originally posted on monday9am.tv during a film assignment in Guatemala in May 2007.

I am not entirely sure what is happening right now.

I know that I am sitting in Guatemala having been flown in to capture the essence of a presidential candidate, a man whose bravery & integrity are well placed to change not only the face of politics in his country but also the experience of life. Perhaps the effects will be felt far far wider. Perhaps Guatemala will once again be a pivotal piece in world history.

But that isn’t ‘it’.

I know I walked in to the political party HQ on Monday morning, at 9 on the dot actually, and I witnessed a change of heart and willingness to tell the truth rather than repeat the words expected to capture the electorate.

That isn’t ‘it’.

I know that it is highly likely that I will be back in Guatemala soon on a project to capture the soul of the entire country in a short film.

That isn’t ‘it’ either.

I have appeared on television talking about & showing monday9am films, am to be featured in the Sunday newspapers and am to screen films in an ancient ruin.

These are just some of the details, they are not what is really happening. Of that I’m sure.

I know that short of deciding where to spend my first night here, nothing has been planned but everything has happened. It is as if I have no say, almost as if I am not even here.

Perhaps that is closer, but I’m not sure if that is ‘it’ either.

I am sure that life just became clearer yet more mysterious. And I am sure that I can live with such an absurd paradox without the need for explanation.

The ability to describe what is going on will most probably remain elusive to me but nonetheless, it is happening.

this introduction was written in September 2007.

Earlier in 2007 I took an instinctive decision to accept an invitation to talk to a group in the States I had never heard of. It turned out to be MIT in Boston. They seem to be quite well known. I had no idea.

From this encounter, an invitation presented itself to film the Guatemalan Presidential candidate Alejandro Giammattei (see the short film ‘the strawberry hill‘). I accepted. A ‘politician’ acting from somewhere very different.

A few days into this assignment, it struck me that I could capture the soul of this country on film. Read more