Rock the Boat … Rocks!
December 24, 2009 § 6 Comments
In early December, I had the pleasure of seeing a sneak peak screening of a rough cut of the movie Rock the Boat. It’s a documentary about the 2008 kayak trip down the Los Angeles River. The expedition was organized by George Wolfe of the Lala Times. The trip is the subject of three of the earliest blog posts at L.A. Creek Freak and is prominent in our so-far five-part series On Nexus and Navigability. (Extra credit for finding all 8 separate links in that sentence!)
Rock the Boat is directed and produced by Thea Mercouffer. The December screening featured a ~30-minute long rough cut of what is intended to be a feature-length documentary. It’s a treat to see a well-paced film, featuring lots of footage of the river – from soft-bottom natural areas to concrete channel. The documentary also features lots of context given by experts including Andy Lipkis, Ramona Marks, Melanie Winter, Heather Wylie and even me.
The folks working on the film are looking for donations to see it through to completion. If you’ve got money to spare, consider making a donation. For folks interested in checking out the documentary, see the preview above and keep your RSS tuned to LA Creek Freak. I am hoping to put together a public screening – with admission for a modest donation – hopefully in January.
L.A. Creek Freak 
This is fantastic! I can’t wait to see the whole film.
In the early 1970’s I wanted to play a high school sport, but we didn’t have that for girls back then except in gym class. It never occurred to me that we should, until the women’s movement came along and said, hey, you should be able to do this. But of course!
Same with the river–it never occurred to me that I should be able to use the LA River like I used the Rock River or the Kishwaukee in Illinois–for canoeing, or floating in an inner tube on a sunny day–until I saw this video. But of course!
You have a movement going here. I’ll continue to direct folks to your blog. A movement takes money and people. One of those I’ve got.
@Petrea – yes – The kayak expedition certainly helped open my eyes to new ways of thinking about how we humans can interact with and recreate in our river. The more we Angelenos think of our river as a place of nature and recreation, the more we will treat it with respect and care.
Thanks for being a loyal reader, referrer, and commenter at LACF!
[…] I highly recommend this film (and I am not just saying that because I am in it) – see my earlier post for infomation, links, etc. […]
[…] Eco-Villager Joe Linton was one of the kayakers – to read his account of the trip, check out L.A. Creek Freak. Come watch a 30+minute rough cut of the feature documentary (preview above), and contribute to its […]
[…] L.A. River boating expedition documentary Rock the Boat will screen at Los Angeles Eco-Village on Saturday May 8th 2010. Basic info here, more details […]
[…] here’s a link to the review of Rock the Boat in Joe Linton’s L.A. Creek Freak blog […]