Community Celebration of Place Produces Two Music-Film DVDs
In 2011, Community Celebration of Place and filmmaker David McDonald teamed up to produce two music-film documentaries about EWCS Elders Gyatsho Tshering and Helen Tsuchiya. Each nine-minute DVD looks at the lives of the elders as well as their experiences with Community Celebration of Place and the Elders’ Wisdom, Children’s Song program. Accompanied by the songs written for each elder (both of which appear on the album Don’t Stand Still), the videos add another layer to how EWCS documents and archives the elders’ stories using a wide variety of mediums.
Both films are now available for purchase online at Larry Long's website. All proceeds from Be Kind to All That Live go to Community Celebration of Place. All proceeds from Tibet go to the Tshering family to carry on his legacy.
Tibet DVD
Along with footage from the original Valley View Elementary celebration with Gyatsho Tshering, Tibet features photographs and video from the Tibetan Community Cultural Center, Gyuto Tantric and Gyuto Wheel of Dharma Monastery. The film also documents several events, including , Tibetan New Year and Tibetan Uprising Day.
Be Kind to All That Live DVD
The Be Kind to All That Live DVD has an interview with Helen Tsuchiya and Larry Long, where she talks about her experience with Elders' Wisdom, Children's Song. Along with the song, Be Kind to All That Live, the DVD also features photographs taken by Mrs. Tsuchiya of the camp.
About the Elders
Gyatsho Tshering was a Tibetan author and scholar honored in 2008 at the Valley View Elementary celebration. He shared his story with fifth grade students who, with guidance from Larry Long, created the song "Tibet" which tells the story of his people's exile from their country.
Helen Tsuchiya lived in California during World War II and was sent, along with her family, to a Japanese American Internment Camp. She was honored by the students of Prairie View Elementary at a community celebration in 2004. "Be Kind to All That Live" talks about Mrs. Tsuchiya's life before and after the camp, and how it affected her family.
About the Documentary Film Videographer
Before returning to Minnesota to raise his family, David McDonald worked throughout the world as a cameraman for the Reuters News Agency. Presently, David lives in Grand Rapids, Minnesota with his family and is an independent multimedia producer, as well as instructor of mass communications at Itasca Community College and Leach Lake Tribal College.