tag:www.kickstarter.com,2008-10-09:/projects/1481637384/mondo-banana/postsKickstarter: MONDO BANANA2014-05-07T12:47:13-04:00tag:www.kickstarter.com,2008-10-09:FreeformPost/8360392014-05-07T13:12:13-04:002014-10-06T00:44:09-04:00"Mondo Banana" wins award for originality at Cinema Planeta and other film festival news<p>In April 2014, "Mondo Banana" was honored with the award for Most Original Treatment of an Environmental Theme at Cinema Planeta - the International Environmental Film Festival of Mexico. Director Ryan White was a guest of the festival and was thrilled to accept the award in person in Cuernavaca, Morelos. </p><p>Since "Mondo Banana" premiered at the 30th Bogota International Film Festival last October, the documentary has been screening at international film festivals in North and South America and in Europe, including the Innsbruck Nature Film Festival (Oct . 2013), ATLANTIDOC International Documentary Film Festival of Uruguay (Dec. 2013), FIFEQ International Ethnographic Film Festival of Quebec (March 2014), Queens World Film Festival (March 2014), Cinema Planeta (April 2014), and Festival Internacional de Cine Pobre (May 2014).<br><br>Next up, the banana documentary heads to the San Francisco Green Film Festival where it will screen at San Francisco's historic Roxie Theater at 9pm on Friday, May 30. Following the screening of "Mondo Banana", the UC Berkeley Student Environmental Resource Center (SERC)
will host a "Let's Go Bananas" celebration and event. Tickets are on
sale now. Check out the SF Green Film Fest website for more info and
to download the full 2014 schedule:<br><a href="http://sfgreenfilmfest.org/" target="_blank">http://sfgreenfilmfest.org/</a></p><p>Stay up to date with more "Mondo Banana" news on Facebook! <a href="http://www.facebook.com/bananamovie" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/bananamovie</a></p><div class="template asset" contenteditable="false" data-alt-text='"Mondo Banana" director Ryan White at Cinema Planeta 2014 after accepting the award for Most Original Treatment of an Environmental Theme.' data-caption='"Mondo Banana" director Ryan White at Cinema Planeta 2014 after accepting the award for Most Original Treatment of an Environmental Theme.' data-id="1978655">
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<img alt='"Mondo Banana" director Ryan White at Cinema Planeta 2014 after accepting the award for Most Original Treatment of an Environmental Theme.' class="fit" src="https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/001/978/655/215ef90c9869f81e8dd209c891126e7c_original.JPG?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&w=700&fit=max&v=1399482137&gif-q=50&q=92&s=e7d5fb5814c62c902d20a78c9c3c7935">
<figcaption class="px2">"Mondo Banana" director Ryan White at Cinema Planeta 2014 after accepting the award for Most Original Treatment of an Environmental Theme.</figcaption>
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tag:www.kickstarter.com,2008-10-09:FreeformPost/5918572013-09-06T21:40:54-04:002013-09-06T21:40:54-04:00Big news for "Mondo Banana"<p>"Mondo Banana" will have it's world premiere as an Official Selection of the 30th Festival de Cine de Bogotá!! The documentary will screen in the Environmental Documentary section of the 2013 festival which takes place October 16-24 in Bogotá, Colombia. Stay tuned for more details about the screening...</p><p>Also known as the Bogotá Film Festival, the festival is recognized by the International
Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) as a world wide
festival specialized in new directors' feature films. For more info on the 30th edition of the festival visit: <a href="http://bogocine.com" target="_blank">bogocine.com</a></p><p>Thank you to everyone who supported the film on Kickstarter!!!! "Mondo Banana" couldn't have done it without you!</p><p>P.S. If you haven't already, don't forget to "like" the film on Facebook - updates are a bit more frequent there! <a href="http://www.facebook.com/bananamovie" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/bananamovie</a></p>tag:www.kickstarter.com,2008-10-09:FreeformPost/3023602012-09-05T13:16:30-04:002012-09-05T13:16:31-04:00Mondo Banana Post-Production, Website & Poster<p>Every day MONDO BANANA gets closer to completion! Now that the editing phase is over, the project has been in the hands of other post-production technicians. Since June, audio engineers have been working on mixing and mastering the soundtrack. This is one of the very last steps of post-production, which is now officially finished! During the month of September, we'll be working with specialists on the color grading and online finishing of the documentary. Once that is accomplished, the film will truly be completed. Submitting to film festivals is already underway, so please keep your fingers crossed - and stay tuned...<br><br>To keep up to date and learn more about what's going on with the documentary, check out the (revamped) website: <a href="http://bananamovie.com/" target="_blank">http://bananamovie.com/</a><br>Please don't forget to 'like' MONDO BANANA on Facebook (another great way to stay updated about the project) and tell your friends about it: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/bananamovie" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/bananamovie</a><br>And lastly, here's a new MONDO BANANA poster:</p>tag:www.kickstarter.com,2008-10-09:FreeformPost/2702352012-07-18T20:24:10-04:002012-07-18T20:24:10-04:00New MONDO BANANA teaser clip<p>Here's the new MONDO BANANA teaser clip. Enjoy! And, please feel free to pass it on.......</p><div class="template oembed" contenteditable="false" data-href="https://vimeo.com/46002081">
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/46002081?app_id=122963" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write" title="Mondo Banana"></iframe>
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tag:www.kickstarter.com,2008-10-09:FreeformPost/2457572012-06-12T20:08:42-04:002012-06-12T20:08:43-04:00Getting there!<p>Nearly one year later and MONDO BANANA is more or less a completed film! Since you last heard from me, I've been editing away. Over the past few weeks, I've finalized the edit and I now officially have a "fine-cut" of the banana documentary. This means that while there could still be a few very minor trimmings and adjustments to the film, structurally the film is completed. Whew!</p><p>Of course, this doesn't by any means indicate that the film is truly finished. There's a slew of post-production activities that still need to happen - sound mixing, color grading, online editing, marketing, festival submissions, etc........ BUT, it is a huge step forward and an enormous relief to be moving on to the next stage! </p><p>This is a really exciting time for the film because the end of the filmmaking process is in sight, and soon MONDO BANANA will be released upon the world! While working with sound and visual technicians to truly polish the documentary and prepare it for release, I will also be sending the film off to secure a premiere at one of the world's top film festivals. Please keep your fingers crossed and stay tuned!!!</p>tag:www.kickstarter.com,2008-10-09:FreeformPost/1699742012-02-03T11:30:12-05:002012-02-03T11:31:01-05:00Banana Post-Production<p>It’s been nearly four months since the shoot in Indonesia
and I’m long overdue for an update!!
I’m deep into the editing and post-production phase of MONDO BANANA and
the project is headed towards completion.</p>
<p>Generally, post-production isn’t nearly as exciting as
filming in the field – “I logged 6 hours of footage” or “I’ve re-edited that
interview for the third time” don’t have quite the same ring as “I went to
rural China and filmed a rare cultural festival with bananas!” Thus, the recent absence of Kickstarter
updates. But, over the past four months, MONDO BANANA has been coming together.
Editing is always a slow-moving process, and with around 80 hours of banana
footage shot over a two-year period that needs to be edited into a cohesive 70 minutes,
I’ve definitely had my work cut out for me.</p><p>At this stage, MONDO BANANA is a few weeks away from having
a completed rough-cut. Completing a first-cut is always one of the biggest
accomplishments of documentary post-production, because at that point there’s a
full-length “draft” of the film. From there, the next steps are to finesse, tighten,
and do a little re-organizing and when everything is perfect you can “lock
picture”. Once you have picture-lock, it’s time to move on to the final stages
of finishing the film (sound-mixing, color-grading, etc.). Unfortunately, none
of these are speedy processes – especially for an independent film – BUT, everything
is on schedule and the documentary is moving along!</p>
<p>In a few weeks, when the rough-cut is finished, I’ll be
posting some teaser clips from the film on Kickstarter, so please stay tuned!</p>tag:www.kickstarter.com,2008-10-09:FreeformPost/1302762011-10-18T02:00:46-04:002011-10-18T02:00:46-04:00The Hunt for Wild Bananas in Sumatra<p>I'm back from the final MONDO BANANA shoots with Finnish banana taxonomist Markku Häkkinen in Malaysia and Indonesia. It was a fantastic nine days of exploration and discovery, and I got excellent footage for the documentary. <br><br>A week ago Sunday, I met up with Markku in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. We hadn't seen each other for over a year, and to get re-acquainted we decided to take a trip to the KL Bird Park - the world's largest free-flight aviary, which is located downtown and proudly displays photos from Martha Stewart's recent visit. Now don't get me wrong, this wasn't just a Sunday trip to the 'zoo' for us - Markku had a specific purpose for choosing this location. Wild banana species are often grown as ornamental plants in Southeast Asian gardens and parks, and their seeds are spread by the urban birds, squirrels, and monkeys that munch on their fruit. So, while hordes of children gawked at the flamingos and families took advantage of photo ops with parrots, Markku and I were wandering off the trails examining the park's banana plants. At times, this caused some confusion for the park's other visitors who would follow after us assuming that we had spotted an unusual bird, only to find us with our noses in a banana flower!<br><br>While Markku's past 14 expeditions to Asia have been focused on finding and describing new species of wild banana, for this, his 15th trip he had a different agenda. His current project is the huge undertaking of preparing a banana 'monograph' - a collection of color photos and descriptions of all the known wild banana species, which will be used by international researchers to identify the various wild banana plants that they might come across. Markku estimates that the book will be about 350 pages, with many of the images coming from his private collection of over 10,000 banana photographs...</p><p>One of the major gaps in Markku's banana research has been the volcanic Indonesian island of Sumatra, a lush paradise home to some of the planet's most fascinating biodiversity and a tubular hotspot for surfers. We knew that on Sumatra were two species of banana that Markku had not previously seen growing in the wild, and also some that are "unknown" (they have yet to be scientifically named). With camera gear in tow, Markku and I flew to the coastal city of Padang in West Sumatra, where we were met by a driver and a local banana researcher Fitriana Nasution from the Indonesian Tropical Fruit Research Institute.<br><br>Our first destination was a mountain waterfall where an unknown species of wild banana had been spotted, located 8 hours from Padang along a maze of two-lane roads that twisted through the island's highlands and rural villages. Muslim calls to prayer and car horns echoed through the verdant valleys as we zoomed past small-town mosques and swerved around slow-moving trucks on blind curves. It's a really good thing that nobody in the car was prone to motion-sickness!<br><br>Bananas are known as a 'pioneer species', which means that they are one of the first plants to pop up when a forest area has been cleared away - naturally or by man. They grow up very quickly and provide the necessary shade and shelter for seedlings of other plant species, playing an integral role in the regeneration of forests. Because of this, wild bananas are quite commonly found growing along roadsides where the forest has been cleared. Thus, on the drive to the waterfall, our careening automobile often braked violently at the common shout of: "STOP THE CAR!!! There's a wild banana!" We'd then dodge traffic, climb up eroded slopes, or slide into ravines to inspect and photograph an opportunistic banana that had sprouted. On a few of these impromptu pit-stops, Markku and Fitriana were surprised to discover that they were quite possibly gazing upon a <b><i>new</i></b> unknown banana species or subspecies...<br><br>In Sumatra, the local name for almost all wild banana plants is simply "monkey banana", because monkeys are one of the few creatures with teeth and digestive tracts strong enough to handle the large, rock-hard seeds found in the wild fruits. They then disperse those seeds as they scramble throughout the forest canopy and along roadsides, helping the banana seeds to find new homes elsewhere on the island.<br><br>One day, as we were tromping along a riverside trail looking out for the gorgeous purple flowers and fruit of a native banana plant, Fitriana informed me that the locals called this the "Pisang Jin". In Indonesian, "pisang" means banana and "jin" means ghost. The name apparently came from the fact that this banana species is used in local black magic practices. I was curious, but Fitriana didn't know any more. We moved on, and although the banana plants were plentiful both Markku and Fitriana expressed surprise that no male flowers could be found on any of the plants - they only saw the fruit and female flowers. We found the same at another location where the species was also growing: only female flowers and fruits, no male buds. Strange.... Then, we ran into a local man working in the woods. Knowing that I was eager to know more about the "Pisang Jin", Fitriana asked the man about the origin of the name. Despite a belief in Islam, native beliefs and superstitions still run high in the rural areas of Indonesia, and soon the man revealed the mystery of the 'ghost banana' and the missing male flowers.<br><br>After six jam-packed days of hunting for wild bananas in Sumatra, I said goodbye to Markku as he headed off to the famous old-world botanic gardens in Bogor, Java to continue gathering photographs for his monograph. And, I went back to Kuala Lumpur for a day and half - where I was able to have a chat with Malaysian bat expert Dr. Christine Fletcher about the interlinked relationships that exist between fruit bats and Southeast Asian bananas.<br><br>And with that, the MONDO BANANA documentary is "in the can"!!!! An enormous THANK YOU to everyone who has helped to make this happen!! I honestly could not have done this alone and I'm absolutely honored to have your support.<br><br>Now, I'm gearing up to go to Guerneville, California where I'll be spending the winter months holed up in a cottage alongside the Russian River editing MONDO BANANA. Stay tuned for more updates and possibly some teaser clips...<br><br>Photos are as follows:<br>1. Markku Häkkinen and Fitriana Nasution look for wild bananas in West Sumatra<br>2. Markku scours a hillside for unknown species of banana<br>3. Taking photos of wild bananas for the monograph<br>4. The male bud and unripe fruit of a wild banana native to Sumatra, Indonesia<br>5. The purple fruits of the "Pisang Jin" peek out. The flower and fruit grow "erect" (they stick straight up). Note that the male bud has been cut off.<br>6. Sunset on Singkarak Lake - a huge, volcanic caldera lake in West Sumatra</p>tag:www.kickstarter.com,2008-10-09:FreeformPost/1266142011-10-07T01:31:50-04:002011-10-07T01:31:50-04:00SUMATRA: The Final Banana Shoot<p>On Saturday, I'm off to meet Markku Häkkinen (a.k.a. "Captain Banana") for the final MONDO BANANA shoot. Markku is a former sea captain from Finland, who has become one of the world's leading experts on wild bananas. Throughout 20 years of exploring the jungles of Asia (the origin of all bananas), Markku has made
some incredible discoveries about wild bananas, some of which hold major scientific and agricultural significance. A banana-killing fungus currently threatens to wipe out the world's commercial banana crops, but most scientists agree that the wild cousins of the common banana may hold the key to disease resistance and sustainability for bananas across the globe.<br><br>Markku has just arrived in Southeast Asia for his next research mission. I'll be meeting up with him in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and then following him to the Indonesian island of Sumatra to study little-known species of wild bananas with local botanists. Sumatra is a relatively new area for banana research and the wild species still hold many secrets.....</p><p>Another update will be coming soon.<br><br>Photos:<br>1. A wild banana plant growing in the forest - Southern Thailand<br>2. Wild banana plants (right) growing by a waterfall - Southern Thailand</p>tag:www.kickstarter.com,2008-10-09:FreeformPost/1198582011-09-17T02:54:54-04:002011-09-17T02:54:55-04:00Bananas in China!<p>I returned to Bangkok very late last night after 9 days of filming in southern China... Although shooting in China certainly presented some challenges, I was luckily working with my good friend and MONDO BANANA's Chinese Associate Producer, Yixuan Wu, and together we gathered some fantastic footage for the banana documentary!</p><p>We started out in Nanning, the capital of Guangxi Province, where we met up with a local researcher and expert on the Zhuang - the largest ethnic minority group in the region. In traditional Zhuang belief, every human soul begins as a flower in the garden of Miloka, the Creator/Flower Goddess. When a person dies, their soul returns to the garden to become a flower again and they will eventually be reincarnated as a human. But, things aren't so simple for the souls of women who die in childbirth. These souls are essentially lost and can't make it back to Miloka's garden on their own. Banana plants offer the only route for the woman's soul to reach the garden again, but the grieving husband must patiently tend to a banana tree until <i>exactly</i> the right moment..... Of course, you'll find out the whole story, when this tale is brought to life in MONDO BANANA!<br><br>Also in Nanning, we met with "Auntie" Guo, a former pharmacist and expert on traditional Chinese medicine. Not only did she reveal some common medicinal uses for bananas, but she even revealed some handy house-hold cleaning tips using banana peels!</p><p>Then came the real kicker, our journey to Le Min town in Pubei County - the banana capital of China. Le Min is the only place in the country (and the world) where the annual Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated with a banana-leaf dragon dancing ceremony. Mid-Autumn is one of the biggest and most important holidays in China, held on the night of the largest full moon of the year. In traditional belief, Le Min is the territory of the hungry White Tiger who can only be defeated by a Green Dragon. So for centuries, to help bring prosperity to the town on this important festival, the people of Le Min have constructed enormous Green Dragons from the abundant greenery of the local banana crops. Ornate dragon heads attached with banana-leaf bodies reaching lengths of 100 meters (approx 328 feet) and lit by rows of bamboo oil lamps are made by the residents of each of the town's major streets (East St, West St, South St, and North St). At dusk, when the full moon rises, hundreds of townspeople lift their banana-leaf dragons, smoke from thousands of firecrackers fills the air, and the crowded streets of Le Min explode into a frenzied dance of the Green Dragons, until it's time to make the final sacrifice.......</p><p>This was hands-down one of <i>the most incredible</i> events I have ever been lucky enough to observe and I'm VERY excited about my footage!! Lengthy interviews with the Le Min town historian and other "old-timers" filled us in on the details of the banana-leaf dragon dance. </p><p>On a closing note, the unexpected presence of a lanky American filmmaker apparently added to the uniqueness of this year's event. I was constantly surrounded by at least 20 children at any given time, was interviewed by multiple local TV crews, and found myself downing an entire bowl (not a glass) of the local rice-wine in a toast with the Governor of Pubei County!!!</p><p><b>The photos below are as follows:</b><br>1. Nanning, capital of Guangxi Province<br>2. Decorating a dragon-head in Le Min town<br>3. Townspeople tie banana-leaves together to make the dragon's body<br>4. Attaching the banana-leaf body to the dragon-head<br>5. Placing incense sticks along the length of the dragon's body<br>6. A dragon dances through the firecracker smoke on Mid-Autumn night</p>tag:www.kickstarter.com,2008-10-09:FreeformPost/1156532011-09-05T01:54:42-04:002011-09-05T01:54:42-04:00Shadow-puppets & other banana adventures in Nakhon Sri Thammarat<p>I arrived back in Bangkok at 4am this morning after a fantastic weekend of filming in Nakhon Sri Thammarat. Aside from being slightly "worked-over" from taking two 12-hour bus rides in a span of three days, I'm really excited by the footage from southern Thailand!<br><br>Upon arriving in Nakhon Sri Thammarat at daybreak on Saturday, I went to the home of Mr. Tawee Kongburee. Southern Thailand is famous for it's traditional folk-art of shadow-puppet plays, and Mr. Tawee's family has been in the business of shadow-puppetry for the past 500 years!!! For the MONDO BANANA documentary, Tawee specially made a series of shadow-puppets that represent the characters and settings of a banana-folktale about two greedy monkeys who find themselves in a "prickly" situation when they refuse to share bananas with a turtle. A shadow-play was then staged for the cameras by Mr. Tawee's grandson, Joey, to bring this banana-story to life for the documentary.<br><br>Usually, shadow-plays are performed by only one puppeteer - even when there are 30 or more puppets to coordinate. Thus, before every show, a banana-tree must be cut down so that its soft trunk can be used for holding certain shadow-puppets stationary while the puppeteer operates the "active" characters. (see photo #3 below)</p><p>Half-way through the shoots with the shadow-puppets, we realized that a critical puppet was missing: the banana-peel. But, within 10 minutes, Mr. Tawee had carved the puppet, his son-in-law had painted and mounted it, and the filming could continue!!<br><br>We did a number of re-shoots with the shadow-play and by the end we'd worked up quite an appetite. Luckily, Mr. Tawee's daughter was preparing a local delicacy - mild banana-trunk curry in coconut milk. After she demonstrated the cooking process and shared her recipe, which calls for the banana-stem as the primary vegetable, everyone sat down to enjoy this and many other delicious home-cooked dishes. As we ate, it was brought to my attention that only the stem of a wild banana species (that produces inedible fruit) from the local forests are tender enough to be used in the curry... So, the next day, another of Tawee's grandchildren rode me into the forest on his motorbike to find the wild banana species...<br><br>Next up - China!<br><i><br>The photos below are as follows:</i><br> 1. A small fishing boat in Nakhon Sri Thammarat province<br>2. Mr. Tawee making a banana-peel shadow-puppet<br>3. Back-stage with Joey & the MONDO BANANA shadow-puppets (note the banana trunk holding some puppets in place)<br>4. Banana-stem curry in coconut milk, a local delicacy<br>5. A grove of wild banana plants growing alongside a river</p>