Velcrow Ripper

Velcrow Ripper is one of those precious few filmmakers who doesn’t take himself seriously but in fact is a dedicated social activist and creative artist. He moves easily from documentary to new narrative drama, to multimedia, to projects he categorizes as “absurd.” Velcrow is best known for the feature documentary “Bones of the Forest” which he co-directed with Heather Frise and which won the Genie Award for Canada’s top documentary in 1996. He is a “hands-on” video/filmmaker and multimedia and performance artist who writes, directs, produces, photographs, and edits. Happily for “A Place Called Chiapas,” Velcrow also designs sound with the magic touch of someone who knows the difference between a sound-track and a soundscape. For Velcrow, any sound from the bugs of the Mexican jungle to the squawks of the Internet is music to his ears. Velcrow Ripper’s creative and loopy filmography lives up to his name.