California Is A Place.

Contrary to popular belief, California Is a Place

. Well, we knew that all along, but like many places a feature that remains constant, and in most cases almost unheard of, are the lives of individuals who belong to the landscape that surrounds them. The Golden State harbours it all. From the Scientologist superstars to the Silicon Valley servants, from Gangland to Disneyland, from Orange County to Borderline bounty. California is as perversely, strangely and wonderfully habituated as any other, but few places are portrayed so vividly and attentively through story as filmmaking duo Drea Cooper and Zackary Canepari manage to collectively achieve.

To them, California is not only a place but a labour of love. Having met and worked together in San Francisco as students, the pair re-united back in 2009 and started this project after reaching out to one another from across the globe. Within three months they had made four films—Borderland, Scrapertown, Big Vinny and Cannonball—as a means for creative exploration seeking out the hidden facets that lay unexplained beneath the West Coast’s shared ground. These short, precise, protagonist documentaries give profoundly honest accounts of individual passion, trauma, excitement and love which are all uniquely timeless in their own. However, it is by piecing them together that we can see they form a much wider picture, and from this we are able to gain an unbridled understanding of California as whole. The remarkable aspects of Cooper and Canepari’s work (there are many) is the straightforward nature given to the viewer from a first person perspective that coincides with a non-judgemental approach to larger disparate issues—foreclosure crisis, U.S. Mexico borderlines, urban youth development, medicinal marijuana, among others—helping to contextualise a personal meaning so that one can relate to these indirect issues.

Taking nothing away from the power of storytelling or the enigmatic endeavours of each documentary subject, much should be accredited to the filmmaking and editorial processes in deciphering the true cinematic quality. Drea Cooper crafted her cinematographic skills through a number of methods; namely maxing out a credit card to buy a G3 Powerbook, video camera and Final Cut 1.0; yet continuously practising/earning through commercial realms helped her gauge a distinctive style. On the other side, her counterpart, Zackary Canepari, developed himself as a renowned photographer whilst living in India being commissioned regularly by The New York Times Magazine, Le Monde, London Financial Times, more or less becoming the ‘go to guy’ in that part of Southern Asia. Like their work they each had a separate beginning, starting from the bottom up so to say, yet forever holding something universal. Through encountering the ordinary lives of those around them, Cooper and Canepari coalesced, resulting in an immersive catalogue of work that resonates both emotionally and artistically.

Earlier this year, California Is A Place exhibited their latest feature on the festival circuit, and there is no place more apt than Sundance to do so. Aquadettes, tells the tale of Margo—an elderly synchronized swimmer—who lives out the rest of her leisurely life against a retired Orange County backdrop. It is visually stunning through its rich luminous colours, adjusting focus and deep contrast, depicting the laconic pace that walk of life has to offer. However, as much as it serves viewing purposes, all throughout this short docu-film we are humbled into the deeply personal life of Margo and how her quality of life is represented in American culture. Struggling to keep bay her illness due to suffering from Multiple Sclerosis, an unlikely remedy of medically prescribed marijuana provides the answer to this OAP’s symptoms, and whilst MS may be enough on her plate Margo is also intent to combine this with the daily care of her sick husband so that her “children don’t have to.” Aquadettes casts appraisal upon the revolutionary documentary filmmaker Errol Morris’ subjective style in both the ways he managed to let the interview technique explain the story and (especially in regards to his 1978 work, Gates of Heaven) visually contextualise the location Vernon, Florida.

Whether it is in the unravelling state of the car sales industry or in the peculiar fight club underworld of Silicon Valley’s tech-wizards, each representation stays true and serves the purpose; revealing an unmediated, genuine societal perspective that reflects the sensation of California, and in turn reflecting the duos love for this immanent place.

To see more docs from California Is A Place, check out their website where they exhibit the full catalogue of their work – www.californiaisaplace.com