The Pan Pacific Film Festival is this week, and it promises to be an exciting event. It opens Thursday evening, October 18 with The Fourth World. Red Carpet is at 5, VIP dinner at 6, Panel Discussion at 7 and screening at 7:30. I have the privilege of taking my lovely daughter, Lauren, with me, as well as meeting up with some dear friends who are part of this project and will be part of our panel discussion:

Luke and Andrea Kreykes: Luke was a cameraman in both the Philippines and Kenya. His wife was also one of my students and an accomplished film maker in her own right. Looking forward to (possibly) meeting their lovely new son as well.

Piper and Jacob Kroeze: Piper was also part of those two shoots and has since gone on to live in LA with her husband. She is following her dream to be an editor and is definitely accomplishing her goals. She was part of the editing team for the recently-released “Diary of a Wimpy Kid-4.” If you’ve seen the film, she’s also the voice of the 911 operator.

Mike Davis, author of “Planet of Slums“, several other books and professor at UC-Riverside will also be part of our panel discussion. Mike makes an appearance near the end of The Fourth World and gives a stark warning to us about what’s going to happen if we ignore this issue of slums much longer. When Lauren and I went to Mike’s home in San Diego a few years ago to get that interview, we asked him for 1 hour of his time, which he graciously agreed to. We ended up spending the entire day with him, concluding our day with some 4-wheeling in the mountains overlooking Tijuana, Mexico as we discussed the plight of immigrants going over/under the fence and then working their way through those barren, parched hills.

Vern Eekhoff is a fellow-employee at Dordt College and a very dear friend. Vern loves film making and wants to become a film maker. He came with our team to Kenya and helped shoot in the slums and then acted as a cheerleader during the long hours of post production. He’s flying out to LA on his own dime to be part of this panel and enjoy the Pan Pacific Film Festival with the rest of us.

On Saturday morning, we’ll catch an early flight back to Iowa so we can be part of the Premiere Screening of The Fourth World in Iowa. If you know Dordt College, you know the BJ Haan is the largest auditorium we have on campus. We’re screening there at 7pm, followed by a Q and A with a few more friends/alum who were part of the film making process:

Dale Vande Griend was on the Philippines and Kenya shoots, and also joined me on a separate project in India. Some of that footage made its way into The Fourth World as well. Dale runs his own media business in Sioux Center, Iowa and co-teaches a course with me at Dordt College.

Jess Brauning was an integral part of the Guatemala Shoot. Couldn’t have done it without him. Jess also runs a media business in Sioux Center, Iowa and is a frequent blogger about all things Micro-4/3rs cinematography. He’s the guy I go to when I need info on new cameras and equipment.

Hope to see you in Pasadena or N’W Iowa this week! If not, you can always get your own copy of the film online in a variety of ways.

Thanks for your support.