aiff_program09_interior.xp 3/2/09 3:54 PM Page 27
Footsteps in Africa, A Nomadic Journey Fuel
documentar
67 minutes a73 2007 a73 USA/Mali a73 In Competition 112 minutes a73 2008 a73 USA a73 In Competition
Friday 9:20p
a73
Saturday 9:50a
a73
Sunday 9:20p Thursday 3:00p
a73
Friday 6:00p
Plays with: Mustang – Journey of Transformation (p34)
Director/Narrator: Josh Tickell a73 Executive Producers: John Paul DeJoria, John Goldsmith,
Robbie Little, Janet Morrow, Stephen Nemeth a73 Producers: Daniel Assael, Darius Fisher,
Rebecca Harrell, Greg Reitman, Dale Rosenbloom a73 Screenwriter: Johnny O’Hara a73
Director: Kathi von Koerber a73 Producer: Kiahkeya Productions a73 Cinematographers: Diego
Cinematographer: James Mulryan a73 Editors: Michael Horwitz, Tina Imahara a73
Benavente, Kika Vliegentheart a73 Animator: Joao Amorim a73 Editor: CC Treadway a73
Music/Composers: Ryan Demaree, Edgar Rothermich a73 Principal Cast: Sir Richard Branson,
Music/Composer: Jamshied Sharifi a73 Principal Cast: Mohamed AG Mahmoud, Tuareg and
Robert Kennedy Jr., Josh Tickell
ies
a73 thefuelfilm.com
Kel Tamashek tribes a73 footstepsinafrica.com
“You should not desire a luxury you do not have. We always say
Fuel is a thorough telling of America’s addiction to oil and an
that fortune is when everyone is happy.” —Tuareg proverb.
uplifting testament to the immediacy of new energy solutions.
Running his Veggie Van on used cooking oil since 1997, director
A universal tale of humans finding their path in life by living in Josh Tickell invites us to traverse the nation with him, revealing
simplicity with nature featuring the Tuareg people of the Sahara its past and future along the way.
desert in Mali. In an experimental, moment to moment manner,
experience their mode of life, their relation to the earth and
We go with him from Louisiana oil refineries to recall how
their perception of time.
Rockefeller’s strategy halted Ford’s first ethanol cars, to Capital
Hill to investigate Vice President Cheney’s petrochemical
27
With very little interview or dialogue, the film captures their sponsored energy legislation; and from there we move to the
element, investigating their music, dance, survival skills, and cities of the future, with vertical farms that occupy skyscrapers,
the rituals they carry to keep their culture and heritage alive. and the country’s implantable wastelands where algae facilities
Following the people and their tribal chiefs, healers and are turning wastewater into fuel. Tickell, and a surprising array
seekers, it subtly questions the modern way of life. The Tuareg of environmentalists, policy makers, and entertainment
choose to live in austerity, a truth of extremes that is the poetry notables take us through America’s complicated, often
of the their life, living in solidarity with the rhythms of nature. ignominious energy past and illuminate a hopeful, achievable
[subtitles] future, where decentralized, sustainable living is not only
possible, it’s imperative.
Kathi von Koerber
Josh Tickell
Director’s Statement
Director’s Statement
Less is more. Taken from many interviews
we selected pertinent wisdom in the form I made Fuel to show that there is a way for
of proverbs, anecdotes and reflections on us to have all the energy we need without
time and people that conveys the strength compromising peace and freedom. I
and dignity of the Tuareg. We interviewed wanted to make a film about the serious
regional chiefs, teachers, Koranic healers, elders of villages, challenges we face and ultimately about
children, musicians, festival directors, documentary the power of every individual to make a difference.
filmmakers, as a road trip allows, whom you meet you allow to
speak. In affect it became a survey and reflection of the land,
Ten years ago, when I set out to make this film, the biggest
the people, the reality on the ground.
challenge I had was getting people to buy into the idea that a
movie could make a significant contribution to the world. But
All the text in the film was taken from interviews throughout my green community saw the validity of these ideas, and with
the making of the film, and composed into the film, in a poetic their encouragement I have overcome many obstacles along the
way as the crew experienced the journey. In a very experiential way. Until recently, documentaries weren’t seen as vehicles for
way it was conveyed to us that simplicity is the way of life. social change. That rapidly changed with Fahrenheit 9/11,
Supersize Me, Born into Brothels and especially An Inconvenient
Filmography: The Chili Pepper Chameleon, Coiffeur Du Jour, Flag Film Truth. Suddenly, the little energy documentary I’d been working
on for a decade became hot.
Filmography: The Veggie Van Voyage
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