Translator: Tanya Cushman Reviewer: Peter van de Ven
So, like Devon said,
radio has really influenced my style of storytelling
and my passion for it.
My earliest radio memory is -
growing up in Barbados,
we had a cable radio station called Rediffusion,
and it was piped into our house,
and we had this amazing, amazing
wooden, lacquered speaker
that hung in the corner of the dining room.
It had a single volume knob,
and like typical radio, you know, you can expect music, news, whatnot,
but this radio also had storytellers,
and these storytellers were fantastic.
My favorite was a Trinidadian storyteller by the name of Paul Keens-Douglas.
I'd run through the house,
curl up next to that speaker and listen to his stories
because his characters and the images that he painted were cinematic,
but also the thing I really loved about him
was his ability to infuse humor into a single word.
He could take that word,
and just by the pitch of his voice, just the tempo, the cadence,
he could make it the most hilarious word in the world.
So, I was mesmerized, just struck by his ability to tell stories,
and, you know, when I moved to Boston,
my other love, the camera,
sort of took over.
You know, I was spending more time behind the camera
than in front of the radio.
But then, one day those two worlds collided.
And I was sitting in my car ...
(Bees buzzing)
(Laughter)
and that happened.
(Laughter)
No, seriously, it was just like that.
I was sitting in my car, and -
this was 2007 -
and colony collapse disorder was in full swing,
and bees were disappearing.
No one knew why.
And this story on the radio -
the reporter visits, actually, a Somerville beekeeper,
and he takes her into his backyard,
opens up the hive,
and she sticks her microphone in the hive,
and exactly what we just experienced is what I experienced.
Because you get that little fear.
You're like, "Oh my God, the killer bees are here,
and they're coming to get me; I'd better hide.
But after that moment of fear,
what took over was this question, this inspiration that I had, that said,
"As reflexive as that experience - that feeling of fear I had - was,
there must be someone out there, or many people out there,
for whom this sound
is the most appealing, mesmerizing, comforting sound in the world.
So I started a quest that very day to find those people.
And I found them.
And those people were the subjects for my film, "Bees in the Key of A."
And for me, that was a really, really powerful moment
because what that did was -
that was the first time I actually made a film
that was inspired solely by a sound, a single sound,
and a sound that was so fleeting
that if I hadn't been in my car at that moment,
if the radio had been on a different station,
I would have completely missed that.
And what that inspired in my work and in me
was not only to change
the stories I was telling and the stories I was seeking,
but also I took up beekeeping,
and this was an amazing experience, and I've learned a lot,
and I'm not, I wouldn't say, a very good beekeeper,
but I try every year.
But the bigger message from that experience
was that everyone had these moments of inspiration that are so fleeting,
and I think one of the duties of filmmaking
is that we capture these moments and we share them with others,
so I'm very honored to be able to share these amazing people with you.
Woman: When you open a beehive,
it's like you've arrived on an alien planet.
And it's not a single bee.
Single bee - bzz, bzz, bzz -
but a hive: hummmmmmmm.
Man: He'd put his arms around me, and he'd read me the comics,
and he'd laugh till tears came down his cheeks.
I'd lie there in his arms and look up; I'd say,
"Isn't that great to do that for someone, make them so happy," you know.
Woman: Every single time I've been in that position,
with my arms open, my shirt off,
it was invasive,
painful,
and sad.
And for the first time, I'm in the same position,
but people are walking by and telling me how beautiful I am.
Man: My name is Heat Roosevelt Robertson,
and I'm a tai chi qi gong master.
47 years of practice,
daily.
If it wasn't for tai chi, I'd be dead.
Brynmore Williams: Great.
Thank you very much and enjoy the rest of the day.
(Applause)