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THIDA, THE STORY MAGNET

Some of you may already have heard me refer to myself in a joking way as a ‘story magnet’.

I would say I coined that term for myself to try to ‘justify’ or explain how, no matter where I go, something unique and many times ‘life changing’, appears right in front of me in the guise of a person or project that is truly ‘unignorable’.

Well, this latest one is truly a stunner, and a story so amazing that when I pitched to the New York Time Op-Doc at Aesthetica, they sounded more than happy to take it (although we need to get it produced with our own money first!)

In June earlier this year, I was in Austria in a tiny village called Goldegg, filming Akiko Stein, a water crystal photographer who continues the legendary work of Masuro Emoto, that captures water crystals and their various structures in reaction to words, sounds and the invisible world of emotion, frequency, vibration and all energy in general.

During my time filming, I couldn’t ignore the towering wooden columns that supported the structure we were inside. It looked like a giant, wooden cathedral complex with giant windows that let the light and kept us connection to the greenness of the valley around us. In the mornings I would wake feeling fresh and energised, ready for filming, and yet, I daren’t comment to Akiko and her husband Erwin, beyond the intriguing statement, ‘Is this like a special house…or something?’ for fear of being too nosy!

The couple remained quiet and focussed on the task at hand; after all, I had come to film a story on water, but by the last day, Erwin asked me to follow him to his office, and all was revealed.

Video here > https://youtu.be/d7802r1QpbQ

There were samples of charred wood lying around the office, that showed the buildings of Erwin, who is a famous architect in Austria, could not be burned. There were plans and drawings and pictures of giant commercial structures (universities, apartment blocks, hotels and houses) made of 100% wood, just like the house I had been shooting in with Akiko. And Erwin swiftly went on to tell me about this unique, ANCIENT BUT LOST practice that offered the path towards a circular economy just by understanding how to harvest wood the way our ancestors did.

Erwin had written ten books about this subject, and how he was triggered to investigating it as a way of solving his son’s asthmatic reactions to toxic glue used in conventional building chipboard material (something we are surrounded with in our own homes). But until a scientist proved his theory right, he was almost ousted by the industry ‘experts’.

When I asked him who was making a film about him and this ancient ‘re-discovery’ that could change our lives for the better he said, ‘you are’.

I would never expect to find this unique story in this way; but I did.

Access is one of the most important things that a filmmaker has, and I guess after years of doing these films in 2015, starting with my Couchsurfing request to film at Jeff’s (that turned into my first film ‘The Man Who Paints Monkeys’), people trust me to actually say how it is, and this is something I cannot ignore, because maybe I’m just meant to share these kind of life changing, hidden stories, with the rest world.

The project that Erwin is finishing up early next year is the world’s first solar heated and cooled 100% wooden hospital, a thing that has never been done before, and therefore I have chosen to fly there in middle of January for two weeks and capture not just the unique harvesting but part of the construction of the hospital before it finishes.

But for this I need to PAY A PROFESSIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHER as some footage is beyond my abilities to capture - I’m sure you all know I am self-taught with film and self-funded and unfortunately my funds have been used up on my water project for the first half of next year (yes, this is also an EXTREMELY exciting film which highlights the FOURTH PHASE OF WATER; PLASMA). But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here!

We have not confirmed who will work with us but depending on the funds raised, we will have a better idea on whether we can even afford them. Of course, due to the special nature of this film project, I will be sharing the behind the scenes with you, so that you can see just how crazy the life of a guerrilla filmmaker is, and also understand just how these amazing films are made thanks to your love and support and the work of true professionals.

So, once again friends and family, if you have read this far, then you are TRULY IN MY TRIBE and I would like to ask for your GENEROUS DONATION SUPPORT for this upcoming documentary; MOONWOOD.

I know it is early December, and therefore not the best time of year, but please do find the heart to CLICK THE SECURE STRIPE LINK and send us whatever you can afford and we will be sure to update you as donor on the credits as well as share with you the growth of this film.

Thank you all so much for always supporting me, and I’d like to leave you with one final message; no matter what you are going through, and how hard it feels to ‘be yourself’ in this big, wide, at times disconnected world, know that you are one of most special, powerful and loving individuals I have had the luck to cross paths with, and BELIEVE IN YOURSELF no matter how hard it feels right now - don’t give up, because I KNOW, you will absolutely get to who you want to be, and where you want to be in the end - now THAT’S a true story.

See you in the next newsletter!

Thida

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