THE FOLLOW UP
A documentary film exploring the notion of real human experiences and the passage of time.
BY MAGGIE PADLEWSKA
[ON HOLD]
Because the past has the power to help inform and inspire our future...
PREMISE
In 2009, I set off on a solo mission to document the stories, concerns and warnings of Indigenous communities that the media didn't care about. Today, as the world seeks solutions to its many problems, the global community is beginning to gain interest in traditional and sustainable knowledge and to take notice of the messages being conveyed by the planet's greatest defenders.
CONCEPT
“The Follow Up” is a documentary film and journey that will explore the real impacts of human and environmental neglect through the voices of people and communities that I met with over this past decade. “Updating” their stories will likely reveal and expose the profound impacts of our global human trajectory. Centred around the question “If you had a message for the world, what would it be today?” this film seeks to highlight the consequences of neglect, and the passage of time. .
APPROACH
Told through the combination of my archival footage and what will be documented during my follow-up missions, I aim to gather the answers to a series of simple questions that I believe will leave audiences with much to ponder while exposing the fragility of our natural environment and planet, as well as the ongoing threats against the traditional knowledge and people who ultimately hold the keys to the world's natural survival.
If you had a message for the world today,
what would it be?
PRIMARY LIST of COMMUNITIES BEING REVISITED
WHY NOW?
Few days go by that I don't think and wonder about the communities I met with, those who welcomed me into their homes, shared their stories, observations, views and opinions with me over the past decade. While I struggled to get their stories out as widely as I wished I could, the world was perhaps also not quite ready to listen. Today, I believe there is an opportunity...
As the world becomes increasingly concerned for the state of humanity, global cultures, the natural environment and our planet, I believe that revisiting urgent stories of the past has the potential of contributing greatly to our understanding of our human trajectory today.
- Maggie Padlewska