Normal Life Pictures

LAND RUSH

Rich, land-hungry nations are leasing Africa’s best farmland. Is it a crisis, or simply economic development?

PEABODY AWARD WINNER 2013

Screened in more than 70 countries, this hour-long documentary tells the story of an industrial sugar plantation being built in rural Mali, West Africa. Digging into questions of economic development and land rights, the film follows characters who are trying to escape poverty without forsaking their traditional way of life. You can watch the film here. Also, visit the Why Poverty? site and read the Guardian’s review!

Directors: Hugo Berkeley and Osvalde Lewat
Producer: Eli Cane
Cinematographer: Crystel Fournier
Editor: Lizi Gelber
Creative Executive: Tom Roberts
Executive Producers: Nick Fraser, Mette Hoffman Meyer, Don Edkins

Produced in Association with Steps International

BBC World Debate Why Poverty?

Jerry Douglas: Traveler

Paul Simon, Eric Clapton, Dr. John and Keb Mo join Jerry on this lovely, eclectic album

Recorded in the storied musical cities of New Orleans, Nashville, New York, and London, Traveler is a journey into American music by dobro genius Jerry Douglas, whom the New York Times calls a “matchless contemporary master”. Featuring special guests Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Alison Krauss, Paul Simon, Mumford & Sons, Keb’ Mo, and many more. Produced by Russ Titelman and released by eOne Music on June 26, 2012.

Directed and Produced by Eli Cane

Cinematography by Jojo Pennebaker

Still Photography by Russ Titelman

Jerry Douglas: King Silkie

THE MARKET MAKER

Can a commodities exchange end famine in Ethiopia?

This hour-long film follows Eleni Gabre-Madhin, a woman with a dream. The charismatic Ethiopian economist wants to end hunger in her famine-plagued country. But rather than relying on foreign aid, she’s designed the nation’s first commodities exchange, which she hopes will revolutionize an ancient market system responsible for the country’s food shortages. See the at Market Maker site PBS.org for more.

Director and Cinematographer: Hugo Berkeley
Producer: Eli Cane
Editor: John Balcom
Original Music: Girum Mezmur
Senior Producer, Wide Angle: Nina Chaudry
Executive Producer: Tom Caschiato
A production of Thirteen/WNET in association with Normal Life Pictures

The Dull Knifes

Adolescence, leadership and history intersect in one family’s experience of living on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

For over 130 years, leaders of the Dull Knife family have been both warriors and peacemakers, preserving Lakota culture and defending the Pine Ridge Reservation. This feature-length documentary tells the story of Guy Dull Knife Jr. and his son George, a teenager beginning to understand what it means to encounter and fight prejudice. Now George must learn to balance being a citizen of the Lakota Nation and of the United States.

The film is inspired by Joe Starita’s Pulitzer-nominated book, The Dull Knifes of Pine Ridge.

Director: Jeremy Williams

Producer: Eli Cane

Cinematographer: Steve Robinson

Co-Producers: Tom Roberts, Hugo Berkeley

The film is produced in partnership with Nebraska PBS station NET, and is supported by Native American Public Television and the South Dakota Humanities Council.

Miles Español: New Sketches of Spain

The Jazz highlight of 2011, this massive concept album reimagines Miles Davis’ legacy in a Latin idiom

A groundbreaking collaboration between veterans of Miles Davis’s various bands and musicians from Spain, Morocco, and Latin America. Produced by Bob Belden and released by eOne Music in 2011. Check out the Miles Español iTunes LP, which contains loads of video, including performances, interviews, and a 26-minute documentary about the project!

Directed and Produced by Eli Cane  and Hugo Berkeley

Cinematography by Jojo Pennebaker

The Stanton-Davis Homestead

One of Connecticut’s hidden treasures and an endangered national monument

A promotional video for the Stanton Davis Homestead Museum in Stonington, CT, the oldest working farm in South Eastern Connecticut and an endangered national landmark.

Visit the Stanton Davis Homestead site for more info.

Directed by Hugo Berkeley

Produced by Eli Cane

Jack DeJohnette: Sound Travels

A jazz icon gets his juices flowing on a record full of deep grooves and beautiful melodies

Arguably DeJohnette’s best album, Sound Travels is a superb genre-spanning, nine-song collection that grooves with Latin rhythms and West Indian energy, muses with meditative tunes, and buoys with straight-up jazz swing. Sound Travels features an array of collaborators, including vocalists Bruce Hornsby, Bobby McFerrin and Esperanza Spalding. Check out the iTunes LP.

Directed and Produced by Eli Cane

Edited by David John Nerahoo and Eli Cane

Cinematography by Jojo Pennebaker and Jason Banker

A Normal Life

Born into the chaos of ethnic conflict, they came of age in war and now lead an unexpectedly free country.

A feature length documentary that follows 7 young friends over 3 years after the  war in Kosovo. Through their stories of trauma and recovery, we  witness children of  conflict becoming young leaders of a fledgling state. An intimate and unexpectedly poignant  documentary about life after war. Winner of the Tribeca Film Festival Best Documentary Award, 2003.

Directors: Hugo Berkeley and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi

Original Music: Hunter Perrin

Executive Producers: Craig McKay and Marion Lear Swaybill

Distribution: Jane Balfour Services Ltd. London, UK Tel: (011) 44-207-727-1528 Fax: (011) 44-207-221-9007 Email: janebalfour@btconnect.com

Waves of Change

Launching a campaign for cleaner oceans with Alexandra Cousteau

When the leaders of the UN-backed Waves of Change marine sustainability campaign needed a video to launch their project in 2007, they turned to Normal Life Pictures to tell their story.

Visit the International Ocean Institute site for more info.

Featuring Alexandra Cousteau

Directed and Produced by Hugo Berkeley

Red Hot + Rio 2: Mia Doi Todd + José González

A Tropicalia classic reimagined

Mia Doi Todd + José González perform a Milton Nascimento classic, Um Girassol da Cor do Seu Cabelo, at a Red Hot + Rio 2 loft party. The Red Hot Organization is dedicated to fighting AIDS through popular culture, and Normal Life Pictures is proud to have contributed to Red Hot + Rio 2, the Tropicalia-themed collection which came out in 2011.

Produced by Dustin Reid for Red Hot
Edited by Eli Cane