Garbage Warrior fights for Earth
By Cindy Spielvogel -- Video Business, 6/23/2008
June 23 | Known best for his model making and special effects for such movies as Star Wars, Oliver Hodge didn't set out to direct an independent feature film. But when he met Michael Reynolds, plans were set in motion to make Garbage Warrior, a documentary about the work of the alternative architect who has found himself at odds with government regulations as he sets out to build self-sufficient communities out of trash.“I'd been inspired to make a film about environmental issues for a while, but I didn't have a subject to follow until I met Mike and his crew in my hometown in Brighton,” U.K. native Hodge says.
Reynolds and his crew, who were working on an environmental project in Brighton, quickly became the subject of Hodge's documentary.
“They have more of a handle on environmental issues than most people, and they're doing something about it,” explains Hodge, “and with no government funds. They're living it every day.”
The film has been playing in theaters and at festivals around the world and aired on the Sundance Channel. The DVD will be released by Morningstar Entertainment on Aug. 12 (prebook July 8; DVD $24.98).
“Star Wars was great fun, imaginative, and I loved it,” he says. But Garbage Warrior, he adds ironically, “has been a breath of fresh air.”
