Rest is an integral component of building resiliency — How do you think about this in regard to your advocacy work?
Rest can be a privilege in challenging times or while advocating for areas of injustice. I like to see rest as a conscious state - it allows the body to be present enough to fully relax while keeping the ego perspective in check. It is definitely easy to burn out, and I feel lucky to have resources like community and practices like mediation to build internal longevity.
How does your lens as an activist inform your role as a director and storyteller?
They were once quite separate but the more I learned about the state of our planet—both the heartbreaking realities and regenerative possibilities—the more my imagination began weaving it into the narratives I was attracted to.
I love how film has the ability to transport the viewer to that perfectly suspended space between the consciousness and subconscious mind. I think in that state you have the power as a storyteller to really disrupt and revolutionize people’s ingrained attitudes.
You spent much of your upbringing by the sea. How has this shaped your relationship to environmental activism?
Yes, I grew up between London and East Sussex on the south coast of England, a stretch of coast that is very different to California. From our house I would watch the tide go out for miles, causing the landscape to change hour by hour.
The perspective of a horizon is my favorite thing to gaze upon, as it anchors me into myself while also constantly reminding me of new possibilities and adventures to be had.
