Phil Valverde sings to his Gibraltar

I filmed Phil Valverde singing this song in March 2011 for "People of the Rock," and this refrain has been stuck in my head ever since:

"Gibraltar, my Gibraltar
Keep your nose clean
From the North side of the border"

He's singing about the period from 1969-1985 when Spain closed the border with Gibraltar as an act of political aggression. In his full interview, Philip discusses how visitors to Gib flew to Tangier and took a boat across the strait to the Rock. Animosity towards Spain flourished and the people of Gibraltar became a very close-knit community.



The film is coming along well. I've recently been invited to attend and film the United Nations Committee of 24 meetings on non-self-governing territories this June in New York. That segment will cover something that a number of people have discussed in their interviews, but showing is so much more powerful than telling in film. The short story is that Fabian Picardo (recently-elected Chief Minister of Gibraltar) will represent Gibraltar before the UN in an attempt to have Gibraltar removed from the UN list of non-self-governing territories (ie, colonies). Spain and the UK will speak as well, and history suggests that sparks will fly.

Follow the Facebook page for more frequent updates!

Extended Interview: Fabian Picardo

I want to provide longer, more complete interviews for viewers to explore after they have finished watching the film. Most of those interviewed will have an extended clip available online, similar to Andrew Rosindell.

This is one such extended interview with Fabian Picardo, member of the Gibraltar Socialist Labor Party. Segments of this interview will certainly appear scattered throughout the soon-to-be-completed film, but some viewers will want to learn more about the topics he addresses and would like to hear more context surrounding the more brief segments that make their way into the narrative.



Gibraltarian Identity & British Identity: 0:00
Gibraltarian views on Spaniards: 1:47
Decolonising Gibraltar: 3:03
Ceuta & Melilla: 6:14
Gibraltar's future: 9:02

For more frequent updates visit www.facebook.com/peopleoftherock.

In Gibraltar, Politics is Football

Allen Bula of the Gibraltar Football Association discusses how international politics spills into football, especially when Spain and Gibraltar are concerned.

Adrian Pisarello sings to Gibraltar's resilience

This song was written about the joint-sovereignty talks of leading up to the 2002 referendum, when Spain and the UK were discussing joint-ownership of Gibraltar. The people of Gibraltar vehemently opposed the altered sovereignty status. In a crucial act of political self-determination, the 7 November 2002 referendum rejected the notion that other countries could decide the sovereignty of Gibraltar without the consent of its people.



Adrian Pisarello is a bard of Gibraltar, singing the stories and struggles of his people and entertaining along the way. His music will be featured heavily throughout this film, along with two other Gibraltarian musicians.

Quick previews from Gibraltar

I've been running around Gibraltar, meeting people, making phone calls and filming like crazy. I won't be editing most of this footage until I'm back in Seattle, but I wanted to share a few updates from my first day of filming. Things are coming along well but I still have a lot to do while here so I'll be spending less time editing and more time filming!



And here are just a few more clips!

Andrew Rosindell MP discusses Gibraltar

Here's an interview with Andrew Rosindell MP that took place a few days ago in London. Mr Rosindell has represented Gibraltar's interests before the House of Commons in the past, and was eager to discuss the trade and human rights implications of Spain's insistance that the Rock is theirs.

This is a nearly full-length interview, not color-corrected or with processed audio (it will all be cleaned up for the film), just for those who I know will want to see the whole commentary.

Fundraising effort

Donate even $1 through the Kickstarter campaign and your name will be featured in the movie credits! $30 will get you a download of the final film in HD and $500 earns an Executive Producer credit in the film. Here's my favorite: if anyone will donate $1200, I'll buy you an iPad, load the final film on it, and deliver it to you.

Expanding The Film

Since making this short film in 2008-2009, I have been flooded with requests to return to Gibraltar and expand the scope of the film to include members of the Gibraltar GSD party, Gibraltarian musicians, culinary artists and athletes. I will return to Gibraltar during the first two weeks of March 2011 to finish filming. That trip will be funded out-of-pocket but I hope that this campaign will help recover some of the expenses.

An estimated 750-1000 hours have been invested in the research and development of this film, along with roughly $10,000 in travel expenses, rentals and expendables. My goal is to raise $1,500 to pay for the off-season flight to Gibraltar and cover a few lodging expenses while there. Any additional donations will go directly to film festival submissions and post-production costs related to this film.

The original film was shot on a standard-definition TV-grade DV camera in 2008. Since then, HD television and movies have become standard. All new footage is being filmed at 1080p on Canon HDSLR cameras. The old footage has been upscaled to 720p HD using industry-standard conversion techniques and will be intercut with the new 1080p footage filmed in 2011. The final film will be mastered at 720p to avoid excessive upscaling of the original standard-definition footage.

Sharing Gibraltar's Story With The World

Once the film is completed, it will be submitted to film festivals across the world, especially festivals known for documentary films and for dealing with political and social issues. Whenever possible, I will attend these showings to hold discussions and help raise awareness of Gibraltar's political plight. Any surplus funds raised with Kickstarter will go towards film festival submission fees (often around $100 per festival) and travel costs to represent the film.

Detailed updates will be sent to all of the film's supporters. Some updates, photos and video clips will also be available on the film's Facebook page. Large announcements will also be made on this blog.

Thank you for making this film happen!!!