“It’s about overcoming obstacles in any way you can”

While living in the Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza where problems abound with overcrowding, unemployment and a lack of education, Mohommad and Abdallah escape through the artform of Parkour within their outdoor environment which teaches them the physical and mental discipline of overcoming obstacles.

This short documentary called Free Running Gaza from the Artscape program at Al Jazeera follows the young men as they work on their latest video for their YouTube site as well as explain and demonstrate how parkour allows them to feel free and as if they have been “transported to another world.”

image via flickr/rajaaonline

The effect that nature can have on our thoughts, emotions and ultimately our actions is a powerful thing. Of course this is what makes nature so astounding. Typically we think of the effects as a positive thing but what about the opposite – what about fear or even anger turning to violence?

Here in the Pacific Northwest, our forests are notorious for beautiful sunrays shining through evergreens that quickly give way to creepy, dripping and dark spaces covered in a low mist. One minute there is that feeling as if you could spend all day in that dun-drenched spot and then suddenly you can’t get inside fast enough.

Taking this to an extreme, I recall the Lars van Trier film Antichrist that was both the most intense movie I’ve seen in awhile as well as absolutely stunning cinematography. However, while I personally thought this movie was brilliant, don’t watch this if you’re not a fan of dark and extremely graffic psychodramas – just enjoy the clip at the bottom of this post.

Without analyzing the movie or going beyond the topic of how nature plays with our emotions, I just wanted to point out the power that nature has in this film and on the actors. The deep gut-wrenching emotional and sometimes suspensful scenes were perfectly paired with sound to bring out the most in the imagery.

But I will leave it at that and just let you enjoy what I think is one of the best clips of all time because I don’t want to spoil the movie for those who do want to see it.

The clip from movie below plays out the mental journey to a cabin in the woods they call Eden and the power that nature has on Her. She was at Eden before and He is trying to help her confront her fear of the outdoors.

I absolutely love this video by David Scharf which was earlier posted by Design Under Sky. The graphics and animation are fantastic and the story is haunting. I can relate to it, being an only child who often escaped the reality in my youth to spend most of my time daydreaming in the forest and ignoring the every day rules and restrictions. Which is better…accept or escape?

For those of you in Portland, my friend’s film Forge looks like it should be out around January. Maybe it’ll show up elsewhere…hmm! Looks pretty good to me. Check out the cool trailer he recently finished. The movie is explained as “A man tries to save his scientist brother from slipping permanently into madeness with the power of a stolen technology”.

Waterlife is a film that “tells the epic story of the Great Lakes by following the cascade of its water frm northern lake Superior to the Atlantic Ocean, through the lives of some of the 35 million people who rely on the lakes for survival.“.

Check out the theatrical trailer above and visit the sleek and fluid website to explore video clips, imagery, music and some of the stories that make up the movie which is a co-production between the National Film Board of Canada and Primitive Entertainment, Inc. The movie also boasts a pretty decent soundtrack with artists like Brian Eno, Sigur Ros and Sufjan Stevens lending their names to the cause, to name a few and is narrated by Gord Downie, lead singer of The Tragically Hip.

“Providing Earth with 20 percent of its surface fresh water and its third largest industrial economy, the Great Lakes are a unique and precious resource under assault by toxins, sewage, invasive species, evaporating water and profound apathy. They are also one of the planet’s great preserves of extraordinary wilderness beauty and a bounty of unique species. Filled with fascinating characters and stunning imagery, Waterlife is an epic cinematic poem about the beauty of water and the dangers of taking it for granted.”