In the late summer of 2,000, I was invited to Russia to make a film about the village where my brother, Peter, lived and worked. He had been involved with Camphill, an organization that builds communities for disabled people, for eight years - 3 years in Norway, and the past 5 in Russia. This was my chance to finally go and visit him and see the work he'd been involved in, and a marvelous opportunity to see the grand and mysterious country of Russia. The whole project appealed to my sense of adventure.

But Gunnar, I thought you were a musician!

I were and I am and probably always will be. Music is my motor. But I love movies nearly just as much. I've got two screenplays in the works, I read screenplays for pleasure, I watch movies voraciously, I've studied method acting for 5 years - I'm into movies!

Yeah, lots of people like movies, but they don't go out and make them!

Well, I admit my cinematography credits are limited - I've done one series of industrial videos before, and that's it. I had to buy a camera and figure out how it worked, but it ain't brain surgery. (Although I'm hoping I get to try doing brain surgery someday, too). The latest digital cameras are pretty foolproof, especially for a fool like me who knows a smidgeon of technology. The filming was rigorous and exhausting, both emotionally and physically. The camera and tripod may not weight all that much, but to spend 5-8 hours a day blinking into a viewfinder, bending one's neck into an ostich-S in order to get the perfect shot - it tears you up! And the camera separates you emotionally from all that goes on around you. There was such an incredibly warm and inviting spirit in this place, and I ached to join in, but I had work to do, and, for many, the camera is an intrusion, an alienating force. It took some people a long time to trust the man behind the camera. It's a spiritually exhausting place to hang out.

What about Camphill Life?

It was remarkable. I'm telling you, the mentally disabled people living there (all 18 and older) had previously spent their lives sitting in front of the TV, apparently unable to do anything for themselves. They were fed, clothed, pitied, and nothing was expected of them. Once at the village, they LOVE having tasks to do, responsibilities to fulfill - they are a part of life there. It's so amazingly simple, to allow someone to do work, to ask for their help, for their contribution. They blossom. Minka, who upon first arriving could barely walk, and was terrified of animals, is now the main farmer, milking the cows morning and evening, herding the pigs, keeping an eye on the whole farm. Sasha loves kitchen work, peeling potatoes and carrots, washing vegetables. Julia tends the flowers in the garden, and sweeps the house every morning. They ALL, of course, end up sorting potatoes!

What do the more 'able' adults who come to work here get out of it?

Are they Saints Doing Good Works? That's not the impression I got. There is good work, great work to be done there, but it's not about 'taking care of' disabled people. Almost all the workers I interviewed maintained that the community is held together by the disabled people - their hearts and emotions are so clear, so very present, that it keeps the atmosphere open and light. Over and over, I was told that a communal farm like this could not possibly work with only 'clever' people, no matter how strong their good intentions. Our minds are not enough to build a community. Yes, it's imperative to have the intellectual capacity to plan the plantings and the buildings and to keep track of finances, but the presence and the work of the less 'able' folk is a great teacher, and is the real fabric of life there. The work may go slower, it may require more patience, but it is exactly that slower pace and gentler mood of understanding that make the work itself rewarding and pleasurable.

How did the filming turn out?

Splendidly! I came back with 23 hours of raw footage, most all of it beautiful. I spent a month learning the ins and outs (so to speak) of editing, and spent countless (well, a hundred) hours logging the footage. I prepared tapes so that my nephew Slava (who is Russian) could translate for me. I began to put together gorgeous sequences, full of music and flowing expanses of countryside and luminous faces of people and it was drop-dead gorgeous. I was burning to tell the story of what I saw...But that turned out to be the most challenging part! Writing the film took much longer and was much harder than I anticipated, and at one point I despaired, feeling as if I would not pull this film together. I got help from my brother, who had by now returned to the states to do some fund raising. And then I saw an interview with director Norman Jewison, included on the DVD version of The Hurricane. He shared some of his favorite deleted scenes from the film, and explained why he loved the scenes and why he felt they couldn't be included in the final cut. It was very inspiring, I suddenly saw the light! I was able to take a fresh look at all my material, and love every moment of it, and yet be able to toss away what was holding back the flow of the story. The narration came into sharp focus, it all seemed easy, it flowed. And I am proud and happy with the final film - I'm honored to be able to bring news of this incredible place to the world.

View RealPlayer clip of the film "Heartwarming" SF Examiner "Genuinely inspiring" SF Weekly

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SYNOPSIS

Ninety miles east of St. Petersburg in Russia, a small community of people is growing its own organic food and attracting a lot of attention from the neighbors and the government. The attention comes partly because their farm is successful, but mainly because nearly half of the residents of this community are developmentally disabled. These disabled people had been considered incapable of taking care of themselves before coming here. Now, living together with dedicated volunteers from Russia and around the world, they are working members of a remarkable pioneering community.

This film profiles one hectic week during the harvest of 2000. Winter is fast approaching. All the crops, including forty tons of potatoes, must be brought in, while a surprise invitation from the farmer's market offers them their first chance ever to sell their produce openly without mafia intervention. Overwhelmed, they ask for help from the local villages. Students from schools are given leave to help with the harvest, and neighbors pitch in with phenomenal generosity. In a land where economic and cultural opportunity is so limited, it is amazing to see how spirits soar. This community of disabled people and foreigners is a source of hope for the residents themselves and for their neighbors.

45 minutes. Available in NTSC and PAL VHS format. Click for an order form . A short video of 8 minutes, providing a brief glimpse into the life of Svetlana, is also available (VHS NTSC only).

For fundraising information, contact Peter Madsen at peter@camphillvillage.org

For more information about Svetlana and Camphill worldwide, visit

www.camphillsvetlana.org