LAFCO North American Tour

The LAFCO Bus 2006 North American Tour

2006-12-31T15:06:00.000-08:00

The LAFCO bus is on an exciting adventure this summer--crossing the country from Venice to Brooklyn.

As we traverse, we will be exploring answers to the following question:

How do the poor and politically disenfranchised use the arts to give themselves a voice and effect change. More broadly what is the relationship between art and politics in America today?

Through interviews and interactions with musicians, painters, poets, and hip-hop artists, as well as profiles of their work, we will create a documentary film that provides a rare, honest and inspiring look at the work of America’s most under-represented communities. The adventures of the crew itself living on the bus and struggling to make it across the country with barely enough money for gas, provides the narrative thread.

The crew is made up of a wildly diverse group of artists: An Italian American prince, a Japanese Samurai photographer, a Native American filmmaker, 2 black hip hop artists, a rapper and filmmaker who went from Oklahoma to Watts, a photojournalist, and 2 incredible women tough and patient enough to live on a school bus with all these crazy boys!

The final film (tentatively titled "Pocket Change") as well as all the additional footage we gather, will be the culmination of 5 years of LAFCO’s mission of giving a voice to artists who do not fit the corporate mold. On this journey, the medium really is the message, as the eclectic and fiercely independent team of filmmakers and musicians on the LAFCO bus use their tools to interact with the people they meet by sharing their creativity with them: collaborating on musical tracks, making music videos, taking photographs, and more...

The interior of the LAFCO bus:

For more info, please visit www.LAFCO.tv
contact: taoruspoli [at] gmail.com

LAFCO shoots 2 videos for stic.man of dead prez

2006-09-20T15:16:00.000-07:00

The bus...

2006-09-20T15:10:00.000-07:00

KP aka Too Real

2006-09-20T14:54:00.000-07:00

New LAFCO Vlog now Live!!!

2006-09-12T12:18:00.000-07:00

We now have high quality, fast download video clips on the all new lafco vlog! lafcovlog.blogspot.com

2 Videos up now. New clips from our journey will be posted almost every day.

Mississippi

2006-09-09T11:28:00.000-07:00

photos by Tao Ruspoli

Leaving New Orleans

2006-09-09T10:40:00.000-07:00

Pocket Change-two rough trailers/teasers of our film

2006-09-02T15:09:00.000-07:00

Comments are very much appreciated!
Click links below:
Pocket Change Teaser 1
and
Pocket Change Teaser 2
You need high speed internet! These are high res, hi definition trailers (about 200mb each)
Here they are in Youtube format (if you don't want to wait for the hi-def version, just hit play below!)

Second Line - Katrina 1 year Anniversary

2006-08-30T14:47:00.000-07:00

New Orleans - The 9th Ward

2006-08-30T10:20:00.000-07:00

New Orleans: The 9th Ward One Year Later

2006-08-29T13:35:00.000-07:00

Photos and commentary by Tao RuspoliWe spent several hours in the ninth ward yesterday. We inteviewed 2 brothers who were stranded for 3 days without food or water taking care of their mother in the top floor of their house. They described the horrors in great detail, including watching dead bodies float by. One year later, it looked to us like very little had changed in their neighborhood. The few people left there live in inhuman conditions.
I was shocked to see that the only water they had to drink was donated by Anheuser-Busch. Until we read the can carefully, we had assumed they were drinking beer. Is it paranoia to think this is a calculated plot to reinforce certain stereotypes?

On a final note, a lot of New Orleans DOES NOT LOOK LIKE THIS! It's a beautiful, fun place to be. Come visit! Help with the relief if you are so inclined. But even for a vacation it's a great city and people just coming here and spending money would do the city a lot of good. Who knows, you may not want to leave...

Dill City, Oklahoma

2006-08-26T16:45:00.000-07:00

On the Road

2006-08-26T16:36:00.000-07:00

Frogville Artists in Sante Fe, New Mexico

2006-08-26T16:29:00.000-07:00

Chairman Tao

2006-08-20T02:39:00.001-07:00

Fun with the fisheye!

2006-08-20T01:33:00.000-07:00

a little film by Tao Ruspoli

Anne Hayunga photographs the LAFCO crew

2006-08-19T08:09:00.000-07:00

Behind the scenes with Anne and Grant

2006-08-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

Day 5: Santa Fe, New Mexico

2006-08-18T23:52:00.000-07:00

Fridge Henge

The bus arrives in Santa Fe, New Mexico

2006-08-18T08:33:00.000-07:00

Day 3: Walapai Indian Reservation, Arizona

2006-08-17T15:01:00.000-07:00

Along route 66, we met some Walapai Indian hip hop artists. The next day they invited us to their reservation.

Crossing into Arizona via Route 66

2006-08-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

We spent the night in Blythe, California and woke up early so we could get on the road. As we trekked up route 66, we took a well deserved dip in the Colorado River. Later in the day, we stopped at the Hackberry Gas Station for a quick photo shoot. In the evening, we stopped for dinner at a fantastic diner and met a Native American MC who had a freestyle session with the LAFCO crew.

The caravan camps by the side of the road

2006-08-15T08:19:00.000-07:00

Tao photographs Billy Wirth and his girlfriend Sarah in Palm Springs

2006-08-15T08:17:00.000-07:00

Day 2: Woke up in Palm Springs

2006-08-14T10:10:00.000-07:00

I fell asleep on the floor of the bus as Tao drove through the night; arriving in Palm Springs in the earliest hours of Monday morning. Billy Wirth, actor and director of the acclaimed film Macarthur Park, met us at his friend's place where we spent the day. The experience felt so surreal almost like I was caught in a scene from The Doors meets Raising Arizona.