From director Shebana Coelho: The first time I heard Nasario Garcia speak, I heard the dust of the Río Puerco in his voice and saw the river beside a yellow plain. The things he spoke of made me feel I had been raised there - and I was born in India! But this is the gift of Nasario – wherever you're from, his words take you back to where he grew up, and to a time when you listened - to the silence of the llano, the songs of crows, and most of all, the stories that the viejitos the elders spoke.
I was so inspired by meeting Nasario that I - who had never written a full length play before – wrote and directed one, an adaptation of his first book of oral histories called, When the Stars Trembled in Río Puerco. It was performed at Santa Fe’s Teatro Paraguas and the National Hispanic Cultural Center in 2014. A few months later, I began looking at footage I had filmed of Nasario when we went once to see the Rio Puerco ruins. And I saw the film. Nasario remembers the Río Puerco My vision is to create a visual poetic encounter between images and words, Nasario and the land. I hear the voice of a narrator, a woman’s voice speaking in lyric about the past and future. I believe that the past is not only sepia behind us; it’s as real as what’s on the table in front of us. I believe what is calling us back is also calling us forward – to live in peace with the land, close to our truths, under the stars, all in our own unique way. Nasario may have printed his stories, even spoken them to an audience, but this magic of Nasario with his feet on a landscape that also remembers him – this encounter hasn’t been seen. And what it brings out in those who see the encounter, the visions I have from my imagination encountering those memories, that land - that's the story of 'Nasario remembers the Río Puerco.' I'm very aware of the context in which we are making this film, and doing this campaign, in a time of great division, at the edge of a great unknown - I feel now, more than ever, side by side, with doing what we can for each other, we have to live our full light, follow what calls to the full degree it is calling - and for me, now, this is what is calling, these stories of land, community, and connection. I'll be speaking about this on Thu 1/12 at Collected Works at 6pm, at our event, The Past is Present: Screening clips from "Nasario remembers.."We'd love to see you there! See our trailer, and other clips from the film in progress, meet us all including and especially Nasario. If you can't come, meet us online - at our Indiegogo page to raise funds to edit this film: http://bit.ly/NasarioFilm We have a "Be a Credit to us" Perk that we especially want to feature - where you can be in the credits for a small donation. Our dream is for this to be a true "crowdfunded" project, where many people giving little can make a project possible. Thank you...and see you in the story...
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AuthorNews from Nasario Remembers the Rio Puerco Archives
December 2019
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