The LAFCO Bus 2006 North American Tour

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

The bus...

KP aka Too Real

New LAFCO Vlog now Live!!!

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

photos by Tao Ruspoli

Leaving New Orleans

Pocket Change-two rough trailers/teasers of our film

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

New Orleans - The 9th Ward

New Orleans: The 9th Ward One Year Later

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