Post by blackcrowheart on Jun 23, 2008 17:07:11 GMT -5
Local filmmaker opens door to past
LAS CRUCES — Ed Breeding thinks it's time to draw on the wisdom of the past
and the beauty of American wilderness and indigenous cultures to inspire
change and healing.
Breeding has drawn on many of his own diverse talents —along with those of
regional artists — to produce "Echoes From The Ancestors," which he describes
as "a 30-minute film featuring quotes, voiceovers and music by Native
Americans."
The film will be broadcast at 9:30 p.m. today and May 29 on KRWG.
"History has taught us that the only thing we learn from history is that we
don't learn from history," notes a voiceover on the film, but Breeding has
more optimistic goals.
"Their wisdom and spirits are reaching out to us from the past," proclaims
the "Echoes" DVD cover, which features a painting by Breeding, who is an
artist, filmmaker, poet and author who moved to Las Cruces in 2004.
He hopes the film "can be that open door whereby the beginning of a deeper
understanding and healing begins."
Breeding has traveled extensively, making sketches and meeting with
indigenous peoples around the world.
"The native people of Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, Cuba, Australia and
Canada became the inspiration for much of my paintings and writings," Breeding
said.
He felt so strongly about the project that he sold his retreat in Cloudcroft
to finance the film.
"Echoes from the Ancestors" includes 24 quotes by American Indian leaders
against a backdrop of locations filmed in remote wilderness areas in Wyoming,
New Mexico and Colorado during Breeding's backpacking trips. Also featured are
his oil paintings, and American Indian dancers and singers. Music for the
film was composed by award-winning Las Cruces musician Yolanda Martinez, who has
Apache roots.
The film also features Don Pepion, of the Blackfeet tribe, director of New
Mexico State University's American Indian Program.
"I think it will help people to know that we did have our heroes to look up
to," Pepion states in the film's introduction.
Narrators include Pepion, Martinez, Alec Mares, who is Navajo, and Matt
Runsabove, whose heritage is Sioux.
Breeding said quotes from such legendary American Indian leaders as Sitting
Bull, Black Elk and Chief Joseph were chosen after extensive research that
focused on a central question: "Why did white men do this to us?"
It's a question with personal implications for Breeding, whose paternal
lineage is Cherokee.
He wrote a song for the project and also contributed a voiceover himself
about the Cherokee who perished on the Trail of Tears.
He was born in eastern Tennessee and grew up in Michigan and has always
enjoyed the outdoor life and wild foods. His eclectic background includes service
with the U.S. Air Force in Europe, a stint with the CIA in Washington D.C.,
and an executive post with the La-Z-Boy Corporation.
His art career has included a commissioned piece for the Simon Candy Company
that sold 400,000 units and works that have appeared on magazine covers and
been featured in numerous exhibitions in New Mexico, Michigan, Tennessee,
Georgia, California, Wyoming, Montana and throughout the United States. His
paintings are currently on exhibit at galleries in St. Petersburg, Fla. and
Atlanta.
Still photography is another interest, which segued into filmmaking. He has
learned by watching great films, he said.
"Echoes" is his fifth film. His last film, "Ambassador of the Aztec Nation,"
about Aztec dancer and philosopher Javier Alarcon, has been shown in Santa Fe
and at the Fountain Theatre's "Not Columbus Day" event.
Breeding has also published a book of poetry by his late cousin, Ann Russell,
whose poem is featured in "Echoes," and has written a dozen manuscripts of
his own, including his latest, "The Belt and Beyond," an online book available
through Amazon.com, and a recently completed novel, "TULUM," a women's quest
adventure set in ancient Mayan ruins in the Yucatan.
In addition to this month's two KRWG-TV broadcasts, a screening of "Echoes"
is planned this summer at the Fountain Theatre in Mesilla.
He has also submitted the film to several film festivals and PBS stations in
Tennessee, Kentucky and Michigan. He learned this month that it has been
accepted in the Native American and Latino category of the renowned Sundance
Film Festival.
LAS CRUCES — Ed Breeding thinks it's time to draw on the wisdom of the past
and the beauty of American wilderness and indigenous cultures to inspire
change and healing.
Breeding has drawn on many of his own diverse talents —along with those of
regional artists — to produce "Echoes From The Ancestors," which he describes
as "a 30-minute film featuring quotes, voiceovers and music by Native
Americans."
The film will be broadcast at 9:30 p.m. today and May 29 on KRWG.
"History has taught us that the only thing we learn from history is that we
don't learn from history," notes a voiceover on the film, but Breeding has
more optimistic goals.
"Their wisdom and spirits are reaching out to us from the past," proclaims
the "Echoes" DVD cover, which features a painting by Breeding, who is an
artist, filmmaker, poet and author who moved to Las Cruces in 2004.
He hopes the film "can be that open door whereby the beginning of a deeper
understanding and healing begins."
Breeding has traveled extensively, making sketches and meeting with
indigenous peoples around the world.
"The native people of Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, Cuba, Australia and
Canada became the inspiration for much of my paintings and writings," Breeding
said.
He felt so strongly about the project that he sold his retreat in Cloudcroft
to finance the film.
"Echoes from the Ancestors" includes 24 quotes by American Indian leaders
against a backdrop of locations filmed in remote wilderness areas in Wyoming,
New Mexico and Colorado during Breeding's backpacking trips. Also featured are
his oil paintings, and American Indian dancers and singers. Music for the
film was composed by award-winning Las Cruces musician Yolanda Martinez, who has
Apache roots.
The film also features Don Pepion, of the Blackfeet tribe, director of New
Mexico State University's American Indian Program.
"I think it will help people to know that we did have our heroes to look up
to," Pepion states in the film's introduction.
Narrators include Pepion, Martinez, Alec Mares, who is Navajo, and Matt
Runsabove, whose heritage is Sioux.
Breeding said quotes from such legendary American Indian leaders as Sitting
Bull, Black Elk and Chief Joseph were chosen after extensive research that
focused on a central question: "Why did white men do this to us?"
It's a question with personal implications for Breeding, whose paternal
lineage is Cherokee.
He wrote a song for the project and also contributed a voiceover himself
about the Cherokee who perished on the Trail of Tears.
He was born in eastern Tennessee and grew up in Michigan and has always
enjoyed the outdoor life and wild foods. His eclectic background includes service
with the U.S. Air Force in Europe, a stint with the CIA in Washington D.C.,
and an executive post with the La-Z-Boy Corporation.
His art career has included a commissioned piece for the Simon Candy Company
that sold 400,000 units and works that have appeared on magazine covers and
been featured in numerous exhibitions in New Mexico, Michigan, Tennessee,
Georgia, California, Wyoming, Montana and throughout the United States. His
paintings are currently on exhibit at galleries in St. Petersburg, Fla. and
Atlanta.
Still photography is another interest, which segued into filmmaking. He has
learned by watching great films, he said.
"Echoes" is his fifth film. His last film, "Ambassador of the Aztec Nation,"
about Aztec dancer and philosopher Javier Alarcon, has been shown in Santa Fe
and at the Fountain Theatre's "Not Columbus Day" event.
Breeding has also published a book of poetry by his late cousin, Ann Russell,
whose poem is featured in "Echoes," and has written a dozen manuscripts of
his own, including his latest, "The Belt and Beyond," an online book available
through Amazon.com, and a recently completed novel, "TULUM," a women's quest
adventure set in ancient Mayan ruins in the Yucatan.
In addition to this month's two KRWG-TV broadcasts, a screening of "Echoes"
is planned this summer at the Fountain Theatre in Mesilla.
He has also submitted the film to several film festivals and PBS stations in
Tennessee, Kentucky and Michigan. He learned this month that it has been
accepted in the Native American and Latino category of the renowned Sundance
Film Festival.