The Rural Route Film Festival, July 20-22 in New York City. More details to follow.

The premiere of Jewel In The Jungle
was extraordinary!

The general consensus of the audience’s reaction was a cross between being stunned by the high level of quality of the
professional production, and of being overwhelmingly joyous that a true treasure was
created for them to (finally) share with their friends and family; a
project of this magnitude seemed to be long overdue.

The work of the entire crew, which volunteered long days and even longer nights, was well received and well rewarded. So many people continuously streamed by our sales stand and just had to tell us how it affected them.

We sold out of every available DVD copy (including the display
copy), generating a great amount of proceeds for the orphanage. Our
next
DVD run will be three times as large to fulfill the current demand.

The quote of the day was "and by the way, give me an extra DVD for my friend, too"!

To our delight, Jewel In The Jungle is expected to become a permanent staple of fundraising efforts. Additionally, independent screenings are being held to increase awareness and donations. Furthermore, we are researching the requirements of all film festivals and will submit ours for selection to any and all that are applicable.

After an intense, all-day/all-night marathon weekend the video for Jewel In The Jungle is locked!

So this competes one major phase of post-production that we’ve been working on since Aug. Next up is locking the Audio. Then they’re both combined, we add art, and produce the DVDs.

Screening Update: The premiere will be on New Year’s Eve at Mt Madonna.

A special thanks to Stuart Little for his support and, um, licking.

The trailer can be viewed at Dace’s website.

My cousin Allyson is volunteering in Swaziland at an orphanage project for street kids in the small , centrally located city of Manzini. Her recent blog post on the needs of an orphan rang very true to the nature of needs that are provided to the orphans profiled in the orphanage documentary I am editing now (See trailer).

"…nutrition, sanitation, psychological and social issues, behavioral
problems, proper adult role models, the quality of education that our
children are receiving, encouraging our children to maintain a positive
relationship with their family members, and general day to day care…"

Allyson is correct, this is a quite daunting list for an organization to provide to developing children, and especially difficult in a develop nation. Most importantly, these needs must be met on a regular and consistent basis through a child’s adolescence, at the very least. But it is possible, provided the right elements and people are brought together, and held together, by a powerful enough force.

For twenty years now, the SRA Orphanage has provided those exact needs to their 60+ orphans under their care. The yoga group I have been a part of my whole life has funded this orphanage outside of Haridwar, in Northern India, through private donations and their self-generated revenue through yoga related education and retreats, and similar services.

At the moment, we’re in post-production of a documentary that will profile the daily life, as well as services and impact, that the orphanage has made to their area and population in a very measurable way. (See the "Jewel in the Jungle" trailer here.)

It truly does take a village to raise a child. But in this day and age, others are very fortunate to have their villages complemented by such global citizens committed to change through support.

Go to this website and click on the Jewel In The Jungle link for a preview.

Our editor, Dace, took many images while on his trip to India and they are on display on the same website. Here’s a taste of what to expect: