Episode 203: Planetwalker with Dominic and Nadia Gill

This episode of Across The Margin : The Podcast features an interview with directors Dominic and Nadia Gill. Born in Oxford, United Kingdom, and educated at Shrewsbury, Dominic became a biologist who, at the age of 25, left the corporate world of environmental consulting to fulfill his dream as an adventurer and filmmaker. He set up shop creating and producing film and television content. Dominic's first adventure film Take A Seat: Alaska to Argentina, in which he rode a tandem bicycle from the top of Alaska to the bottom of Argentina, won Special Jury Prize at the Banff Mountain Film Festival in 2009 and has since been shown in over 400 cities worldwide. He also published the story of this journey in the book, Take A Seat. Nadia Gill, a former lawyer, left her job to join Dominic in biking across the United States in 2010 while they produced a television series: Sharing A Ride Across America. In 2015 they released their first feature documentary Coming To My Senses, chronicling the vision quest of former motocross athlete Aaron Baker as he crossed Death Valley in the culmination of a 14-year effort learning how to walk again. Together Dominic and Nadia formed Encompass Films, and their latest documentary, Planetwalker, is the focus of this episode. Planetwalker tells the story of black environmentalist Dr. John Francis, known the world over as “Planetwalker.” In 1971, after witnessing an oil tanker collision in San Francisco Bay, he gave up motorized transport in protest and relied solely on his own two feet. Months after that he took a vow of silence, convinced that listening rather than adding fuel to any argumentative fire was the way ahead. During the next 17 silent years — serenaded only by his banjo — he walked across the United States listening to and studying the environment around him. Planetwalker focuses on the period of John's life from the oil spill through his meandering 20-year journey across the States where he resumes speaking to work on oil spill legislation with the US Coast Guard. During this time, it seemed like the whole world, every creed and color, saw John pass by and interacted with him if only fleetingly. Planetwalker re-introduces the world to the inner-magic of Dr. John Francis, a central figure in the intersectional environmental movement who’s story takes on new meaning today.

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