Franti, musician and film producer...

While reading the Ottawa XPress of March 16, I came across an article written by John Akpata about the musician Michael Franti.  I agree with Akpata’s comment that Franti “stands head and shoulders above the crowd” when it comes to political activism; he also does because he is one tall dude. He also stands above us with his music, using his acoustic guitar and singing. He is an entertainer who gets the crowd up and dancing which was much in evidence at his performance of Thursday night in Ottawa. The audience participated and became involved in the action. The environment was “electrified” and all no doubt felt so much better for attending.

Franti also presented a documentary “I Know I ‘m Not Alone” which he directed and produced. He incurred some debt in making this documentary and the monies gained from his performances will go some way to his financial recovery. That is good to know for he went out on a limb to produce the film but in the process learned some difficult lessons which will help in his next film productions.

If this film had been directed and produced by any graduate of a film studies program from one of our Canadian colleges or universities it would have been done with less expense in time and money. There is a “science” to film making yet much can be learned from the “practice” and Franti has served a brief apprenticeship, learning “on the job” and using his skills as a musician to produce a documentary that is supported and made more interesting because of the songs, background music and sound effects.
I would love to read a book written by Franti about his life experiences that would include his visits to foreign countries and something of his philosophy of life. Franti is a good man, a talented musician; we will be hearing more from him in the future and profiting from those experiences.