Elgin Park

DOCUMENTARY | 5 – 10 MIN. | CREATIVITY & CONNECTION, HEALING AFTER LONELINESS, HEALTH CHALLENGES, OLDER ADULTS

Elgin Park dives into the life of a reclusive artist turned viral sensation – recognized for creating 1950’s utopias out of pain, love, and miniature cars.a

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But What Does It Mean?

EXPLORE THE FILM'S MEANING →

Even when we feel that we have a sense of a film’s meaning, there is often more to uncover.

Watch this video to better understand the film and why we selected it for the festival.

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CLICK TO EXPLORE THE FILM'S THEMES

Think about a pivotal place in your life that impacted the person you are today. To better understand this location, map it out. First draw the box, or the house, where you were living, or the office, where you were working. Then move on to the road where the house or office stood and try to draw the other boxes or rectangles that represent actual locations from your memory. Draw the roads to the places where your memory takes you. Once you have included all of the key locations from this time in your life and have exhausted your memory of this place, add color and select colors based on how warm or cold your memory is of the place. Once finished, reflect and consider sharing with someone else from your past.

Meet the Filmmaker

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

Danny Yourd is an award winning director and creative producer. He has directed and/or produced over 10 documentary films including the Sundance-winning documentary Blood Brother and Almost Holy (Executive Produced by Terrence Malick) which premiered and sold at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival. Danny’s short films have screened at over 50 film festivals all over the world. His work has been featured on National Geographic, Apple, Independent Lens, Vimeo Staff Pick, Netflix, Starz and many others. Danny is currently a director at Animal.

Website | Instagram

 

WHY THEY MADE THE FILM

“Michael Paul Smiths work caught my attention like a lot of people when his photography went viral a few years back. After several phone calls and rallying my long time collaborator and cinematographer, John Pope, we realized we had a very special story. Michael immediately trusted us and opened up allowing us to craft this beautiful story about vulnerability, art and perseverance. Michael gave us the gift of friendship and we will carry that with us the rest of our life.“

Your Turn: What did YOU think of this film?

1 Comment

  1. Melissa Martin
    Melissa Martin on August 21, 2020 at 1:28 pm

    It was a beautiful film. I love Michael’s honesty, energy, creativity, and resilience. I often suffer from feelings of deep loneliness. This project hits the core of it. I wish often people would teach out, because it’s so hard to reach out when your depressed. I’m glad Michael can use that to bring creativity and life into his life. Importent lesson. I thank you and Michael.

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