ISO: Chamorro end credits music

I'm in the online edit now, finishing The Insular Empire with rock star editor/After Effects wizard Mike Addison at Force Four here in Vancouver. But we've run into a snag: my fearless team in the CNMI hasn't been able to track down the rights to the song we'd been planning to run over the end credits of the 58 minute (festival/educational) version.

So... now, in the 11th hour, we’re looking for a new song for the end credits. It has to be sung in Chamorro, and ideally it should be about the Marianas as homeland.

If anyone out there can suggest a song, please email me – and please attach the song (or a link to the song) so I can hear it. And if you know who has the rights to it, please let me know that as well.

Si Yu’us maase!

More fallen soldiers from Guam and CNMI

I've identified three more soldiers killed in the US "war on terror". That brings the total from the Marianas to 26.

Iosiwo Uruo

Derence Jack

JayGee Ngirmidol Meluat

Please notify me ASAP if you know of any others! Thank you.

News from Indian Country - and More Fallen Heroes

Hope Cristobal just pointed me to one of the best articles I have read in a long time about Guam and the US military buildup happening there. Published on a news site called News from Indian Country, and written by journalist Beau Hodai, who has worked for both the Pacific Daily News and the Marianas Variety, the article documents the self-censorship of Guam's corporate-controlled media.

It also documents the heavy burden the Marianas are carrying in America's wars overseas. I'm not convinced that Hodai's numbers are accurate, but according to Hodai, the Marianas now have lost 46 soldiers, giving "Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, with a population of under 300,000, the dubious honor of being the region of the United States with the highest number per capita of such casualties."

I am collecting the names and photos of these fallen soldiers for the film. So far, I have photos of the following 23 soldiers:

Christopher Fernandez

Jose Charfauros, Jr.

Adam Quitugua Emul

Christopher Jude Rivera Wesley

Eddie Chen

Gregory D. Fejeran

John D. Flores

Jesse Castro

Jonathan Pangelinan Santos

Kasper Allen Camacho Dudkiewicz

Leeroy Camacho

Michael Vega

Richard D. Naputi, Jr.

Henry Hank Ofeciar

Victor Fontanilla

Wilgene Lieto

Ferdinand Ibabao

Brian Leon Guerrero

Samson Mora

Tony Carbullido

Christopher Quitugua

Joseph D. Gamboa

Anamarie San Nicolas Camacho

If you are aware of anyone not on this list who should be, please email me [vanessa-at-horsopera.org] immediately. We are locking picture in less than a week!

Double Your Donation - and More Good News

I'm pleased to announce that an anonymous donor has pledged up to $2,000 in matching funds... meaning that right now every dollar you donate to The Insular Empire will automatically be doubled. Yes - doubled! Already we've received a $250 contribution -- meaning there are still $1,750 in matching funds available. So if you've been thinking about donating, but thought you couldn't afford it -- well, now you can just lower the amount to whatever you can afford, and send that in, and it'll automatically  be doubled to something even better. Think of it as a 50% discount!

I'm also pleased to announce that after a nine-hour marathon recording session yesterday, with sound goddess Erica Chard Landrock at the controls and the mellifluous voice of Lesley Ewen on the microphone, all of the narration for the film has been recorded. Professionally. By someone who is WAY more qualified than I am. :)

The Things You Learn on Twitter

I finally decided to devote some time to learning how to use Twitter. (Yes, it's a procrastination tactic - God knows I've got plenty to do - but also, in theory, it's a way to find a bigger audience for The Insular Empire, out there in TwitterLand.) And look what I found: a news report from The Onion about how the recession is forcing the US to 'dip into Guam'.

Do the folks at The Onion know that that's not actually a joke? I mean, how much $$ would the US have to pay for all that military land they're holding, if they were to compensate Guam's rightful land-owners? And what about the millions of $$ that the courts have demanded from Guam because of the landfill debacle? Sounds like a good money-making venture to me...

The good news is there are a bunch of people out there tweeting about Guam and the CNMI. Which is cool. But (not surprisingly) a search for "Marianas" just calls up a bunch of tweets about the Marianas Trench -- a pop-punk band from, of all places, Vancouver. Go figure.

Guam is Crying

There's a really powerful short documentary up on YouTube, made by Chamoru filmmaker Alex Munoz. Check it out!

Guamology Interview

Kel Muna of the cool new website Guamology just published an interview with me, about my motivations for making The Insular Empire and what it's like to be a documentary filmmaker. It's an odd feeling, to be on the other side of the camera (so to speak). But he did kinda make me look good. :)