Director & Producer of "The Mysterious Stone Monuments of Markawasi Peru" & the Emmy award-winning show "The Mystery of The Sphinx" sits down with DOC to answer some questions.

I majored in philosophy at Florida State, but put myself  through college doing photography. That’s when I began taking film courses. My first film was called “Bananas” a one minute pixilation of two bananas making love. I was inspired by Jodorowky, who did El Topo and The Magic Mountain.

We first visited Markawasi in 1989, for just one day. But it got into my head. We got some funding together and went back in 1991 for seven days. Then we were able to film Daniel Ruzo, the original discoverer of Markawasi. It was his last interview, but he inspired us with his vision. Out of this I made a very short film, always hoping to back and do it right. Our chance finally came in 2005 when Peter Schneider invited us to go back and “finish that film you started years ago”. We jumped at the chance and with his help, were able to invite Dr. Schoch and most of the original production team. Markawasi is magical and still very much a mystery to me.

At 12,500 feet altitude, it was hard to hike around, carrying all our equipment. You are quickly out of breath. There is nothing up there, so we brought tents, cooking gear, etc. A full scale expedition. During the day, it was 76 degrees, and we walked around in shorts getting a sunburn, but as soon as the sun went down, it plunged to 27 degrees and we had to dress for full winter. Also, there was no place to charge batteries, but we brought plenty of spares and so that was not a problem. At one point, I walked out to the edge of a cliff face to see the view. I looked straight down almost 2,000 feet. That made me watch my step. The best times were at night around the campfire (made with cow-dung) telling stories with the crew. They were all terrific.

I like to think we make credible films about incredible subjects. What we are being taught is only part of the full picture, I feel. Someone has to present alternative views to round out the information. In our NBC Special “The Mystery of the Sphinx” we showed that the Sphinx could be thousands of years older than history tells us, based on its weathering. In “The Mysterious Origins of Man” (also NBC) we presented evidence about man’s origins and rise to civilization that has often been ignored. Recently we completed a documentary about a controversial site in Mexico where spear points of an unbelievable age were discovered. That too was ignored, even though the evidence was firm.

Documentary films are becoming increasingly important today. They can focus on specific issues and speak openly on topics that may be otherwise ignored. Socrates, the Greek philosopher, once  said that society was like a big horse. It would just stand there unless it were goaded to move by the bite of a tiny gadfly. He saw himself as that gadfly. Maybe that’s what documentary films are doing today?

I sometimes joke with my team that we are about to make yet another film that’s going to get us into trouble. The project we are looking at now is about one of the most sacred taboo's today. Evolution. I can’t say any more at this time.

I liked Expelled, The End of Suburbia, Fahrenheit 9/11, Grizzly Man, and Koyaanisqatsi.
 

by: Gregory Crofton

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