Filmmaker and director Mike Plunkett visited Dwight’s IB film class last Thursday, May 17 to share with students clips of his current project entitled “Charge,” along with professional insights into the world of filmmaking. “Charge” is a feature-length documentary in production, which carries the tagline: “A character-driven journey through Bolivia’s relentless fight to control its abundant natural resources” — resources such as water, silver, coca, and lithium. It’s a tapestry that weaves together several stories of Bolivians whose identity — and whose hopes and dreams — are shaped by the resources they mine. Mr. Plunkett was invited to Dwight by Nick Lindner, who teaches the class and is a member of the “Charge” filmmaking team’s camera department, serving as First AC. He and Mr. Plunkett have traveled to Bolivia several times to shoot under arduous conditions: extremely high altitudes, on expansive white salt flats that reflect the blazing hot sun, in jungles, and inside silver mines. They will return this week to continue capturing footage of what promises to be a highly regarded finished product.
Mr. Plunkett, who received a number of grants to support the film, including Cinereach and the Gucci Tribeca Fund, explained to students what’s involved with raising funds to shoot a film of this type. He also shared how his vision for the project evolved from a short film into a full-length feature. While set against the country’s tumultuous political landscape, “Charge” does not focus on political struggles, per se; its aim is to showcase how people’s lives are impacted by toiling daily under difficult conditions to capture resources for industries where struggles among politics and populism are at play. One resource is lithium, which comprises more than fifty percent of the world’s supply and was just recently discovered beneath a remote salt flat in 2009. Lithium batteries fuel a wide range of major consumer products like cell phones, laptops, and electric cars, so it’s no wonder the world is clamoring to extract it from Bolivia. But typically those who labor to extract natural resources in Bolivia rarely benefit from the enormous profits they bring to others. The fact that Bolivia is the poorest nation in South America throws this issue into greater relief on a global scale. Mr. Plunkett shared that the inspiration for the film came from reading a cover story in The New York Times about the lithium discovery. The classroom discussion that followed included watching a few key clips centered on the subject of technique. The director explained that he chose not to utilize the traditional verité documentary style of storytelling. He opted for a more stylized method, which includes slow motion; macro photography; and moving the camera slowly around the subject in 360 degrees utilizing steadicams and dollies — techniques that are associated with narrative filmmaking. The result is both beautiful and powerful. Mr. Lindner said, "I feel that it is valuable for the students to connect with what my colleagues and I do in the film industry. It is so important for them to tie what we discuss in class to real world applications, and recognize that this is in fact a potential career path for any one of them."