Director’s Statement

A lot of people have an opinion of the wall, but few have experienced life along the border. When you’re down there, you quickly realize that drawing a neat line between our two countries isn’t easy. Personally, I don’t believe that building a wall is an answer. But I didn’t want to make a partisan film that doesn’t attempt to explore something outside of my own preconceptions. We knew if we wanted to learn more, others would too. 
 

Director's Statement

When I read about Yiwu Market, I was attracted to the scale, aesthetic, and contextual layers operating there: all of these things were both distant yet relevant to my life. As an American consumer I give little thought to my relationship to the people producing the goods I buy from abroad, and being of mixed Chinese ethnicity, my relationship to China poses an open question. 

Directors' Statement:

This project was a dream come true for me, honestly. In this age of freakishly short attention spans and reality TV-style editing, it was really important to me to tell this story in a way that was (hopefully) immersive for a willing audience and respectful to the Kulung culture. I felt a sense of responsibility to the people who gave us their trust to tell their story in a way that didn’t feel exploitive or overly dramatized. 

Director's Statement

​What attracted me to Tom’s story was how he discovered his unique talent, how he remained true to himself in doing so, and how he continues to inspire childlike wonder night after night, year after year, decade after decade.

Director's Statement

I saw an article on Brandon when I was on Twitter one night. The image of one of his sand mandalas immediately caught my eye and I was completely taken with his story. I found it very inspiring and visually compelling and felt like it would make a great film! I think anyone who comes in contact with Brandon can’t help but be inspired by him, no matter what their struggles are, big or small.