Answers to a Father

Yesterday I posted about a mom who enabled her son's dreams by buying him a guitar. You can read about it here. In the same post I mentioned how my own dad's efforts at enabling my dreams deserved a post of its own. Well here it is.

My dad came to visit me in Thailand alongside my younger sib. Before coming, I had an idea. Baba was always someone interested in filmmaking and talking about his film ideas with me. I told him my idea. Why not make a dance activism film while you're here? I gave him the keys to be the director and producer of the film. He not only liked the idea but jumped on board with enthusiasm. And we were coordinating the aspects of the film together before his arrival.

Baba, Zuko, and I spent 10 days travelling around southern Thailand. We brought the camera with us everywhere and filmed at various locations. It was great to have Baba be the director. Previously we had created some dance activism videos but nothing as comprehensive as this one. A big thanks to Baba for enabling my dreams on this project.

Additionally, when I told him that I wanted to publish the original tracks used in the film, he also agreed to make the cover art for the soundtrack album. And my most recent release on Crystal Vortex Records also got his album cover art. It was while making the cover art for the Just Doin' Yor Theng album that we both realized that we saw it the same way. We both wanted to co-create projects together that we could look back upon years later and cherish. 

The artwork is an outtake from the film in the Bay of Panggna (อ่าวพังงา).

Baba is the creative force behind this sunny cover art. 

I felt supported whenever he helped co-create projects with me. In fact his dance activism film goes one step further in the final scene. Baba demonstrates his support for my work and his agreement, again, in his own way. I think it's important to have the people around you support your ultimate dreams and enable them. These projects show that my father has enabled my dreams on multiple occasions. I am deeply thankful. 

Oh and baba did one more thing on his trip to Thailand that enabled my dreams. Just like the mom who bought her son a guitar, he gave me the camera we used in making the production. He had bought a new camera for this trip and handed it down to me so that I may continue to make more videos. And I did indeed use the camera for all dance activism projects since then. Sağol Baba.

Earlier in the post I mentioned that Baba and I had made dance activism videos before. Here are the links. Father's Day Dance Activism 1, 2, and 3.