Sea Lilies is a film of Hope.
How it begins
It jumps forward out of the life experiences of Puerto Rican artist and entrepreneur, Alejandra Baiz. As her artwork – her sense of light and color and design – gives life and comfort to a difficult past of loneliness and neglect, so this film weaves a rising spirit from the destructive bitterness of loss. While many turn to substances to kill a painful past, in this story it is Art that expresses the pain and provides a way forward out of that pain. In Alejandra’s life it is her ability to express herself creatively. This creative power leads to personal power and it allows, maybe even compels her to take care of the father, sick and old and beaten as our story begins.
Artist Unbound
Alejandra uses her artwork to illustrate her own story of survival beyond the terrible legacy of abuse at the hands of her father.
Alejandra’s story is about much more than abuse. It’s a story that kindles hope when it seems as though there is none. It is a story that uncovers the hidden depths of resilience on a family subjected to abuse.
There is so much more to Alejandra’s story and artwork than abuse and neglect. At the heart of Sea Lilies we, as filmmakers, are looking to delve the inside, to reveal the hidden abuse, and what lives before and after. We do this so that she, and too many others, may see and encounter the real details of her and their life. Because in such conflict character emerges. In some great character. In some terrible character.
We don’t mean to say that survival over abuse is character building on a personal level. Abuse, by definition, tears down the human spirit. Destructive forces last long after the storms pass. Yet in the rebuilding comes an opportunity.
Sea Lilies is a story that encompasses survival, regeneration, and resilience and gives hope to others who may find themselves in a similar situation. Such telling can help others around the world heal…
To support the production of Sea Lilies, the donate button below brings you to the company behind the production: Coruway Film Institute, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Your support will help make this film possible.
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Who Are We?
Filmmakers Flynn Donovan and William Rogers have been filming and editing the worlds they have crossed for over 60 years. As their projects, ideas and characters have brought them around the globe, so have their audiences. Each man has been able to tell the stories of people around the world. Flynn learned his craft in the jungles, deep rivers and mountains of South America as a documentary cameraman and filmmaker. Bill developed his own voice in the institutions that seemed to swallow the voice of individuals like Bill’s uncle (My Uncle Joe). The pair met in Portsmouth, NH as they led parallel media paths, but it took decades for their first work together when Flynn asked Bill to edit and help produce a film on fishermen in the Peruvian Amazon (Down River). The film received wide attention including Amsterdam (Best Director), Los Angeles (Best Editing) in a running list of festivals and screenings that would fill our poster. Their work individually and collectively is seen far and wide for good reason. Each filmmaker speaks of deep characters, etched by the time and place they find themselves. Richness ensues.
A case in point is when Flynn worked on a documentary on Coffee and the culture surrounding its farming and harvest that he met Alejandra Baiz, and used her artwork in his film – Near The Coffee. Such collaboration begins with character.