Interview with Louis Schwartzberg

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I had the distinct honor of an interview with Louis Schwartzberg. To speak with him about his movie, America’s Heart and Soul, you’d think you’ve just witnessed the inauguration of a life’s work.

Does the thought of living off the land seem like a long-ago distant lifestyle we can never go back to? We think of an era in which we were dependent on the quality of the soil, the caprice of the weather, the hard work of our hands and the passion in our souls. In the movie America’s Heart and Soul, Director Louis Schwartzberg makes the case that living off the land is not just still attainable, but unavoidable. And passion is the first listed ingredient. He makes the case that without this passion we really aren’t living at all. In fact, he asserts, the land in which we live augments those passions. We are shaped both by our surroundings and by our human environment. This is the “land of the free and the home of the brave.� We have a spiritual connection with our piece of land.

Mr. Schwartzberg has said that “we’re connected by a deeper bond than I’d ever imagined.� The bond is our passion for living, and our spiritual connection to the land. I think he’s right. Recall farmers who won’t leave the farm. Even though weather cycles have made farming difficult in their area, they wouldn’t think of leaving. Or witness my first visit to New York: I did the tourist thing and rode the boat around New York Harbor and the Statue of Liberty. On the same tour were a gentleman and his companion. When they heard I was from the West Coast, they proceeded to take me on a verbal journey of the history and beauty that was New York. He loved New York. This was a spiritual moment. I loved it. I connected with a man whose name I don’t even know. Someone I will never forget.

Mr. Schwartzberg wants us to connect with each other in a similar way -- in the way he connected with his new friends. Schwartzberg connected to the people in his film as a result of spending time with them. So he lets us spend time with them, too. He wants us to see what he saw by sharing some time with people who have been shaped by their little piece of the country. He hopes we will throw away our prejudices by seeing what normal everyday people do to make them local yet obscure heroes. These connections will enable us to be more tolerant of each other.

His film shows us that living off the land is more than living a rural life on the farm. We are shaped by the land called “the city� too. We meet people who have a spiritual connection and passion for swerving in and out of busy Manhattan traffic. During my talk with Schwartzberg I’d told him that I walked away in love with each person depicted. I believe I couldn’t have paid his film a bigger compliment.

Was there one identifiable quality that each of these people had in common? “Their passion and connection to the land,� was the answer, without hesitation. I spoke also with Paul Baribault of Disney. He answered this question with the following: Almost everyone in the film was involved in pre-release screenings. Their invariable response was words to the effect: “Those are pretty extraordinary people. Why was I in this film?� We might call that humility.


But one mistake we tend to make is to assume that our life is meaningful only if we think it so. It seems that the opposite is true. What we consider “no big deal� is often our what others find to be our endearing quality or distinguishing ability. Our life becomes a gift to others. Schwartzberg has said, “I didn’t shape the material; it shaped me.� I can see that.

I was touched by the deep emotion that came from this man toward these astonishing people and the country in which they live. His movie carefully avoids political statements. It is illogical to even suggest that it is partisan. It’s about us, all of us. It’s about passion and living.

Mr. Schwartzberg speaks with a passion about this project. He was shaped anew by the process of filming America’s Heart and Soul. He says he rode an emotional roller coaster thoughout America and he wanted to share his experiences with us. Louis Schwartzberg loves America! He’s not afraid to say it. He now has a vehicle to show us why.

Continue:
—Overview
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film
—Spiritual Connections