If you haven’t checked out this powerful project, maybe you should.
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A friend said to me recently, "You just can't stop creating, can you?" And she was correct. With six finished short films under my belt, I thought I might be done, but recently I had another idea and decided to make it happen.
I've been struggling with chronic pain since a car wreck in October 2017, and deal daily with pain, frustration and depression. I have trouble putting into words the depths of the darkness I feel sometimes.
I'm also concurrently in love, deeply in love, with my family (my hubby Gary and my adopted cat Beau), and often feel very limited in what the words "I love you" can convey. So... I've been exploring other ways to communicate - with myself and with others - and challenging myself to listen more closely to those around me to see if I can "hear" things they emote, but can't quite form the words for.
The idea for We Can Hear You was to provide a group of "friends" with a sacred space and some bright colored body paints to "express" something they have had trouble putting into words. Being a filmmaker, I knew this could create an opportunity for stunning visuals that might inspire others as well.
So, I asked my dear friend (and little sister) from New Orleans, Nicole Lovince, to help me produce this project and we were able to convince some very courageous people to contribute. We shot in the very warm attic of the beautiful historic Women's City Club of Pasadena (where I'm a proud member) and were amazed at how the embracing spirit of the Club, the heat of the attic and the passion of our participants created an almost spiritual sweat lodge experience for all of us.
We are creating a beauty piece from the first live event, but are pitching to find sponsorship to continue with a series of live events targeting LGBTQ youth, culminating with a documentary created from real-life participant stories and an online platform that encourages global participation. If you know someone who can help us reach out goal, please let us know.
A big THANK YOU to our contributing "artists" - Elisabeth Fenning (IG: @lizfenningactorperson), Marquest Blalark (IG: @HollywoodQuest), Jeff Gold (IG: @jeffgoldmx) and Mitch Salem.
Sincerely, Shanna Forrestall