A DEEP ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS, ONE OF THE MANY CONSEQUENCES OF THE CRUMBLING VALUES OF OUR CIVILIZATION, IS RESULTING IN THE URGENT NEED TO FIND AND APPLY PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS TO A FAST CHANGING WORLD. PERMACULTURE, COMMUNITY LIVING, RECONNECTION WITH NATURE ARE BUT A FEW OF THESE MUCH NEEDED SOLUTIONS THAT WE NEED TO LEARN MORE ABOUT.
IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, ENVIRONMENTAL CONSCIOUSNESS HAS BEEN PART OF MY LIFE SINCE MY YOUTH IN THE LATE 1970s. I’VE BEEN IN CLOSE CONTACT WITH COMMUNITY LIVING AND ECOVILLAGES SINCE THE 1980s.
THESE THEMES HAVE MATURED THROUGH YEARS OF DIVERSE EXPERIENCES, AND ALL OF THESES COULD BE SUMMARIZED IN THE REALIZATION OF A SIMPLE, YET PROFOUND FACT: WE -AS A HUMAN SPECIES- HAVE LOST A PRIMORDIAL LINK WITH NATURE, WITH THE LAND, WITH OUR VERY SOURCE OF LIFE.
IT IS US -AGAIN HUMAN KIND AS SPECIES- AND NOT THE PLANET WHO IS IN DANGER;
NATURE DOESN’T NEED HUMANS. HUMANS NEED NATURE TO STAY ALIVE. AND IT IS ONLY UP TO US, THROUGH OUR ACTIONS AND OUR TAKING CONSCIOUSNESS OF OUR NEED, THAT WE MIGHT COME THROUGH THIS EVOLUTIONARY CHALLENGE, TO BRING FORWARD A NEW HUMAN THAT CAN LIVE IN HARMONY AND IN TUNE WITH THE CYCLES OF LIFE.
MY PASSION FOR CINEMA HAS GIVEN ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPRESS THESE CONCEPTS THROUGH THIS FILM, “LAND AWAKENING”. IT IS A SIMPLE TOKEN OF AN EFFORT TO INSPIRE PEOPLE -ONE PERSON AT A TIME- TO CHANGE THEIR LIFE AND TO DISCOVER THE BEAUTY AND WHOLENESS OF LIVING A LIFE IN THE FLOW OF MOTHER NATURE.
I HOPE THE MESSAGE OF THE PEOPLE PORTRAYED IN THIS FILM, WHO ARE CREATING UTOPIA IN THEIR EVERY DAY, WILL INSPIRE YOU THE WAY IT HAS INSPIRED ME.
BUON CINEMA.
BORN IN MEXICO CITY, RAÚL MOVED TO CANADA TO FINISH HIS STUDIES IN COMMUNICATION AND CINEMA AT THE CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY IN MONTREAL. THE FINAL PROJECT FOR HIS DEGREE WAS A DOCUMENTARY ON THE CENTENARY OF A TRAPPIST MONASTERY CLOSE TO MONTREAL FOR WHICH HE WAS EDITOR AND ASSISTANT DIRECTOR. HIS CAREER TOOK OFF IMMEDIATELY AS THE SHORT FILM WAS SCREENED NATIONWIDE ON THE CANADIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION (CBC).
RAÚL THEN WENT BACK TO MEXICO AND TRAVELLED AROUND THE WHOLE COUNTRY MANAGING THE PRODUCTION OF ETHNOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTARIES AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMES FOR TELEVISION. THESE WERE VERY CREATIVE AND ECLECTIC YEARS FOR RAÚL WHO WORKED AT MANY DIFFERENT PROJECTS RANGING FROM TELEVISION ADVERTISEMENTS TO DOCUMENTARIES, TV SERIES AND FEATURE FILMS. HE ALSO STARTED HIS OWN ADVERTISING FILM PRODUCTION HOUSE. THEN HE WAS THE EXECUTIVE PRODUCER FOR AN IMPORTANT ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN FOR A WORLDWIDE EVENT ON TV, AND WORKED AS ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILMS, AS WELL AS, IN 1991, FOR A TV SPECIAL ON THE PERESTROIKA IN THE SOVIET UNION.
HE WENT BACK TO CANADA IN 1996 AND FOUNDED A FILM POST-PRODUCTION HOUSE WHILE STILL WORKING ON THE EDITING OF FEATURE FILMS, DOCUMENTARIES AND TV SERIES FOR SEVERAL CANADIAN CHANNELS AND FOR SOME NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS WITH PROJECTS RELATED TO PEACE PROMOTION.
IN 2009 RAÚL DECIDED TO PUT ALL HIS ENERGY INTO HIS FIRST DOCUMENTARY FILM AS AN INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER. “LAND AWAKENING”, A VAST PROJECT ON ALTERNATIVE AGRICULTURE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN WHICH LASTED MORE THAN THREE YEARS. INSPIRED BY HIS SON PABLO, RAÚL EMBARKED ON A JOURNEY TO DISCOVER SUSTAINABLE METHODS TO PRODUCE FOOD WHILE RESPECTING THE LAND. HE PORTRAYED WISE PERSONALITIES WHO CREATE SOCIAL CHANGE AND ARE PROMOTERS OF ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS. WITH SPLENDID CINEMATOGRAPHY AND WELL-FINISHED EDITING, THE FILM BECAME A POETICAL ADVENTURE DEVELOPING AMONG THE BEAUTIFUL COLORS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN.
IN JULY 2014 HE MOVED BACK TO HIS BELOVED LAND, ITALY, TO START THE PROMOTION OF “RINASCERE NELLA TERRA”. 2018 WILL BE DEDICATED TO AN ITALIAN TOUR, FROM THE NORTH TO THE SOUTH OF THIS BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY, SUPPORTED BY THE ALTERNATIVE NETWORKS OF FARMERS AND SOCIAL CHANGE.