Milk Of The Islands is a short film poem that takes your senses on a journey to the Azores and offers an intimate glimpse into the art of making milk.
Whats special about the Azores?
A film that attempts to capture the essence of the Azores - its land, its people, its spirit.
The superstitions - focus on this? How are superstitions formed and why do they stick?
Superstitions can be very revealing of the character of the people.
Weird beliefs – superstitions
Superstitions linked to Milk? Fog? Cows?
Collect poems written by the farmers about milk
Or depending on the farmers interests/abilities, ask them to paint/draw a picture, sing a song, do a dance, write a poem, cook a dish with milk…
Traditional foods of Azores that use milk?
The power / brutality of the natural world and how it shapes the people as well as the land
This is a film about place:
Island - isolation - middle of the Atlantic ocean
Sub-tropical
Greenhouse
Immense vegetation - manicured
Fog
Sun
Blue sea like no other
Rugged people
People that like roadside picnics
Uncanny
Familiar but not
Volcanoes
Whales
Green
Sea-travel - navigators - discovery
Milk - mother – homeland
Famous Azoreans?
Traditional stories from Azores?
Azores – foreign farmers? Ex-pats?
How do I place myself within the Azores scenario and within the film itself?
Do I want to include myself?
How does ‘Beautifully Engineered’ fit with this theme
Engineered – a place created by nature, a people shaped by place, beliefs and superstitions imagined by people
And a film about the beauty and strangeness of the island engineered into a visual poem
The heart of the film is milk, because milk is the heart of the island
After all, it’s the biggest industry
And milk is symbolic of life – life giving force – baby’s first food
Focus on milk to find the spirit of the island and its people
The milk that they drink becomes a part of them, brought up on the milk
They drink the milk they drink the island
The heart of the film is the milk, but the film will also be peppered with observations of the island – I will ask farmers to share their thoughts about milk and to write a poem about milk
The film will be a visual poem constructed of observations of the island and its people.
The heart and focus of the film is the art of making milk
Milk is –
Milk is –
What is milk to the people of the Azores?
What is milk to the farmers?
Do they have beliefs or superstitions about milk?
Because they do have superstitions about… and…
And superstitions are very revealing and milk is very revealing.
A very personal film – capture how I see and feel things
David Yezzi - Azores: Poems
Azores - Picture and poem about Sete Cidades lake
Ireland - Milk Symbolism - interesting, could make connections
