2017 ASLA AWARD OF COMMUNICATIONS: ‘Jens Jensen The Living Green’ A feature documentary by Viva Lundin Productions and University of Michigan

“一部非常重要的影片。它应当被更多人看到……他的众多行动都成为了当今环保主义者的示范。”
–评奖委员会

“The video is really important. It ought to reach a wider audience… A lot of things he did were forerunners of our environmentalism today.”
— 2017 Awards Jury

来自ASLA对gooood的分享。
Digital Library of Landscape Architecture History by Viva Lundin Productions and University of Michigan，更多请至：Viva Lundin Productions on gooood 
Appreciation towards ASLA for providing the following description:

 

项目概述
PROJECT STATEMENT

《延斯·詹森：活着的绿色》（Jens Jensen The Living Green）戏剧化地讲述了延斯·詹森（Jens Jensen）的生平，他是一位来自异国的城市清道夫，也是美国最先维护生态公正性的人物之一。詹森的一生为城市发展的早期抗争指明了方向，并将“公园沙漠”、生态设计以及我们的原始需要与生活中自然的“活的绿色”联系在一起。在与弗兰克·劳埃德·赖特、路易·沙利文、德怀特·珀金斯以及阿尔弗雷德·考德威尔等人的共事下，詹森从草原中获取了灵感：它仅仅是一种设计风格，更是民主的象征。他与Ossian Cole Simonds并称为“草原派”（Prairie Style）景观设计的先驱。他们把自然风光带入芝加哥的穷人以及工业领袖的家中。今天，詹森仍然是绿色激进主义的典范。从他的故事中，我们将了解到他是如何身体力行地拯救了印第安纳州的沙丘（如今已成为州立及国家公园）和整个中西部的公园、如何为工业巨头们（福特、Armour和Rosenwald）设计景观，以及如何对奥尔多·利奥波德等众多环境保护主义先锋产生了积极的影响。

Jens Jensen The Living Green  dramatizes the rise of Jens Jensen (1860-1951), an immigrant street sweeper who became one of the nation’s first champions of eco-justice. Jensen’s life illuminates the early battles of urban development that favored the wealthy and led to “park deserts,” ecological design, and our primordial need to connect with “the living green” of nature within the city. With associates Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan, Dwight Perkins, and Alfred Caldwell, Jensen was inspired by the prairie, for it was not only a style of design but also a symbol of democracy. With Ossian Cole Simonds, he is credited with the Prairie Style of landscape architecture that brought nature to Chicago’s working poor and industrialists leaders. Today Jensen is a model for green activism. From his story we learn how he used his art as activism to save the dunes of Indiana (now both state and national parks), save parks throughout the Midwest, design landscapes for titans of industry (Ford, Armour, Rosenwald), and influence other pioneers of environmentalism such as Aldo Leopold.

▲《延斯·詹森：活着的绿色》，Jens Jensen The Living Green

 

项目说明
PROJECT NARRATIVE

延斯·詹森在1910年说：“令现代城市变得宜居是我们这个时代的任务。”在今天看来，这句话有着十足的前瞻性。我们制作这部电影的目的是鼓励观众像詹森那样，以行动者的身份去为我们的城市赋予活力。

在我们于2017年开始拍摄这部电影的时候，每个人都在劝阻我们，除了ASLA的Robert Grese教授，他所著的《延斯·詹森：公园与花园的缔造者》（ Jens Jensen Maker of Parks and Gardens,1992）成为了电影所依赖的基础。Robert教授促成了多次采访，为我们打开了大门，成为我们可信赖的、长期的支持者和“信息站”。他帮助我们找到了故事的脉络，并使其与当下的问题产生关联。不过，尽管詹森拥有传奇的人生经历，却并不是一个家喻户晓的人物，因而美国印象（American Experience）节目对此并不是很感兴趣。我们的提案在申请国家人文学科捐赠基金（NEH）时获得了A+的评级，却没有筹到任何资金，因为他们认为我们无法在国内找到观众。

但我们没有放弃，我们相信，如果这个故事能够为我们带来启发，也就同样能激励他人。电影的完成过程十分波折，历经了无数个小时的研究、编排和重写，最终由三位剪辑师剪辑出5个不同篇幅的视频和电影。

我们一直在坚持。在项目进行两年后，我们的工作终于得到了回报。于去年不幸离世的我的丈夫Mark Frazel，也是作家兼联合制片人，他当时惊喜地接到一个从密尔沃基公共图书馆打来的电话，说他们找到了一些贴着“延斯·詹森”标签的录影带。Mark还没来得及放稳电话便十万火急地开车奔向了密尔沃基。这些录影带的内容均是实地拍摄，质量十分粗糙，却记录了延斯·詹森在晚年接受的一次精彩采访。那充满诗意、愤怒感和亲密感的声音将我们的视频变成了真正的电影，仿佛每一帧都充斥着詹森的心跳声。

我们将詹森的采访和其助手阿尔弗雷德·考德发威尔的采访放在了一起，后者讲述了詹森个人的一些挫折与成功的经历，以及他为解决种种社会弊病而设想的极富创造力的方案。

我们最终花费13年完成了这部电影，詹森的名字在当时激励着不同年龄层的人们，更神奇的一点在于，这部电影完全触动了我，使我也变成了一个“将自然带入社区”的倡导者。

詹森作为移民从底层走向自然先驱者的故事引起了众多移民青少年组织的共鸣。在与学生保护协会共同对影片进行筛选和讨论之后，我们得以将其与NeighborSpace和Trust for Public Lands发起的项目相结合，以建立一个名为Jardincito的自然游戏空间。在芝加哥公园区和国家公园服务中心的协助下，我们带那些从未走出过城市的孩子们游览了沙丘，然后讨论了詹森作为一名行动主义者为防止沙丘遭到破坏而构想的创造性策略，以及他所遇到的种种阻碍。我们与大学生探讨了更宏观的图景——成为一名行动主义者所需要面临的挑战，以及他们为“将自然带入城市”所做的可能的项目类型。

我对詹森设计的社区感到好奇，它们现在在何处？发生了怎样的变化？事实显示，大多数他为之争取过公园建设的社区仍旧没有发生改变。

在发现这一点之后，我决定与学生自然保护协会以及公共土地信托机构Neighborspace合作并创建Jardincito，一个自然活动空间，它位于芝加哥的Little Village社区，这里是全市公园最贫乏的社区之一。

目前我正在制作一部关于Jardincito的短片，它讲述了在小公园替代旧的公共场所并为妈妈们带来安全的亲子空间之后，一个暴力事件频发的社区会发生哪些改变。Jardincito已经开放了两年之久，令人惊讶的是至今还没有任何暴力事件发生。

如今我可以借这部电影来传达詹森的意志，讲述他如何启发了我的生活与事业，为什么我们需要为每个人征求接近自然的权利，以及他的想法如何影响了新一代的教育者、积极分子以各个家庭，使其将“活的绿色”带入自己的社区。

我们受到了诸多褒扬：

“草原学派的拉什莫尔山终于落成。它是为弗兰克·劳埃德·赖特、路易·沙利文和延斯·詹森而建。这部优美的纪录片将影响一代又一代人”（Utne Reader创始人Eric Utne）
“我们的参与者非常、非常、非常地喜爱你们的演讲和电影！这是会议中最精彩的部分！”（Joanne DeLorenzo，ASLA新泽西联合主席）
“充满力量……同时切中要害。”（ Humans and Nature）
“我看过的最鼓舞人心的纪录片之一。”（Melanie Choukas-Bradley，作家，著有《树木之城》和《在岩溪公园的一年》）
“Carey Lundin非凡的纪录片为我们的行动和教育散播了种子。这同样也是Earth Day的使命——我们已经迫不及待地想要传递延斯·詹森的信念，为培养下一代环保活动家贡献力量。”（Kathryn Stoddard，Earth Day Network）
“詹森的革新设计引领了当今的环保运动，他的作品理应受到更广泛的推崇。”（Booklist）

我们也赢得了众多奖项，包括：

爱尔兰塔拉莫尔，探索者博物馆2016年荣誉勋章。
获奖：芝加哥国际电影节雨果奖
获奖：Green Bay电影节观众奖、最佳导演奖
获奖：Accolade卓越奖
获奖：Wild Rose独立电影节最佳专题记录片、最佳导演、最佳纪录片剪辑
官方评选入围：Studio City国际电影节
官方评选入围：建筑与艺术电影节
官方评选入围：国际纪录片协会
官方评选入围：One Earth电影节
官方评选入围：Wild and Scenic电影节
官方评选入围：Ft. Myers电影节

如今我们可以开心地回应那些质疑的声音，他们完全错了。这部电影吸引了大批的观众，包括全世界的环保人士、学生、教育工作者、景观设计师、城市规划师以及各类活动家。它充分地证明了为何詹森在1951年去世时能够被冠以“美国景观设计泰斗”的美名。如今这部电影已经在美国和加拿大的许多环境课程中进行了展示，激励了众多年轻的学生通过景观建筑来改变生活。

电影于芝加哥千禧公园举办了首映礼，由Piet Oudolf发表开幕致辞，并由WTTW频道进行同步转播。我们击败了福克斯的收视率，并吸引约3000人来到公园。截至今年，通过PBS公共广播公司和丹麦电视台，电影已经面向70%的美国和丹麦家庭。我本人也致力于电影的公映和在各院校、公共花园以及市民社团进行演讲。影片可在亚马逊和Kinonation等平台进行点播，并通过TheVideoProject.com授权给教育从业者。今天的我们比任何时候都更需要延斯·詹森。我们需要英雄，我们需要灵感，我们需要讲述他们生平的故事，更需要知道为什么坚持自己的价值观对于构建宜居的现代城市乃至拯救世界都有着至关重要的作用。

▲拍摄现场，filming site

▲电影剧照，stage photo

▲电影剧照，stage photo

▲哥伦布公园，芝加哥，COLUMBUS PARK, Chicago, ILL.

▲拍摄现场，filming site

▲延斯·詹森，Jens Jensen

 

PROJECT NARRATIVE

In 1910 Jens Jensen said, “to make the modern city livable is the task of our times.” Today, those words could not be more prescient. We made the film to inspire audiences to use their art as activism, as Jensen did, to make our cities resilient.

When we first embarked on making this film 17 years ago, everyone discouraged us, everyone except Professor Robert Grese, ASLA, whose book, Jens Jensen Maker of Parks and Gardens (1992) became the basis of the film. Bob sat for interviews, opened doors, and became a constant and trusted source of encouragement and information. Bob helped us find the story and connect it to present day issues and continues to today. But even though Jensen had a great story – full of drama – he wasn’t a household name, so American Experience wasn’t interested. When we applied for a NEH grant, they gave us an A+ rating for our proposal but declined to fund us because they said we wouldn’t find a national audience.

But we stuck with it, believing in his story, which inspired us, and if it inspired us, we thought, it will inspire others. The road to completion took many twists and turns with countless hours of research, writing and re-writing, three editors and five video and film formats.

We persisted, and two years into the project our work paid off. The day Mark Frazel, the writer and co-producer, and my husband, who sadly passed away last year, got a surprise call from the Milwaukee Public Library that they had indeed found some records labeled “Jens Jensen.” Before the phone could drop to the ground Mark was in a car racing to Milwaukee.  Those albums, recorded in the field and scratchy as hell, contained an astonishing interview with Jensen late in his life. Full of poetry, anger and intimacy, the audio turned our video into a real film, with the heart of Jensen saturating every frame.

We paired Jensen with interviews from his acolyte Alfred Caldwell who told the personal story of his setbacks and triumphs and wildly imaginative solutions to societies’ ills.

We spent 13 years finishing the film, and in that time Jensen’s name rose to prominence as an activist story that inspires young and old. And something else amazing happened, the film touched me, it turned me into an advocate for brining nature to our most nature-deprived neighborhoods.

Jensen’s story as an immigrant who worked his way up from the bottom to become a champion for nature has resonated with immigrant teens organizations. After screening and discussing the film with The Student Conservation Association I was able to pair them with a project by NeighborSpace and Trust for Public Lands to build a new nature play space called Jardincito. With the Chicago Park District and the National Park Service, we toured the Dunes for kids who had never been out of the city then discussed Jensen’s obstacles and creative tactics as an activist to stop the destruction of the dunes. And with university students we discussed the bigger picture, the challenges of becoming an activist and the types of projects they might develop to bring nature into the city.

I was curious about Jensen’s neighborhoods, where are they today and how much have they changed?  Turns out that most of the park-poor neighborhoods he fought to bring parks to have not changed.

Discovering this, I decided to work with the Student Conservation Association, Trust for Public Lands and Neighborspace to help create Jardincito, a nature play space in Chicago’s Little Village, one of the most park-poor and gang beset neighborhoods in the city.

I’m creating a short film about Jardincito and what happens to a violent neighborhood when a tiny park replaces a decades old gang hangout and gives the mothers a safe place to bring their children. The park opened two years ago and amazingly, to this day there has not been any gang violence.

Now I can screen the film and give speeches about Jensen’s inspirational message, how it inspired my life and career, why we need to demand the right to access to nature for all, and how his ideas are affecting a new generation of educators, activists and families to bring “the living green” to their communities.

We’ve received much praise:

“The Mount Rushmore of Prairie School giants is now complete. To Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan add Jens Jensen.  This beautiful documentary will inspire generations to come.” – Eric Utne, Founder, Utne Reader
“Our attendees loved, loved, loved your talk and film! Best session of the meeting!” – Joanne DeLorenzo Annual Meeting Co-chair, New Jersey ASLA
“powerful…poignant” –  Humans and Nature
“One of the most inspiring documentaries I have ever seen.” – Melanie Choukas-Bradley, author, City of Trees; A Year in Rock Creek Park
“Carey Lundin’s extraordinary documentary ignites action, educates and seeds change. This is the mission of Earth Day  — we couldn’t be more excited to share the message of Jens Jensen, and help build the next generation of environmental activists” –  Kathryn Stoddard, Earth Day Network
“Jensen’s…innovative designs preceded today’s green movement and whose work deserves broader recognition.” –   Booklist

And won many awards, including:

  Medal of Honor, 2016, from  The Explorers Museum, Tullamore, Ireland 
Winner: Hugo Award Chicago International Film Festival
Winner: Audience Award, Best Director, Green Bay Film Festival
Winner: Accolade Award of Excellence
Winner: Best Feature Documentary, Best Director, Best Documentary Editing, Wild Rose Independent Film Festival
Official Selection: Studio City International Film Festival
Official Selection: Architecture and Design Film Festival
Official Selection: International Documentary Film Association
Official Selection: One Earth Film Festival
Official Selection: Wild and Scenic Film Festival
Official Selection: Ft. Myers Film Festival

And we’re happy to report that the nay sayers were dead wrong. The film has found a wide audience, reaching environmentalists, students, educators, landscape architects, city planners and activists around the world.  It is an amazing testament to the influence and power of Jens Jensen, named “Dean” of American landscape architecture when he died in 1951.  Today the film is shown in many environmental classes around the US and Canada, inspiring many young students of the power of landscape architecture to change lives.

When the film premiered in Chicago’s Millennium Park, with an introduction by Piet Oudolf and simulcast on Chicago’s WTTW, we beat Fox in the ratings and drew an estimated 3,000 to the park. As of this year we have reached 70% of U.S. households and Denmark, with airings on PBS and Danish TV. I am screening the film and delivering speeches all over at educational institutions, garden and civic clubs. The film is available as Video on Demand (VOD) on Amazon and Kinonation and it is licensed to educators via TheVideoProject.com. Today, more than ever, we need Jens Jensen. We need heroes, we need inspiration, we need stories that explain how it’s done and why sticking to your values is crucial to making the modern city livable, and maybe, even, to saving the world.

More: ASLA. Viva Lundin Productions, University of Michigan，更多请至：Viva Lundin Productions on gooood