by
Johan Carlisle
As an investigative journalist, I felt the need to cover political/environmental topics. Most of my stories involved issues of great importance to the Earth. Telling a story is one way of informing people. Making a movie is another way. I suspended my reporting and enrolled in film school, where I learned how to make a story come to life through writing, images, music, and connection. Working with some of the most talented people in the San Francisco Bay Area, I was able to complete my film education, and wait patiently for the right project to show up that could use my skills as a musician, writer, and filmmaker.
As an avid sailor, I enjoyed my spare time sailing the waters of the San Francisco Bay, where I was inspired to get involved in regional environmental issues affecting all aspects of Earth awareness. My connection to environmental activists and leaders positioned me for this exciting creative opportunity.
The Mattole River Restoration Project found me, and I quickly accepted the assignment to document salmon restoration on the Mattole River. To do so, I moved there, and lived in the watershed for about 2 years among hundreds of families who lived in this deeply remote region. As I became more and more entrained to the rhythms of the seasons, the people, and the wildlife, making the film became the love of my life. During those two years, I felt the magnitude of my many years of environmental and spiritual expansion reach a completely balanced and ecological mind-space. I not only learned about living in a watershed from the residents there, some whose families had settled hundreds of years ago, and some who had settled in the 60s back to the land movement; but I also learned from the trees, animals, and climate. My life will forever be entwined with the cycles of life in the Mattole River Valley.