MY GIRLFRIENDS RULE: Marie-Michele Jasmin-Belisle

One of the best moments of this past summer were spent in the sun-soaked desert city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, where I had a chance to connect with some of the dopest artists of the city, such as Jaque Fragua, Cloudface, Randy Boogie, Saba, Vanessa Wilde representing the solar art force of the Pueblo creative massive. One of my hosts was the lovely Marie-Michele Jasmin-Belisle, an award-winning film director originally from Montreal. Marie-Michele's work range from avant-garde nouveau cinema, music videos & commercial media, visual poetry, to documentary projects. Aimed to push forward the boundaries of what she terms 'digital bohemia', her work deal with interconnectivity, the human & natural landscapes, peace & culture. Her new collaborators and projects for 2011 include Japanese performer, Kirilola, and Navajo/Hopi Hip Hop instrumentalist, painter and dancer, CloudFace. 8h51 is Marie-Michele’s film company, set to create dance films, music videos, documentaries, video loops and event projections; creative pieces for stunt men, textile artists and dance theater groups alike.

Currently in festival circuits, Wonder Chamber no 1 is a visual poem, sort of like a video haiku inspired by the Buddhist mantra, NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO, resonating the interconnectedness of all living beings through sound and vision. As the mantra is practiced as a means to reestablish one's connection to one's inner Buddha nature, her short film is a meditation on beauty, devotion, creativity, transience and enlightenment. Read more on the meaning of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo here.

Wonder Chamber no 1 from marie-michele jasmin-belisle on Vimeo.

This is the official trailer for the Longest Walk, a feature length documentary film currently in post-production. The Longest Walk 2 (longestwalk.org, took place last year (2008) from February 11 to July 11, from San Francisco to D.C. as thousands of people walked to commemorate the original Longest Walk of 1978, and raise awareness about environmental issues. All life is sacred; Clean up Mother Earth ; Protect Sacred sites. A video by Marie-Michele Jasmin-Belisle, for the Nowa Cumig Institute. ©2008