Sept 14 and my friend, Damon Watahomigie (Supai Waters), from the village of Supai, will be traveling to LA for this. He will physically hand the submission over to them. For me this will be symbolic of how the film began and Damon's part in all of this.
I had lunch with Clan/Destine 2 weeks ago and we talked about their music possibly being involved with the film. They have some wonderful CD's out, which are available for download on iTunes. One song in particular I like VERY much and think would work for the documentary is 'Inner Soul." Dave Montour called me today to say they are still interested in talking more about the project. He & Cano are headed back into the studio soon to work on a new CD for Clan 2 Destine.
Check them out at: http://www.canyonrecords.com/cr7037.htm
This week I will be getting ready for our trip to NM and also meeting with a designer about a website for POISON WIND. My editor, Keegan Ead, will be busy going through some more of the 52 hours of film we have in the can. He has put together a teaser, which runs 6 minutes or so...with a great POISON WIND effect at the end. Mitch Abbott put that together using Adobe After Effects. This clip is NOT a movie trailer in the true sense but it is meant to let people know where we are headed with this documentary. http://www.poisonwindmovie.com/
The teaser plays off of Keegan's website for now and that process will change once we have a site built for it. So bear with it as it may take a minute to begin playing depending on what browser you're using and also if you have Quicktime installed. I will be bringing some DVD's with me next week and if anyone would like me to mail them one I can do that. Just email me with your address at: jennypond@poisonwindmovie.com

Introduction

My name is Jenny Pond and, along with Norman Patrick Brown, I am producing a documentary about uranium mining and the devastating effect that it has on the people, livestock, water and agriculture in New Mexico and Arizona. This film has been in production since late January and will be filming through July of this year. It came about through a chance meeting, which took place in November of 2006, some 5,000+ feet down in the Grand Canyon when I first met one of the principals in our film...Damon Watahomigie. He approached me with information concerning uranium mining on the Kaibab Plateau and the current onslaught of interest by mining companies seeking to drill for ore on the Havasuapi's scared sites...as well as in the canyon itself. Pre-production for the film began soon after we first spoke and since then we have interviewed members of the Navajo Nation (Diné), Shoshone of Nevada, Acoma Pueblo and Laguna Pueblo. The impact of this holocaust can be felt throughout the Indigenous lands here and reverberates in countries such as Brazil, India and in places such as the Amazon. These concerns were addressed last year at the Indigenous World Uranium Summit at Window Rock, Navajo Nation (Arizona), USA (see links) when activists from all over the world came to express their concerns over the dangers of uranium mining.
Our goal is bring this film to the public by submitting it to film festivals throughout the country and abroad. We hope to raise the level of awareness concerning the hideous tactics used by mining companies in relationship to the actual mining of this monster and the lack of compenstation. Please feel free to contact us at any time with information or interview requests. Thank you.