Movie Will Debut This Weekend

Greenpoint Film Crew Captures the Joy About Life

By Stefanie Gutierrez

THE GRASSROOTS: The production team which made the film “The Human Experience” includes, from left, brothers William Kinnane, editor, and Charles Kinnane, director, cinematographer and editor; Michael Campo, writer; Jeff Azize, who plays himself in the film; Scott Johnson, production coordinator; Clifford Azize, who also plays himself in the film; Simon Fung,

production designer; and Joe Campo.

On a recent weekday evening, Joe Campo, director of St. Francis House, Greenpoint, sat at the community dinner table with seven members of Grassroots Films (www.grassrootsfilms.com), the company that produced “Fishers of Men,” an award-winning DVD for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ vocation program.

They were there to discuss their much-anticipated new film, “The Human Experience,” that is debuting this Saturday, Oct. 20, following the diocesan Celebration of Life Mass. The film will be shown in the cathedral at 1 p.m.

Campo has been director of St. Francis House, an apostolate of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, for the past 19 years. He is a man who wears many hats; he also serves as director of Youth 2000 New York and produced “The Human Experience.”

Grassroots Films has been based in Greenpoint for the past five years and its past ventures into film making have been critical successes. “Fishers of Men,” a fast-paced documentary that explores the lives of priests, will be presented a Gabriel Award on Oct. 26 at the Directors Guild of America in Hollywood, California. A short film, “God in the Streets of New York City,” was an Official Selection at Open Air Cinema in Bonn, Germany, and was also a winner at the International Indigo Awards, both in 2005.

When it came time for their next project, the men who comprise Grassroots Films discussed ideas over the dinner table, where they come together every evening at 6 p.m. to eat and talk about their days. They live together in the St. Francis House, beginning every morning with prayer.

As the idea for “The Human Experience” surfaced and became more complete, the film became based on the true story of two brothers who live in the house, Clifford and Jeff Azize. As they described the film, Clifford said, “It is about our story, your story, everyone’s story.”

Campo explained the background. “I wanted to do a film that was pro-life, but not have to mention the word ‘abortion.’ We wanted it to be about the beauty of life… In order to change the way people feel and think about life, about babies, about each other.”

In this movie, Campo said, “You go through the pain, the suffering and the resurrection. It happens in everyone’s life.” They wanted to show that life, no matter what circumstance, “is worth living.”

“So often ‘pro-life’ is presented in a judgmental view. We wanted to offer what a culture of life world view looks like, not just condemning the culture of death,” said Simon Fung, who is the production designer at Grassroots Films.

The production team traveled to three places. First was the streets of New York City where Clifford and Jeff went homeless for one week. The crew then traveled to Lima, Peru, and to Ghana, Africa. In Peru, they visited an orphaned children’s home and hospital. Many of the children were born with physical deformities and were abandoned by their families. In Africa, they visited a leper colony and spoke with others who were either HIV-positive or had AIDS.

The film has a loose script and is very much based on the true-life experiences of Clifford and Jeff. Cliff said, “I wanted to experience what being in homeless in New York City was like, and I wanted to go through it at the coldest time of year – February.”

They were followed by director and cinematographer Charles Kinnane 24-hours a day during their week of homelessness in New York City. They left behind everything, including cell phones, money and food. They found a group sleeping on Park Ave., where, “we were just winging it,” Jeff said. “But we met this one man who literally became our guide after we gained his trust.”

During the week, Clifford recalled that he began to “feel hopeless” about being homeless. But, this one man they met taught them how to fold their boxes to keep in the heat while they slept on the street. He told them to watch out. He explained to them that the “real homeless” wake up by 6 a.m. because “they want to show respect for society.” He did not want children to see him. He told Cliff and Jeff, “the drug addicts are the ones still on the streets at 9 and 10 in the morning.”

Jeff said, “The ‘real homeless’ had a dignity about them. Every morning they would wake up, go to a shelter they knew, take showers and clean up. During their afternoons they watched the news and read the paper.”

After sleeping on the streets for three nights, the brothers said it became really tough. They recalled how cold they were at night and how there was the inescapable feeling of “just wanting to go home.”

Jeff said, “By mid-week, there was a point, a purpose. You became homeless for five days and… You had a purpose.”

When asked what that purpose was, they stopped and with a grin said, “People will just have to watch the film to find out.”

The Lost Children

The crew was familiar with traveling to a Third-World country. The young men have traveled to many foreign countries for their previous films but, as Campo described, “We were familiar with the surroundings. What was new were the people and the children.”

The producers focused on the children’s hospital. The team at the dinner table smiled as they recalled two particular children, Victor, age seven, and Angela, five. They talked about how both of them were physically handicapped and orphaned, but basically “ran the orphanage, making sure everyone else was taken care of.”

Without giving too many details of their experiences with Victor and Angela, Michael Campo, Joe’s son and a writer on the film, said, “We emphasized the hope in Peru. There is something there.”

Simon added, “If there is a disability, people think they aren’t worthy. But most of them know their purpose in life.”

The Colony of Lepers, Ghana, Africa

When the production team began relaying their experiences about their trip to Africa, the word most referred to was “faith.”

Michael said, “It was the most life-changing experience. Jesus Christ was present in every single person we met there.”

They described the Africans as people “who had nothing, but yet they had more than we do.”

(Joe) Campo said, “They were so loving. They had families and they took care of one another. They worked hard. And everyone…. Everyone… was Christ-centered. There was no confusion; there was discipline. We devalue their lives, they don’t.”

He continued, “The joy that we felt from them was something that we have never felt before. It was more than ‘happy.’ There was sincerity in their faces.”

Matt Sanchez, who plays himself in the movie, talked about his experience of interviewing people who had AIDS. In the film, there is a mother and child who are both HIV-positive. He said, “I had basic questions about the illness and I wondered, where does their strength come from? Why even go on living?”

They answered, “We put our trust and faith in God.”
Matt said, “Their faith kept them more alive than their medication.”

Scott Johnson, production coordinator, hopes that people who see the film “will find meaning. It breaks through stereotypes. Everyone has his own story. The homeless… Who would think that men with their doctorate degrees were being served soup by someone who no education at all?

“And then to see the tremendous amount of hope, faith, value and beauty in the children in Peru and the people in Africa. Life is still sacred and beautiful.”

Cliff added, “And you hear it straight from them.”

“You are going to see things in this film that you have never seen before. You are going to see children who are suffering but want to live. You will get a chance to see how they think and how they feel. Whether it is a child from Peru or a homeless person on the streets of New York, they all felt they had some meaning in their lives,” Campo said.

His son added, “It is the universality of the people. We are all brothers and sisters and we are supposed to take care of one another. Every person who sees this film is going to be changed.”

Grassroots Films asks for RSVP’s with number of guests to Clifford@grassrootsfilms.com and asks that you do not bring small children.

To see the trailer for “The Human Experience” and to find out more about Grassroots Films, log onto www.grassrootsfilms.com/thehumanexperience.

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