Dominic Piacentini
A&E Editor
Director Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee is visiting Wooster this coming Wednesday for a viewing of his newest documentary, Elemental. The film focuses the forces that drive people to protect the nature around them. It takes the perspective of three individuals overcoming different environmental challenges around the world. Elemental has won the Best Global Message award in the Feature Film Category of the Jaipur International Film Festival, as well as awards for its editing and videography.
Vaughan-Lee believes that human characteristics of film are very important to the movement for a cleaner and more sustainable environment.
“So many current environmental documentaries focus on the issues only, leaving out the human component. We wanted to do something different and tell a story about our relationship to the natural world through very personal and emotional stories.” Vaughan-Lee went on to explain that, “Through their lives, their struggles and victories, we experience firsthand what life is like for those at the front lines of the environmental movement. The issues are always there in the background, but it’s our characters’ emotional journeys that form the narrative we follow in the film.”
“The goal for Elemental was to raise some deep philosophical questions about what it means to relate to nature. I hope that students walk away from the film with a fresh perspective on how they view the natural world and what it means to them. What they do with that perspective will no doubt be as varied as the characters in the film.” Vaughan-Lee hopes that Wooster students will tell stories of their varied experiences and understandings in all sectors of their lives to impact serious environmental change.
Vaughan-Lee began as a musician, engaging in the narrative components of the songs he wrote. When he transitioned to film, he realized he could explore all of his narrative through story. He wrote the musical score for Elemental. The New York Times complimented Vaughan-Lee’s musical score saying, “this sensitively scored film complicates the typical missionary’s-progress arc by acknowledging its would-be heroes’ weaknesses and the day-to-day obstacles to doing good.”
Two storytelling workshops will be led by Vaughan-Lee on Wednesday Feb. 5 at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. The workshops will focus on how storytelling is an important method of engaging people in sustainability. In the workshops, Vaughan-Lee will show some other short films, illustrating emotional interaction between humans and their environment. The 1 p.m. workshop will be held in Lowry 119, and the 4 p.m. one in Mateer G01. To RSVP for these workshops you should contact Wooster’s Sustainability Coordinator, Sb Loder, at SLoder@wooster.edu.
The viewing of Elemental will take place in Mateer Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday Feb. 5. This viewing is open to everyone and does not require an RSVP. Following the film, Vaughan-Lee will be present for a question and answer session. There will also be a reception after the event. Loder believes this multidisciplinary event will appeal to the wide student population.
“This film and the workshops bring together so many different issues (social, religious, political, cultural, environmental) in a personal and relatable way; it seemed to fit the way individuals at Wooster embrace complex identities and the way we learn to investigate issues from multiple perspectives,” said Loder.