A VERY CONFLICTED JULY 4th MESSAGE

On this July 4th, I find myself very conflicted. Conflicted by the current state of America and indeed issues taking place in the rest of our world.

I am British by birth and American by passport. I am a citizen of the world who is fortunate to have had very dynamic international experiences. I have lived in England, America, Germany, Singapore, Mexico and the UAE. It is this background and perspective that has me shaking my head with disappointment as to the current state of the 50 states that make up the United States of America. I am very concerned by the division and fragmentation taking place in the US.

Growing up in Leeds, England, from a very early age, I was exposed to the diverse technicolor beauty that was America from wonderful stories told to me by my aunt Marjorie. These stories, and of course, American movies and music from the 80's, shaped my youth, showed me a diverse, dynamic landscape, and exposed me to stories that were the reason for my wanting to move to America from a very young age.

I now have three children born in America, and several years ago, I became a US citizen. Alas, at the time of me becoming a US citizen, the country was very fragmented and heading headlong into all that occurred in the lead-up to and indeed on January 6th. With all that has recently gone on, and all the challenges on the horizon, all I can hope for this 4th of July is for patience, compassion, love and level-headed leadership for a country that currently seems very broken.

WORLD UFO DAY 2022

From The Battle of Los Angeles to Kenneth Arnold, Roswell, Aztec, McMinville, Milton Torres, Betty and Barney Hill, Westall, Travis Walton, Rendelsham-Woodbridge, the Ariel School and every other incident and event that has taken place around the world, we are indeed living in strange times. It is clear that something significant is taking place on our planet, something that governments of the world are finally starting to talk about. I wonder where the recent Pentagon Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) UAP report will take us?

On this auspicious day, I highly recommend watching director James Fox’s explosive documentary, “The Phenomenon.” This new documentary is being hailed as the most credible examination of the longstanding cover-up and global mystery involving unidentified aerial phenomenon.

Watch The Phenomenon ow: https://geni.us/ThePhenomenon

In addition, recent podcasts by the likes of Luis Elizondo, Christopher Mellon, Ross Coulthart, Garry P. Nolan, Diana Pasulka and many more shine a much needed, serious light on this strange phenomenon taking place on planet earth. For something less serious, one could always follow the daily drama on #UFOTwitter.

TRAVELLING WITHOUT MOVING

Maybe this post would be better if titled one thousand eighteen days? It has been that long since I last travelled by plane. Then it was a hop skip and a couple of jumps from Cincinnati to Atlanta to Paris and finally arriving in Dubai. Then it was a flight by myself; today, it was all five of us travelling from Dubai to Barcelona and then on to Mexico City.

Due to the impact of COVID on the world and how so many people are simply no longer following the rules, I was pretty worried about these long flights. I was equally worried as our first flight did not leave Dubai until 3 am. Having a ten-year-old and five-year-old twins, well, this is not an ideal time to start any journey. I must admit I was quite surprised to find that at no point in our journey were we asked to show any documentation as to our vaccination status or indeed if we were positive for Covid via the Alhosen App used in Dubai. We are vaccinated and boosted and had all digital paperwork at the ready for the trip. To be honest, the whole document requirements required for this was a stressor for me and something that I simply should not have worried about as it did not come-up at all during our travels. I know the world is trying to find it’s way back to normal (is that possible?) but the lack of checking of our documents was quite the shock, especially as positive Covid numbers are on the increase in the UAE. Maybe people have given up? Maybe people have gotten lazy in regard to mask-wearing and social distancing? Maybe people just want their lives back?

Thankfully, for the most part, the boys slept on the seven-hour flight from Dubai to Barcelona, and 99% of the passengers were masked for the flight. After a quick hour where we deplaned while they swapped out crew and scrubbed the plane clean, we were off for our eleven-hour flight from Barcelona to Mexico City. While it has been so long since any of us travelled this far by plane, the boys did a fantastic job yet again to get through eleven hours of sitting still while travelling at hundreds of miles an hour, thirty-five thousand feet in the air.

And so, here we are in Mexico City for the summer, currently suffering from Jet Flag*.

*noun: jet flag

the feeling of tiredness and confusion that toddlers and grown-ups alike experience after making ridiculously long trips by plane to a place where the time is different from the place they left. This unique phrase was invented by a very confused 4-year old Mateo after one too many time zone changes.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

For the past 3 years, I have been the lead creative for ZUMEFF, developing the brand direction and all digital marketing collateral including the official ZUMEFF website, all social media and video content. I am thrilled to announce that I will be doing the same for this, the 12th Annual Zayed University Middle East Film Festival that will take place from 22 – 24 November, 2022.

Submissions for #ZUMEFF2022 are open from 8 June until 1 July 2022.

AWARDS

- Best Documentary
- Best Fiction
- Best Animation
- twofour54 Creative Lab Emerging Filmmaker Award

NEW AWARDS FOR 2022

- Mobile Filmmaking
- Drone Filmmaking
- Middle East Filmmaker

Submissions will be accepted from international and Middle Eastern/Gulf Region students, and can be made via FilmFreeway.

#ZUMEFF2022 #TheFutureofFilm