Ian MacKenzie is an award-winning filmmaker and media activist who grew up in the suburbs of Vancouver. From Burning Man to Occupy Wall Street, he found his calling by crafting "mindbombs" - using powerful media to shift our collective culture from destruction to regeneration. Aside from film, Ian is also a crowdfunding educator and strategist. After running two successful campaigns for Occupy Love, he recognized the potential of this emerging platform to bring important projects to the world.
Most recently, he supported the So It Is: Vancouver team to bring their photography book to reality. I caught up with him to share why he loves the book and the city of Vancouver.
- You've travelled all over the world making films, from Los Angeles to Shanghai, Bangkok to Tbilisi. What keeps you coming back to Vancouver?
To be honest, the air. Or more specifically, that moment when I get off the plane at YVR and the breeze hits me with a wave of scents: lush coastal rainforest mingled with the salt of the ocean. It's both energizing and nostalgic, an instant reminder of home for which I am forever compelled to return. That and the sushi.
- What compelled you about the photography book, So It Is: Vancouver?
First, I love the unique angle taken by Adam and Kev - soaking their subjects before the shoot. When so many of us feel the need to maintain a particular appearance to our personas, water playfully invites a more irreverent portrait. Suddenly, we become more vulnerable, and more human.
Second, I believe Vancouver as become characterized as a beautiful destination for tourists and a playground for rich foreign money. And yet, despite the high rents and "no-fun" bylaws, there's a reason many artists, entrepreneurs, and visionaries call this city home. There's a distinct alchemy in the meeting of river, mountain, and sea - a wild consciousness that defies domestication. Vancouver could harness that wildness toward becoming a beacon and template for evolved cities of the future.
- Sounds ambitious - can you explain more? How can Vancouver provide a template for the emerging future?
One of the key relationships that emerged from the Occupy movement, in particular the occupation in Vancouver, was the meeting of First Nations and more mainstream activist groups (read: settlers). In that collision, many humbling lessons were learned, and an undeniable understanding about how to support each other. Indigenous wisdom in partnership with modern technology, and the preliminary results have been encouraging.
From shutting down the Burnaby mountain pipeline, to City Hall officially declaring Vancouver as unceded territory, the implications of these victories hint at a far greater possibility of deeper, systemic change. We know climate change is already happening. We know our current economic system is unraveling. Despite the claims of our Conservative national regime, staying the course will not save us.
We have all the necessary ingredients for radical and necessary change: our vantage at the edge of the continent, a creative, passionate, and tech-savvy populace, and the wild nature needed to unleash a torrent of imagination in service toward the new world.
Learn more about Ian Mackenzie and watch his films at http://ianmack.com - or you have the opportunity to do so in person over a one-on-one dinner with Ian at one of our local favourites, Espana Restaurant , where you can discuss any range of topics with him, from filmmaking to crowdfunding, activism and mindbombs!
Find the perk on our So It Is: Vancouver campaign here http://kck.st/1K19LSj.
