The Truth Projected

The shadows and complexities of memory are clashing with the present day as I plan to enjoy the unique experience of documentary film during
AFI Docs festival this week. I first attended just a couple of months before becoming homeless for the first time. My profile rose as my writing gained a larger audience through my work with the now defunct Examiner.com a ‘citizen journalist’ site. I covered mostly union issues but snuck in the occasional film review which I found was a strength. I was welcomed in circles that no working class almost homeless guy should expect. I even got to hang out with Woody Harrelson among others after a screening of the film The Messenger.

But documentaries held a special place in my heart and remembrance. So, attending my first film festival was a treat. I even got to hang out during the social time and drink whiskey while meeting some seriously interesting and consequential people. I had a charisma that completely hid the fact that I was unemployed, desperate and scared. I carried those memories with me as I finally hit bottom and slept in a public part just down Georgia Avenue not far from the AFI Silver Theater.

I was invited to North Carolina by a former union coworker and began to rebuild my life, even running for city council when I found out about the city worker pay freeze. I returned home the first time to attend the same festival and it felt like a reward as I sat for the screening of Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey the story of a Filipino man who went from Journey cover band…