Shaping Impact through Intentional Filmmaking with Jakub Chlouba, E034

Have you ever found yourself mesmerized by the power of an authentic story, one that reverberates through your very core and changes your perspective? My latest episode features the passionate documentary filmmaker Jakub Chlouba, who takes us on an intimate voyage behind his lens, revealing how his personal curiosity about the world informs the impactful narratives he captures. As we traverse the landscape of storytelling, Jakub unpacks the delicate equilibrium between pursuing one's artistic passions and the practicality of making a living, providing a nuanced look at the life of a creator straddling these two worlds.

Navigating the influence of social media on the arts, we dissect whether platforms like YouTube and Instagram serve as liberators or jailers of creativity. Jakub offers a candid critique of the push and pull between crafting content for algorithms and remaining true to artistic vision, igniting a discussion on the importance of intentionality in an era where visibility often trumps authenticity. Through this exploration, we confront the yearning for creators with unique voices to rise above the digital noise and claim their space in the crowded realm of visual storytelling.

Finally, we contemplate the profound essence of living with purpose. Jakub shares insights into his personal evolution and how defining one's intentions can shape not only the work we do but also the legacy we leave behind. In pondering the future of filmmaking and society at large, we engage with the hopeful possibility of global consciousness shifts, anticipating a time when leadership and community values align, nurturing a more harmonious coexistence with our planet. Join us for this soul-stirring conversation that might just spark a rethink of your own purpose and the mark you wish to imprint on the world.

Jakub's platforms:
Instagram: @jakub.chlouba
Website: www.jakubchlouba.com
YouTube:   @JakubChlouba
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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

You ready? If I can create impact, it's great.

Speaker 2: 0:04

How do you choose those subjects and those stories?

Speaker 1: 0:06

That connection is very important. How do you make it interesting I? Think you're one of the first artists I've heard At least admit there's an element of selfishness, it's so important to be able to regularly check in with yourself. Do you feel?

Speaker 2: 0:20

like the filmmaking, photography kind of visual art space using a camera, essentially is saturated.

Speaker 1: 0:28

Yeah, you need to pay rent and you need to make money and you need to provide, maybe for a family. But if you have that underlying long-term vision or long-term authenticity, then you will get there eventually. You just have to walk the path. Have I found my purpose? I originally started filmmaking because I wanted to.

Speaker 2: 0:49

Jacob Klober is a documentary filmmaker and director of photography with huge curiosity and interest in telling meaningful human stories around the world. At the same time, his efforts to align his own visions with that of global brands is truly inspirational. Since childhood, he has been captivated by stories of people from distant lands leading different lives, and filmmaking allows him to see and experience life from different perspectives. As quite a brief episode, I could only have him in the studio for an hour. We talked about things of deeper significance, for example, what it means to be an artist, why feeling purposeful is important, how to make an impact and the vitality of authentic narratives. He believes that storytelling is the essence of being able to make a positive and lasting impression on the world, and he certainly made an impression on me. I hope he also does for you.

Speaker 2: 1:49

Enjoy Welcome to the Moo Podcast, man. Thank you so much for being here. I know time is tight, so I really appreciate you coming in for a quick hour. Hopefully we'll get you out the door back on your way. Pleasure to have you, man. Pleasure to be here. I wanted to start with was just kind of an intro as to what you do and why you do it. Sure.

Speaker 1: 2:17

So what I do is documentary filmmaking, and the reason I do it is one, I love stories, I love storytelling. But two, I also love experiencing life and being a filmmaker. It kind of gives you this VIP ticket to different scenarios that you're interested in, whether that's cultures you know, whether that's people that you can meet, whether it's traveling. So for me, this is a big part of why I do what I do as well. It allows me to experience world from different perspectives without necessarily having to go and become, for example, a bicycle messenger. But I can go and I can make a film about that, I can immerse myself in the culture for a few weeks, you know, or months, and through that basically gain life experience.

Speaker 2: 3:10

What is it about the storytelling part of it that hooks you so much, do you think?

Speaker 1: 3:18

I think that I've always loved stories.

Speaker 1: 3:22

You know, since I was little, I always imagined that I'll either be an archaeologist or explorer Okay, and then I became a filmmaker later in life.

Speaker 1: 3:35

But I always liked that idea of, like, I guess, traveling, a lot of traveling and experiences remote places, remote cultures, things that are out of ordinary to what we're used to and then just visiting a place and just being in a place is not enough for me, because in order to understand culture, you need to understand where they come from, you know what is their story, and so that's why storytelling, because through stories you can understand people, you can understand why they do what they do and hopefully, if you learn how to tell those stories, then you can also first help them spread their message and hopefully create an impact. You know, maybe bring that story to someone in your country, where you're from, and that person will be touched, that story and they will maybe think, ah, that's interesting. Now I want to go and I want to experience something like that. So for me, storytelling is a way to, I guess, inspire people, whether that's the characters or the viewers.

Speaker 2: 4:47

Why, then, do you think it's important that A people get inspired by that or, b people are educated through your storytelling about different cultures, different human nature, different ways of life? What is that important? That people are aware of that, and if so, why?

Speaker 1: 5:08

It is important to me. And I would say that because it is important to me and because we live in a world that is, you know, there's a universal consciousness. We as humans, we have things in common. So I would hope that if certain stories connect within me, with me, they will also connect with other people around the world. But the stories I'm telling I realized recently especially, you could say there's a little bit of selfishness maybe, but I'm telling certain stories because I want to tell them. You know, I'm not thinking about the viewer at the other side in the first place. I'm thinking about my curiosity and where that curiosity can lead me. But because I know that we have a universal experience in this world, I know that these stories will hopefully relate and connect to other people around the world as well.

Speaker 2: 6:08

Yeah, I think you're one of the first artists I've heard at least admit. There's an element of selfishness, right, but as humans, I'm sure, because I share a lot in common with you, certainly in the subjects and the topics that we shoot.

Speaker 2: 6:21

Mine's just photography, mate, in yours's video. But I think having that selfish curiosity and selfish is probably the wrong word Maybe self-interest, right? You know that? Well, if I'm interested in this, there's going to be even 100 people, let alone 100,000, 100 million, interested in it, so you kind of don't really have to worry about that. Yeah, does that make sense? I think the difficulty and we'll talk about this in a minute the difficulty is getting that story out there in front of people, right, because that's what we all face, the challenge, right, and social media is one thing, but just getting stuff out and getting in front of people, how do you do that? What is your kind of tactic or strategy? And, okay, guys, this is my voice, this is my story, enjoy, yeah.

Speaker 1: 7:14

So, as you mentioned, social media in that can help definitely, and that's one way I do it, you know, through my YouTube or through other channels. Another way with films is festivals. If you can get your films to good, high-quality festivals, then you can be sure that the story will be spread, you know, will be shown to other people, and but for this, sometimes it's difficult to do everything by yourself. So I think it's extremely important to team up with people, team up with the right producers, Acknowledge that you're not good at everything and focus on the things that you're good at and find people that can help you with the things that you're not good at, because that way, you know, through collaboration I believe through collaboration you can achieve so much more, and it ties to spreading those stories out as well.

Speaker 2: 8:09

I'd have to have a huge team if I have people that do things that I'm not good at.

Speaker 1: 8:13

I'm not good at so yeah, I don't have that team either. But so far from my experience, when I do find that person, you know it's kind of. It goes back to that curiosity, right. So we're maybe curious about storytelling and sharing those stories. So you need to find people that are actually curious about spreading these stories. You know people that are curious about festivals and how can you spread messages, how can you use social media or other platforms to basically get stuff out, and there are people like that, you know.

Speaker 2: 8:45

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 8:45

But it takes time to find them.

Speaker 2: 8:47

Tell us a little bit more about film festivals. I know you've entered some of your. By the way, I should have said this at the start your stuff is amazing. Your films are wonderful. I love your style. I obviously love the places you go and the stories. I'm just envious that I'm not with you. But how do you? I know you've entered some before and you've had some awards or accolades.

Speaker 1: 9:09

Yeah, Accolades Accolations.

Speaker 2: 9:13

Accolades, tell us about that experience and your history with film festivals.

Speaker 1: 9:18

Yeah, so the history is not very big. It was the past two films. Maybe that got to a few festivals and you know, I would say that a few years back you would really need that person who knows where to send stuff, you know, and reach out and talk to festivals. But now, with internet, there's a few platforms where you can literally just sign up, upload your film and then you have access to thousands and thousands of festivals where the only thing you need to do is pay a fee.

Speaker 1: 9:49

But of course, you need to think about the quality of the festivals, because there's thousands of festivals that are small and even though being acknowledged by those it's helpful and it's beneficial, I feel like it's a little bit becoming like people just want to slap this festival logo on their film in order to be able to say that they made it to a festival, but they don't really think about the quality of the judges and about the quality of the people behind the festival. You know, has it been running for a few years? How well is it recognized internationally, and so on and so forth. So, and maybe I'm not the best person to talk about festivals because I haven't made it to so many yet, but I would say that especially this film about the cyclist had a really good feedback, not only from festivals, but from directors that I look up to, you know, from filmmakers that I look up to.

Speaker 2: 10:48

It was amazing.

Speaker 1: 10:49

And I think that's what matters Even if you don't make it to festivals, if you can get that film to the right people maybe the people that you look up to or people you want to work with and they appreciate it that can even do so much more for you than having that, you know, having that little festival logo on your work. And then, obviously, if you talk to producers that focus on this, they could really help you to get to bigger festivals. But that comes with, I think, connection. You know, knowing people.

Speaker 2: 11:20

They use it almost as a marketing tool. Right yeah, A networking tool.

Speaker 1: 11:24

Yeah, and you know, if you want your films to have impact, if you're focused on impact and festivals are a good way to go as well, because there's so many festivals that are focused on impact, you know, environmental festivals, wildlife festivals, for example Jackson Wilde is one of those and if you can get your films to those festivals, it will get in front of thousands and thousands of people, which can not only help you with your career but, more importantly, help you with creating the impact that you may be had in mind when you made the film. You know.

Speaker 2: 12:00

So you talk about impact a lot. Define that for us. How would you measure impact from one of your films?

Speaker 1: 12:08

So I think there's a few ways, you know. Of course, you could measure impact even just by touching people. That's one way and it's a great way to do it Not physically, no Only if they not physically.

Speaker 2: 12:24

Maybe a hug.

Speaker 1: 12:25

Yeah, maybe if you screen it.

Speaker 1: 12:27

You know, maybe if you screen it and then you have a director's talk, maybe that would be shake a hand or whatever, but I think that there is also a lot of kind of impact measures that you can implement into I don't necessarily want to say into your films, but into the distribution of your films, right, and that could be making a film about the topic that is close to you and then launching a crowdfunding campaign based off the film and raising money for an NGO. So that could be quantitative impact, right, yeah, you could measure how much money you actually raised for an NGO which could then lead to positive impact on the ground. That could be one. Festivals could be another. You know in front of how many people it got.

Speaker 1: 13:11

Another one could be this is something I haven't done, for example, but my friends are doing. It is where, when you're actually raising money for the film, even if it's a documentary, you use part of that money to create an impact project and then you make a film about that, you document how that impact project happened, and then you can use that film again to raise more money because, you show what you already did right, so you have a use case.

Speaker 1: 13:38

So that's another way.

Speaker 2: 13:40

I mean there's a level of assumption, right, you know, you pretty much know. I mean festivals are a little bit different, but you can gauge the amount of people that are there.

Speaker 2: 13:49

But online it's easier to analyze how many people are seeing your stuff and then you kind of assume an X fact on top of that, because people will pass it on or they're at the festival, like you know. Maybe half of the people they're watching actually listened properly and watched. Maybe a half of them then actually thought about it and then maybe half of them actually going to make a change or do something about it or help or reach out. Then you can really like assume a level of impact. Yeah, so there's a lot of kind of, I guess, presumptions involved there is.

Speaker 1: 14:20

So I think that if you have a good funnel after for the distribution, then you can measure it a little better, a little better. And then another thing you can do is actually, you know, let's say that you make a film about poaching. So then you could think about oh, what are the organizations that are actually interested in this topic or they're developing some work in that topic, and can we use their channels to spread the film? Because these people will have thousands and thousands of people on their channels that are interested already in poaching. And if you can get the film to them and then maybe have a after campaign that leads those people to whatever fundraising you know, or take some sort of action, then you're kind of already step ahead because you're talking to people that are anyway interested in these topics. So, working with organizations, you know, yeah, yeah, cool, but I'm still I'm still figuring it out. Yeah, you know, it's not like all are. Yeah, it's a process.

Speaker 2: 15:22

Do you feel like the the filmmaking, photography kind of visual art space using a camera essentially is saturated? Do you think it's really difficult to kind of get into and get your break?

Speaker 1: 15:36

I guess it depends what breaks mean for you, you know, if it makes making it on social media, then I think it's difficult. If you want to achieve it from a place of integrity and your true values, it's not that difficult if you're willing just to follow an algorithm for a year or two and create content that performs well, but then I think that then you jeopardize that integrity, you know, or that authenticity that comes from you as an artist and not everyone, because some people love creating that content, you know, and for some people it is what actually fulfills them. But I think that a lot of people, because of the social media these days, they just want to make it there, you know, they just want to gain the followers and then turn it into, basically turn it into profit straight from the beginning, without actually going through the journey, through finding themselves, because it's a process. You need to find yourself as an artist, you know, I think.

Speaker 2: 16:46

We could go down a rabbit hole here, because we could.

Speaker 2: 16:49

You know we've talked about this before a little bit and I guess it is a debate. It doesn't have to be. But social media is both good and bad and depends on how you use it right. But is there a responsibility on professional filmmakers, photographers, to not dilute the industry and to not dilute artistry and to make sure that they're not chasing the algorithm? Because the more we chase the algorithm, the more we give people what we think they want, the less chance it has of going back or changing or being more integral to true art? I don't know, there isn't an answer and people definitely have different approaches. But if we all did that, then maybe art, certainly in photography and filmmaking, doesn't exist anymore, because very, very small portion of the content you see on social media I would call art.

Speaker 2: 17:56

Now people have wide ranges of definitions of art. Well, it's, you know, anything, anything can be art. Right, yeah, okay, we were again. That's subjective as well, and that's the beauty of it. But when people have the wrong intent with a piece of art, then I don't see that ending very well. Would you agree with that?

Speaker 1: 18:16

Yeah, I think that and, again, that this is subjective, right, but I think that art is, as I said, is something that you are not creating for acknowledgement. You're creating for yourself. You know, maybe it's an acknowledgement that comes from within, and social media almost works the other way. It's almost like two different things, right? Whereas on social media, you usually create for the viewers, and that's okay, because if you want to grow, you need to bring value to people, right? But I feel that then you have to be able to.

Speaker 1: 19:03

Maybe I give you an example, right?

Speaker 1: 19:05

So I have a YouTube channel and I'm building my YouTube channel as well, and the way I think about it is I focus on bringing value to people, right, so I focus on creating content for the platform, but I'm doing it because I hope that if that succeeds, then that will give me more opportunities to create the art that I want to create, without necessarily pitching clients, having clients oversee a project and so on and so forth.

Speaker 1: 19:35

So I'm using that social media thing in order to be able to create something that really matters to me and that I could really focus on, projects that can have impact and that fulfill you as an artist, as a creator. Now the question is, maybe if more people would be doing this you know, and this would be their goal I'm using social media to get freedom, to gain creative freedom then you can't say it's wrong, right, you can't say it's wrong or bad or good, but I feel that a lot of people does the social media because they look for that acknowledgement. You know they look for attention, yeah, yeah it's dope, and then give me love, yeah.

Speaker 1: 20:23

And then you, you know you end up in that loop. You get caught in it, caught up in it, and then, who knows, two, three, four years down the line, you're like what have I been doing?

Speaker 2: 20:34

Yeah, I think that's absolutely true and I totally agree with you. It's all about the intent of why you use that piece of software. Yeah, and it's software, at the end of the day, and they're not real people. They are real people, but they're not your real fans. The small proportion of them are. They will probably be loyal to you, but you know, if you're going into it using it as a tool and I'm the same, like I want, I want to pose my photos, come proud of them, but if there's a byproduct of that that allows me to generate time and money freedom down the road, then great. That's the tool that it's going to be. It's the same with YouTube as well. So, yeah, youtube is social media. By the way, I know people talk about social media like Instagram, tiktok, facebook, youtube as well. It's like one of the biggest social media it is social media.

Speaker 2: 21:22

So, yeah, I think the intent behind it is absolutely massive and my problem comes when people don't acknowledge the effects and the collateral damage that it has on art or artistic influence and us being able to see other amazing artists that don't have a shitload of followings, that aren't influential, that aren't like chasing algorithms so we see them all the time on the feed. I want to see those people. I want to see, you know, people that really like with a voice and a story and a different take on something and just real creators. That's what we want to see as artists, I'm sure of it. So if people go on to social media and say I know I'm doing this because this is my art, I'm fucking bullshit, like you are creating, and I know so many people that have done it, and then they get a year or two down the line in that loop, right, and they go.

Speaker 2: 22:20

Fuck, I don't like this anymore. It's not providing value to anyone, real value, not like dopamine hit value, like real impact value, and they kind of lose their way, they lose their voice and they regret like they look back, and this is probably a handful of people that I know. They look back and they go. You know, I was just creating for the algorithm and I don't like myself. I've done it as well. I think we've all done it at some point. We've tried little things like oh no, I'm not comfortable with this. So yeah, I think I'm digressing a lot from my original question, but no, but I think it just it does get me.

Speaker 1: 23:00

Yeah, I think what you touched on, especially the intent and like being intentional, it's very important. And then you spoke about honesty as well, and I think it's so important to be able to regularly check in with yourself and being honest with you, with yourself, on the things that you're doing. You know whether that's art or whether that's how you live your life, whether that's your job, and really be able to say, okay, I'm not happy with this. You know, how can I change that? How can I do something to align more with why I started originally and for me it's been the case as well.

Speaker 1: 23:40

It hasn't been the case with social media so much, but I originally started filmmaking because I wanted to tell stories and bring stories from different places and different cultures around the world to people. But eventually you know through following a lot of commercial productions and what other people are doing I kind of got this idea of I want to become a commercial director, you know, or I want to focus more into commercial work, and I tried a little bit. But if it doesn't align, it just doesn't align, and for me it's very difficult to go against something that doesn't feel aligned within me, you know. And that's where you then need the honesty. You need to be able. I don't care that everyone else is doing it, but it doesn't fulfill me. I don't want to be doing it and make the steps to change something.

Speaker 2: 24:31

How do you balance that? You know, where does the balance between paying your bills every month and doing something that is purely a personal passion Right? Is that always a conflict you have?

Speaker 1: 24:46

Yeah, it is a conflict, but I must say that the past year has been, the more I align, the more works come to me. That the more work comes to me that is aligned with what I want to be doing, you know more documentary projects, more impact projects, and so it is actually working well. You know, even though you might think you have to be looking for commercial work, you know you have to do those commercial things. You have to sometimes. But I would say that majority of my work last year was impact oriented and documentary style and it was because I said, okay, this is what I want to be doing, you know, and this is how I want to present myself and brand myself as well.

Speaker 1: 25:28

But I guess that maybe, of course, there's difference in the money you can make, you know, compared to shooting a commercial, for that has a million dollar budget I haven't done that, but I know the money that you can play with and then making a documentary series that has a 50,000 or 100,000 budget, you know, no-transcript, I realize that. Maybe another thing, like I don't know how to say it, I never chased money too much, so if an opportunity comes and it comes to me, I'll probably accept it. But I'm not really chasing opportunities just for the sake of I need to make you know X amount of money. I would rather be doing jobs that maybe pay less but they're much more fulfilling. And allow me to keep a building on what I want to be doing down the line you know, in three, five, 10 years and how I want to be perceived, rather than just focusing on pitching and commercial work and so on and so forth.

Speaker 2: 26:36

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 26:36

And that's difficult, I think. I mean, I think that a lot of people can't say it, either because of their life situation or because of the temptation. Maybe you know.

Speaker 2: 26:48

No, there's definitely empathy there with people in that situation.

Speaker 2: 26:51

Yeah, yeah, I think knowing yourself is super important, right? Because if you know yourself, then you have a clear identity of what you love, what you want to do, what your purpose is and we'll talk about that in a minute. But if you know that, then other people see it right. In everything that you do in your pitches, in your films, your output, your demeanor, your pitch decks, your emails, correspondence, whatever people you meet people see that and they want to work with those people. And so you know, maybe it is an element of manifestation, but I don't think it is just.

Speaker 2: 27:28

You know, people see authenticity, people see the realness in people, and if that is passion and that's passion for what they do and what they want to do, I think that's who I would want to work with. Right, and the successful people that I see in this space, that's what they're like Like. No, this is what I love doing, this is what I'm going to do, and if you can't kind of somehow align with that, then that's okay. We're different, but we can't work together kind of thing right.

Speaker 2: 27:59

Easier said than done, obviously.

Speaker 1: 28:01

When the rent is hanging over your head, of course, absolutely. You know, yeah, and again, right here, we have to be understanding. You have to be understanding with yourself and with others that, yeah, you need to pay rent and you need to make money and you need to provide, maybe for a family, but if you have that underlying long-term vision or long-term authenticity, then you will get there eventually. You know, you just have to walk the path. I think it's a journey, it's not just a destination, but yeah, exactly, try and enjoy the process while you can.

Speaker 2: 28:41

And yeah, know that, like you said earlier, you're not good at everything and you never will be, but you can improve at one thing and just keep on going having that belief, which is just difficult.

Speaker 2: 28:58

Hi everyone, Before I let you continue with the podcast, just indulge me for a few minutes. I want to briefly talk to you about my new brand, Yore. Founded with my business partner and photographic artist, Finn Mattson, we are proud to bring you a new artisanal jewelry and specialty coffee brand. Yep, what on earth do they have to do with anything? Well, they're both our passions and they've always been another artistic outlet for me, now for over a decade. For those that know me, coffee and jewelry have been my other obsession since I was young and I am a qualified SCA coffee specialist. So when I met Finn, some of you might have listened to my podcast with him. When we barely knew each other, our love for art and jewelry had a home, and that home is Yore.

Speaker 2: 29:43

Yore is about the art of intent for everything that we do. Our intention with the label was to add a touch of celestial elegance and artistic expression to our visual narratives. Every piece is a statement, a reflection of your unique story and purpose. It's not just jewelry, it's a wearable piece of art that speaks volumes. Picture this silver or gold adorned with an actual piece of lunar meteorite, making every piece as unique as the moments we usually capture through our lenses. From limited edition lunar jewelry pieces to finely crafted nine to five sterling silver and gold rings, pendants and chains there's something for all of you in each of our unique designs.

Speaker 2: 30:26

We're also committed to the environment as much as possible. Our coffee in our barley showroom is direct trade, organically produced and locally farmed, minimizing impact on the environment as much as possible. Our packaging is all sustainable and our jewelry recycled other than the moon rock, of course Proudly eco-friendly. In both packaging and jewelry production, you can feel good about looking good. And to top it off, we offer worldwide shipping, ensuring that a piece of lunar beauty can grace your collection no matter where life takes you. And if you ever find yourself in barley, please come and visit our house of yore. Our cafe and community-driven art house is a haven for creatives just like you.

Speaker 2: 31:07

And before we head back into the podcast, please just take a moment to explore yore's collection. As a special treat for you, my wonderful audience, yore is offering an exclusive discount, so head over to our website and use the code in the description for a 10% discount off your jewelry purchase. The link in details are all in the description. So thanks so much for listening, and I'll let you get back to the podcast now, Staring a little bit about your purpose. I mean, I think you've kind of explained it anyway up to this point. But how important do you think it is for people to have a purpose? Is there such thing as a purpose? Is it just the label? How do you see that whole kind of thing?

Speaker 1: 31:56

I think it's important to feel purposeful. You know and I think that's a good question to ask, like, do you feel purposeful? And for different people it can look different way, but I think that we, as humans, are looking for purpose in life. You know, we are looking to do something that makes sense to us. So I would say that I am trying to live purposefully. Have I found my purpose? I'm not sure. Maybe I'll never say, okay, I found my purpose and that's it, and that's what I'm going to do for the rest of my life. But I definitely think that the way I'm going is going somewhere that is fulfilling, that makes me feel purposeful, and the way I do it is that I follow my curiosity. I think this is something that maybe more people should do. If you can follow your curiosity, I think that it will inherently lead you to the things that can bring you purpose in life.

Speaker 1: 33:17

If I would say, maybe I would describe what my purpose is now. I love helping people and if I can do it through my films, if I can do it through my YouTube channel, that's definitely something that makes me feel purposeful. And right now, filmmaking is the way I do it. I tell stories and I'm not sure if this is going to happen or not. But I'm also open to this changing in the future If there's a different way that I suddenly can help people or that makes me feel purposeful. I don't want to just get stuck in the box or I'm a filmmaker, a storyteller, but I want to be open to whatever the life might bring you. Maybe you will become a father and suddenly that's your purpose. You will feel purpose through that. Maybe you will have an experience in life that will completely shift your perception of the world and shift your purpose, and that's how I think there's a level of openness in this.

Speaker 2: 34:21

That's a really mature and I say mature not in a condescending way, it's just that there's a really good way to be open about it and have an open mind, like I want to do this now, but there's nothing to say. In the future Things will change. I mean, look at the last few years. Covid changed so much for everyone, me included. What's my purpose? Things have changed now.

Speaker 2: 34:43

The whole landscape. It caused a lot of introspection, and so things change in your mind and something like that will happen again For sure, whether it's an externality or something within your own personal circle, so that's definitely a good way.

Speaker 1: 34:59

I think that's why I don't like just what's your purpose, but rather do you live purposefully?

Speaker 2: 35:06

Is it where you live with?

Speaker 1: 35:06

purpose on a not everyday basis, but do you try to live with purpose and that can change as you change, or anything in your life changes.

Speaker 2: 35:17

And I think, having that as a goal. Instead of success, I want to be successful. Well, what does that mean?

Speaker 1: 35:24

Do you feel successful? What does that mean?

Speaker 2: 35:26

You find it as different for everyone. Right, it's just money, or is it part of your success, feeling like you've made an impact? Looking back, maybe leaving a legacy? Is something like that important to you, like when you're gone or you stop doing this or you want something else, or your purpose changes and you take a different direction? Is it important to you to leave something behind where you can be kind of feel proud of a body of work?

Speaker 1: 35:54

Not really, to be honest. No, I don't think about that too much. I rather think about legacy too much. If I can create impact, it's great, but I don't need people to remember me. I don't need people to say, oh, this is something Yakub did. But if yeah, interesting.

Speaker 2: 36:16

I don't need the recognition of other people, but I would love to. I guess it's kind of the collector in my mind to collect a body of work over time and then, when I'm old and not shooting anymore, I'd love to be able to look back on that and go oh, this is my life's work and I'm super proud of that. Fuck what anyone else thinks other than my loved ones maybe but yeah, I don't know, there's this thing collect a lot of this stuff and then hopefully be proud of it.

Speaker 2: 36:45

It's weird, but I'd love to be liberated like that. I was like I don't know, I'm just kind of I think.

Speaker 1: 36:50

For me, it's more about the experiences that I can collect through my projects or through my travels, yeah, but I don't have this sort of I like it, though. I like it because it's very nice to then be able to, especially if you print the photos you know, bring things to travel. But maybe it comes with age, you know, maybe. Yeah, I'm getting on.

Speaker 2: 37:22

Tell us about your experiences and how you translate those experiences into stories, and what really gets me is how such incredible filmmaker like yourself translates stories into a piece of art. Obviously, we don't have a house to talk about this, but maybe you'll break it down in YouTube one day Maybe the technical aspects as well, but also kind of the conceptual aspects of how you take a story and give us a beautiful short film about it.

Speaker 1: 37:51

Yeah. So you first have to think about I think with photography is a little different, but with film, you know, because it's a might be a few minutes or even an hour long thing you really need to think about what makes a good story. And for me, what makes a good story is having a human character and someone who either wants something you know, someone who's very dedicated to achieving something, someone who's obsessed with something, someone who's trying to overcome an obstacle in their life or maybe overcame an obstacle and you're documenting how they did it but you basically need someone who wants something or is struggling with something. That makes for a good story, because that's something that we can connect with as humans. You know, and it's same if you would look at superhero movies, right, you will not be attached to a superhero that is all perfect, you know, has all the powers and doesn't struggle with anything. But usually you connect to superheroes because they struggle with something. You know, spiderman didn't stop the thief and that thief then killed his uncle and that's his dark thing that he struggles with, right. So then he feels that he has that responsibility to actually fight evil. And it's same with any characters, you know, with normal people, everyday people, with athletes.

Speaker 1: 39:13

So for me, story is about someone who wants something and is trying to overcome it on their journey. And then how do you take it and how do you make it interesting? I think that comes to personal experience. Again, you know, I will be telling different stories than you would be telling if you're a filmmaker, because usually those stories will be somehow navigated through my life, life experience, to what I connect with, to what I went through, you know, and so it's very personal. I think that documentary filmmaking is very personal and whenever we tell stories it's important that we are connected to those characters, or at least it is for me. I. Even even if there's a character who has an interesting story but I'm not connected to that person, I can't make the film. Because you have to, you know, you have to spend so much time with these people, you really have to be interested in getting to know them, peeling off different layers, and this is very difficult to do if you're don't connect with that person.

Speaker 2: 40:14

So how do you choose those subjects and those stories?

Speaker 1: 40:17

So the process starts with the topic. That's one way. If I'm interested in a topic for example, in the case of the cyclist, I was interested in messenger culture but that itself is not a story, that's just a topic. And so in order to make a film, I need to find a character, and the way I found the character in this case was that I immersed myself in the cycling culture in Buenos Aires.

Speaker 1: 40:39

I went to a few meetups, you know. I went to a few like mechanics, people that make bikes, build bikes, and then through that I met Anderson, you know, and from the first moment I connected with him. Like we started, even though he doesn't speak English and I speak almost zero Spanish. But I don't know, you just know. You know something happened there and we connected. And then, through a little bit of research and through trying to figure out what is his story, I realized that he actually has a story. So I have the connection, I have the character that I'm interested in and he has a story. You know, he's overcoming something or he had a tragedy in his life, and for me, then, that's a go.

Speaker 1: 41:21

Like I can make a story about that, but that connection is very important. And research, you know, for example, now I'm trying to put together a project in Nepal about Sherpa culture. It's very difficult to find a character that you connect with remotely, so we have a few candidates. But again, it's possible that I come to Nepal, I'll meet that person and you don't click with that person.

Speaker 2: 41:48

And it's expensive to do a recce. Exactly.

Speaker 1: 41:50

Exactly, but I think it's the best way, or that's the best way for me to like immerse myself in the topics that I want to make the films about and then, through that, find a character.

Speaker 2: 41:59

Yeah, tell us about your experiences coming up. I know you're heading to Congo. Can we talk about that? Yeah, we can talk about it.

Speaker 1: 42:06

Tell us a little bit about what you've got planned.

Speaker 1: 42:09

Yeah, so we are going to Congo for three weeks to make a four episode series about poaching. Going back to finding the right people, I was really lucky two years ago and I found a producer who's an incredible guy. We put the project together in 2022 in Congo, and this is kind of a continuation of that, just making it a little bigger, little more structured. And yeah, we're gonna spend three weeks in Congo sleeping in the jungles, going down the rivers, tracking elephants, tracking poachers, and then we're gonna make a film about it.

Speaker 2: 42:47

Good, I hope you fucking catch some fucking poachers. We're nearing the end of the lot of time we've got with you. We'll end with a couple of questions. Sure, one is from our last guest, stefan, who you obviously know. He didn't know you were coming on, but he wrote a question for the next guest who he didn't know, which is you Question is what would you like to be remembered for? And I think we.

Speaker 1: 43:17

I didn't even know, I just pulled it out. No, no, no. Yeah, I think I would like to be remembered for how I interact with people. If I meet a person, I would like to be remembered as someone who treats people well and is kind. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 43:35

Love it. Well, I think you are. From my limited knowledge of you, I think that's definitely something that I think you can be proud of. And the final question is our little tradition. Lucky dip is actually one in here that I've asked before, which is a mistake. Okay, so face down, just pick a card and then hand it to me without looking at it.

Speaker 1: 43:56

Okay, let's do this one, then yeah Cool. It's a good thing, oh no.

Speaker 2: 44:03

Okay, you ready, ready. Why do you exist? Oof, oof.

Speaker 1: 44:11

It's a deep one, it's a very deep one. Why do I exist? I guess, from a spiritual perspective, I exist because I wanted to have a certain experience in this world, and that's why I reincarnated. What is that experience? I'm not sure yet, but I think that would be the main reason why I came here, like we all did, you know to experience something.

Speaker 2: 44:34

Do you mean anything or something?

Speaker 1: 44:36

No, I think that you know, maybe you could call it a purpose, or but I think that we come here because there's something in this life for us, in this world, something that we want to still experience, and I think that when this ties together, that's why curiosity plays such an important role in finding a way or way to your purpose, or being purposeful, and so curiosity will lead you there, to that one. Maybe it's not a one thing, my, maybe it's those experiences, and I think that's the reason why we all exist.

Speaker 2: 45:14

Interesting. How do you see the next 10, 20 years, both in the state of filmmaking?

Speaker 1: 45:23

and photography.

Speaker 2: 45:25

And how do you see the state of the world in the next 20 years? Because you know, for someone who wants to tell stories and make an impact for what seemingly is, you know, great causes, do you feel hopeful that we can reverse a lot of these issues that we're facing today Climate change, plastic waste, poaching, animal cruelty you know, the list is endless. How hopeful are you of that over the next decade or two?

Speaker 1: 45:55

I'm hopeful. I think that things can be reversed, and we've, as a humanity, we've proven that, for example, with the ozone layers. You know there's no ozone holes right now, so things can be fixed, but it requires everyone, you know. I think that if each of us can do something, that's one part of it and it's important, but then it also requires the leadership, and currently, when you look at the state of the world, I'm not so sure if the leadership that we have is on the same wave as planet Earth. Yeah. So I think that's something that has to change and I think it will change. But it might be painful, you know. I think change is painful. You know a birth is painful. So if something new has to be born and brought into the world and maybe that's the way we live then it's probably not going to go smooth as butter.

Speaker 2: 46:59

Maybe we all have to die. Maybe it's another dinosaur thing where we the world resets.

Speaker 1: 47:05

Yeah, you know, I mean, and this is something that some people might consider a little too far-fetched but are you familiar with human design?

Speaker 2: 47:14

God, I thought you're going to say flat earth, then no, no, that's the second one.

Speaker 1: 47:20

No, no, I'm not. No, ok, so there's a. I met with this guy in Ibiza we were making an episode about him and he's the founder of Jinkies Jinkies are, you could say a method that tells you how to, that breaks you down as a person and tells you what are your shadow sites, what are your I don't know what's the medium called. It's like when you live in alignment and then cities, which is like the higher frequency that you can live on, and it's based on itching. Itching is a Chinese method, I don't know, 3,000, maybe years old, based on hexagrams, and because it's based on itching, there's 64 hexagrams in itching, so Jinkies have 64. They don't call it hexagrams, they call it something else, but they call it keys. One of the keys number 55, I believe has a prophecy, and that prophecy is that in the year 2027, which is very soon there will be a big shift in the way humanity sees the world and in the way we decide to live.

Speaker 1: 48:37

The past 400 years were all about development, exploration, building, building, conquering and so on, and the next 400 years, from the 2027, is going to be the return. So they say it's going to be the return to nature, return to community, return to our values. But it's going to take time and there's going to be people that will fight it. But what should come at the end of it is basically a new earth. It's an earth where we live in one with nature. We live in harmony. We don't. The technology that we harness is our bodies, is the biology, it's not the devices outside of us, and I'm not sure if I believe it, but it's interesting to think about it.

Speaker 1: 49:27

And I think that we can see the consciousness shifting a little bit.

Speaker 2: 49:31

I hope so, and it is incumbent upon, I guess, people like yourself. If leaders aren't going to say I totally agree, I don't think anything will change without significant leadership, because we're just all minions and leadership has power and money and very little can happen without that. But in our own little ways and our own creative, artistic ways, we can hopefully change one or two people's minds, and that's if we all did that, the world would be a different place, exactly. And on that note, thank you so much. I wish you the best of luck with Congo. Super excited to see what you come out with. When are we expected to see a film from Congo?

Speaker 1: 50:16

I think we're going to launch it maybe in October. It's going to take some time and it's going to be mostly for check market, because I'm going with the Czech crew, we're going to have versions with subtitles and we really want to focus on impact there as well. So there's going to be a campaign, there's going to be a VR screening of different locations for Congo. It's going to be interesting.

Speaker 2: 50:39

Cool, can't wait to see it. Thank you so much again. Have a great time and we've just touched the surface here, so hopefully we can get you on again when you come back. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 50:48

Share some stories from Congolese.

Speaker 2: 50:50

Yeah, definitely, let's do it. Thanks so much, thank you.

Speaker 1: 50:52

Appreciate it. Pleasure, pleasure, matt Cheers.

Speaker 2: 50:55

Thank you.