A few years ago, Inder found this great material at a fabric trade show in Hong Kong. It had a crinkled shiny surface that was kind of perplexing but we fell in love with it right away because it was so different from everything else out there. It reminded us of Washi*, a style of paper handmade in Japan using natural fibers. That’s where the name Japanese Paper came from (it’s not actually paper though– it’s a polyester fabric with a polyurethane coating that makes it super resistant!).  On top of it, we have some sort of obsession in the office with things often associated with Japanese culture: the precise traditions, minimalist architecture, the Zen influences mixed in with a totally badass counterculture movement. It took some experimenting with the material (did we like it simple or with a lot of seams? Structured or billowy?) and we designed a few collections around it. The result: amazingly light bags that take so well to color. We just introduced some styles back on our website, for a limited time only.

*Washi (和紙) is a style of paper that was first made in Japan. Washi is commonly made using fibers from the bark of  trees, but also can be made using bamboo, hemp, rice, and wheat. Washi comes from wa meaning Japanese and shi meaning paper, and the term is used to describe paper made by hand in the traditional manner.

The Old Bowery Station, on April 25 and April 26, played host to 20-year-old plant-based chef Jay Astafa’s restaurant concept, Jay Kitchen. The transient but transformative pop-up wowed crowds of roughly 80 – 90 people each evening, which translated to about 1,360 plates total, as the sit-down dinner consisted of eight carefully curated courses.

Photo by Hulya Provenzano

The menu featured several palate pleasing dishes, but perhaps most memorable, at least to my mind, were the nut cheeses. From a cashew chévre crostini topped with ramps to a homemade cheese plate (featuring aged cashew cheese and brie with strawberry-rhubarb compote, orange infused bee-free honey and rosemary-almond crackers), there was much to indulge in, not to mention rave about on Instagram.

Beyond blowing folks’ minds with rich and creamy cruelty-free cheese, kitsch also made a cameo, in the form of caramel popcorn treated to liquid nitrogen. Entitled dragon’s breath, the salty-but-mostly-sweet morsels titillated the tongue and made for some entertaining exhales.

“This menu was inspired by fun,” Astafa told me. “I wanted to do something fun.”

 Photo by Erin “Red” Grayson

Born, raised and based in Long Island, Astafa said farewell to flesh six years ago, at age 14. He explains, “After watching a PETA video, I made the connection that meat comes from animals. I couldn’t eat meat anymore after that.” Following this realization, he had another, maybe more profound, awakening: “I remember, it was Halloween. I was trick-or-treating at that time and eating candy with milk in it. Every time I consumed dairy, as well as eggs, I felt guilty. So I became vegan.”

Astafa grew up in a foodie household, however, as his family owned and operated an Italian restaurant, called Three Brothers Pizza Café. Instead of being discouraged by their conventional cuisine, four years ago he asked if he might supplement the menu a bit. As the cliché saying goes, the rest is history.

Astafa continues to craft compassionate meals at the casual suburban spot, but has in the past year developed a desire (in addition to a business plan) to open a gourmet establishment in New York City proper. Presently studying restaurant management at The International Culinary Center (formerly The French Culinary Institute), Astafa has high hopes of garnering savvy investors’ support and competing with some of NYC’s finest, from Candle 79 to Blossom, Pure Food and Wine to Dirt Candy.

I recently sat down with Astafa to discuss this achievable dream, one for which many a local conscientious consumer is waiting anxiously to come true. We also talked about his trajectory, techniques and a whole lot more.

When did you realize you aspired to be a chef?

As soon as I became vegan. It opened a whole culinary world for me. I discovered so many different ingredients. I would watch Food Network all the time, to teach myself how to cook. I even had a food blog when I was 15. If I weren’t vegan, I don’t think I would be a chef. I was aspiring to be an actor, actually.

When did your diet and lifestyle shift infiltrate the family restaurant menu?

In 2009. By then I had been teaching myself how to cook vegan for about a year-and-a-half. To my dismay, there weren’t any vegan dining options on Long Island. Then I discovered Daiya. I was like, Why not just add vegan cheese to the pizzas? I created a modest vegan menu, and at first traffic was slow. No one knew about us, because we didn’t advertise. I was so happy when even just a few people each day ordered from my menu. A few months later, I created a full vegan menu, and it was written about in The New York Times. That’s how it started. It was all word of mouth.

From how far do people travel to dine at Three Brothers?

It’s not just Long Island. It’s Manhattan, it’s Brooklyn, it’s all over. Three Brothers is definitely a destination restaurant.

Are there non-vegan skeptics that try the vegan dishes?

We get people who aren’t vegan who order vegan food and are so surprised. Now, I want to open a restaurant that’s entirely vegan!

Tell me more about that.

I want to open Jay Kitchen, a vegan fine dining restaurant. I want to do something that hasn’t been done in New York City yet. NYC’s foodie scene focuses so much on meat. That’s the trend. I think meat is passé. It’s time for something new. I want to show people that you can enjoy innovative food that doesn’t involve harming animals. That’s my mission.

Which was presented at your pop-up. How did that materialize?

Originally, I had hoped to open my own brick-and-mortar restaurant by early 2013, but my concept changed, evolving for the better. In the meantime, I was looking for a fun way to share what I was working on. So, I decided to do a pop-up. Spring is my favorite time of year; there are so many awesome vegetables in season, which I saw as the centerpiece of my menu. Most people think vegetables are side dishes, but they can easily take center stage. I also wanted to emphasize foods people don’t typically think can be vegan, like cheese.

Oh, for sure. From where did you draw inspiration?

For a couple of the cheeses, like the Brie, I was inspired by Miyoko Schinner’s Artisan Vegan Cheese. She’s created recipes for so many different kinds of plant-based cheeses. It’s one of my favorite cookbooks. Spring was also an inspiration, as mentioned. Another inspiration was fun. I wanted guests to have a fun gourmet dining experience. Lastly, and tied to fun, but also innovation, I incorporated modern molecular gastronomy techniques, something you don’t often encounter in NYC’s vegan scene.

Can you speak to a couple of these techniques? I know there was the liquid nitrogen caramel popcorn…

There was a technique for the caviar called spherification. The soup had a foam made from chive oil. I also used a lot of neat equipment, such as a PolyScience Smoking Gun. It’s a really cool tool—you can cold smoke anything! I used it on the cauliflower. For dessert we used caramel powder, made from tapioca maltodextrin. The tapioca absorbs the fat, and turns the caramel into powder. When you eat the caramel powder, it melts into caramel. This was dusted on top of the chocolate tart.

Yum! What was a fan favorite across the board?

Guests really loved the ravioli. People can get vegan ravioli in NYC, but not like you find in Italian restaurants like, for instance, at Babbo. Mine was inspired by Mario Batali. I wanted to make a vegan version. I make my own cashew cream butter and my own cashew Parmesan. The pasta is homemade, too. Instead of eggs, I use silken tofu. That’s an excellent egg replacement for pasta. Eggs make the pasta soft, and silken tofu provides the same effect.

I remember it melted in my mouth. So dope. What did guests think of the cheese plate?

People loved the cheese plate. There was a woman there, not a vegan, who is a big Brie lover. She raved, This tastes just like Brie! That was a rewarding compliment. People imagine vegans can’t eat cheese, but that’s not true: there’s a whole world of plant-based cheeses out there.

Vegan cheese is having a major moment right now.

2013 is the year of vegan cheese. Treeline, Dairy Tree, Kite Hill, Parmela. Good ol’ Dr. Cow and Punk Rawk…

Six years ago, there weren’t any vegan cheeses that tasted good. Now, so many are coming out, including some that melt. It’s really changing our world. There’s no longer an excuse not to be vegan. And it’s definitely growing more popular. When I first became vegan, many people didn’t know what it was. Now, everyone recognizes the term.

Absolutely. Who in the vegan community do you look up to?

Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. Their book, Veganomicon, was one of the first books I bought when I became vegan. They inspired me to learn how to cook. Before that, I didn’t know anything about vegan cooking.

What’s so special about your edible offerings? What do you bring to the table, so-to-speak?

A lot of the stuff on my menu I can’t just go get from the store the same day. I have to pre-plan. I make a lot of ingredients from scratch, like the butter and cheese. Beyond this and the modern methods I mentioned earlier, in general I simply like creating a one-of-a-kind dining experience.

Your future looks bright. What are you most looking forward to post-pop-up?

I can’t wait ’til I actually do that every day. I was sad it was over after two nights. I’ve been dreaming of opening a vegan restaurant in NYC for so long! Right now I am working on finding a location and a backer. 2013 has been wonderful so far, and I’m excited about what’s to come.

Interested in investing or know someone else who would be down to discuss backing this talented and ambitious vegan chef? Have access to a viable venue in NYC, or have other ideas to help him make this fine dining dream a reality? Reach Jay Astafa at jaykitchennyc@gmail.com.

 Unless otherwise specified, photos courtesy of Rachel Durga Page.

Neil Gaiman’s commencement speech at the University for the Arts is great advice for creative types, but I kind of think it’s just great advice for anyone.  I’d never heard him speak before and he’s pretty much wonderful so listen to the whole thing.

Here are some highlighted passages in case you’re at work and don’t have speakers or if you prefer reading or if your cat is making too much noise:

“Sometimes the way to do what you hope to do will be clear cut, and sometimes it will be almost impossible to decide whether or not you are doing the correct thing, because you’ll have to balance your goals and hopes with feeding yourself, paying debts, finding work, settling for what you can get.”

“Something that worked for me was imagining that where I wanted to be – an author, primarily of fiction, making good books, making good comics and supporting myself through my words – was a mountain. A distant mountain. My goal.”

“And I knew that as long as I kept walking towards the mountain I would be all right. And when I truly was not sure what to do, I could stop, and think about whether it was taking me towards or away from the mountain.”

“I would do my best in the future not to write books just for the money. If you didn’t get the money, then you didn’t have anything. If I did work I was proud of, and I didn’t get the money, at least I’d have the work.”

“The things I did because I was excited, and wanted to see them exist in reality have never let me down, and I’ve never regretted the time I spent on any of them.”

“I hope you’ll make mistakes. If you’re making mistakes, it means you’re out there doing something.”

“Life is sometimes hard. Things go wrong, in life and in love and in business and in friendship and in health and in all the other ways that life can go wrong. And when things get tough, this is what you should do:

Make good art.

“The moment that you feel that, just possibly, you’re walking down the street naked, exposing too much of your heart and your mind and what exists on the inside, showing too much of yourself. That’s the moment you may be starting to get it right.”

“Go and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here. Make. Good. Art.”

Full transcript available at The University of the Arts.

Montreal is a fast-paced urban center alive with a steady flow of students and business people alike. Sometimes you’ll see them slipping past one another, hungry and hunting.  It’s likely they would never imagine being able to eat crisp vegetables grown within city limits.

“We’re providing an answer to an enormous variety of environmental issues by supplying hyper-local, fresh vegetables to urban residents. By growing without pesticides and distributing directly to customers the same day as harvest, we provide safe, nutritious, and much more flavorful vegetables, while also eliminating the 1500-mile transport chain most grocery store produce travels through,” said Lauren Rathmell, Greenhouse Director and Founding Member.

“We further minimize our environmental impact by recirculating water, capturing rainwater, and using about half the energy of a typical greenhouse. Finally, we help cities by replacing rooftop heat islands with a transpiring plant surface and we help reduce the energy needs of the building below us year-round.”

Lufa Farms will be expanding in the Montreal community by taking on new subscribers and opening more drop-points where people can pick up their baskets. Their second greenhouse will be opening in a few months, which will more than double the amount of vegetables they produce.

Over the next couple years, Lufa Farms plans to have greenhouse sites underway in at least one other major city in North America. In the more distant future, they hope to build multiple greenhouses in cities around the world.

“Finding suitable rooftops isn’t necessarily straightforward, so this is a challenge that lies ahead as we start expanding to new cities,” said Lauren. “We’re an incredibly innovative team overall, so we’ve been able to find solutions to many of the engineering, cultivation, and other challenges we’ve encountered so far. This leaves us poised to tackle expansion and introduce this concept worldwide.”

Their ultimate goal is to make cities self-sufficient in their food production. To provide for the population of Montreal for example, it would take about 25m square feet of rooftop greenhouses, a space equivalent to about 20 shopping centers.

“Our team is motivated to make an impact and push towards expansion, and we have the creativity and drive to make it happen,” said Lauren. “It’s been no easy task to get to where we are today, but we’re all so excited about the potential and ready to give it our all.”

Lufa Farms was founded in 2009 by Mohamed Hage and the founding team of Kurt Lynn, Yahya Badran, and Lauren Rathmell. Hailing from Lebanon, Mohamed drew inspiration from his heritage in naming the company. A lufa is a type of vegetable that grows abundantly in Lebanon and vines over homes and gardens. It produces a gourd-type fruit that can be dried and used as a loofah or sponge. The spirit of benevolence embodied in this plant that cools, shades, and bears fruit without needing much in return seemed to Mohamed an apt choice for the company’s name.

Lufa Farms is now composed of a team of about 30 people, including corporate, distribution, and greenhouse workers.  Their head office is located in Montreal, where they also built the world’s first commercial rooftop greenhouse.

More information is available at Lufa Farm’s facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RooftopFarming?fref=ts

You may access their official webpage here: https://lufa.com/

You may call them at (514) 669-3559 or email them at info@lufa.com

I’ve been anticipating the release date of the new rendition of the classic novel The Great Gatsby by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald for a few months now. The new adaptation by Director Baz Lurhmann, which came out this Friday, was cinematically stunning.

Prada Sketches for The Great Gatsby

I’m quite the fashion enthusiast and for most of the film I found myself having to lift my jaw, as the costumes and cinematography were incredible! I had to stop from fiddling in my seat from excitement the whole time. Not to mention, the 1920’s are one of my favorite decades historically for fashion, I got the urge to cut my hair into a bob when it ended.

What I loved most of the film was Lurhmann’s ability to capture the energy of the roaring 20’s. The speakeasies, the androgyny, the flappers, the dancing & the partying were captured seamlessly.  I’ve always had an interest in costume design; and after watching the film and reading an interview with costume designer Catherine Martin, it inspired me to take the weekend to myself and start sewing again. My machine has been stacked up in my closet the entire winter collecting dust; it felt good to start using it again. It’s easy to fall into routine, though making time for yourself & your favorite hobby (for myself at least) is the best break to routine and who knows maybe one day I’ll be able to make one of the costumes from the film… it’s in the works!

Many artists, particularly us introverts, dream of having a 2nd home that is away from the hustle bustle of the big city.  For myself it would be a shack made of concrete, steel and glass surrounded by acres of forest and enough trees so that privacy would be an understatement !

I’m guessing these are the feelings Phillip Johnson had in 1949 when he built his glass house in New Canaan, Connecticut. The project was not only innovative for the time, but also became a turning point in modern architecture.

The 47 acre estate includes 13 modernist structures Johnson built. There is an underground paintings gallery which includes a portrait of Johnson by Andy Warhol as well as works by Frank Stella, Jasper Johns, Julian Schnabel and Robert Rauschenberg.

An interesting quote in LIFE magazine in 1949, sign of the times: “Except when entertaining, Johnson lives alone, servantless and accompanied only by weather, paintings and books.”

I tend to think of the Glass House every summer once the snow is gone and the grass is green again, maybe it’s time to take a tour…

http://philipjohnsonglasshouse.org/

Two seemingly incongruous worlds collided this past Saturday night in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. At SIR Stage37, steps from the Westside Highway, fashion fans and animal lovers alike gathered to toast both.

A runway show, cocktail party and auction, the swank Fashion Loves Animals soirée at once honored designer Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart and her cruelty-free company Vaute Couture, as well as fundraised for Farm Sanctuary, one of the nation’s foremost animal protection organizations.

“Farm Sanctuary has always been my most favorite place on earth,” Leanne beamed to a captive audience following the main event. “Honestly, it’s amazing.”

Hilgart in February wowed a considerable crowd and attracted mainstream media attention when her brand became the first all-vegan fashion label to show in the history of New York Fashion Week. Her presentation—which, in addition to showcasing autumn/winter ready-to-wear, also featured adoptable dogs alongside models—secured coverage in and on outlets like US News & World Report and CNN, the latter dubbing Hilgart “the rebel of Fashion Week.” Which is, in case it isn’t apparent, a compliment. No fur, no leather, no wool, no down, no silk—nothing derived from an animal. Just innovative and attractive alternatives.

“Events like this are very inspiring. It’s a way to recognize entrepreneurs who are making a difference, by producing products—in this case fashion products—that do not cause animals to suffer. We need more of that. We need more young people to get involved in creating positive change. Leanne’s done an amazing job with Vaute Couture.”

As with her first iteration three months ago, Hilgart enlisted Joshua Katcher of Brave GentleMan and Monisha Raja of Love Is Mighty to complete her ensembles with cruelty-free footwear. Katcher’s collaboration with Novacas has in the past year yielded the most attractive men’s shoes on the market. And Raja didn’t disappoint with her eye-catching heels, each woven out of otherwise landfill-bound biscuit wrappers.

Whimsy could also be seen in Hilgart’s youthful line. Comprised of myriad sweet pieces and her classic coats, perhaps most coveted were her patterned dresses with skin-baring star and heart cutouts at the upper back.

“I just love hearts and stars,” Leanne gushed. “To have a playful element to things, that’s really important to me. I think people take fashion too seriously.”

Keeping with the evening’s theme of fun, food vied with fashion (and adorable dogs) for the limelight. Twenty-year-old chef Jay Astafa volunteered his services, churning out savory hors d’oeuvres, while pasty chef Fran Costigan pleased palates with decadent desserts.

“I really wanted to get involved with Farm Sanctuary,” said Astafa, who—beyond passing apps like cashew chévre crostini with ramps and mac ‘n’ cheese bites (both of which were ridiculously delicious)—also donated a four-course gourmet meal for ten.

Of his generous gift, which commanded a $1,000 bid-donation, Astafa shrugged, “Cooking for ten people is easy, and I wanted to do something nice for animals.”

Astafa wasn’t alone in this. Also up for auction were Love Is Mighty flats, The Body Shop bath and beauty loot and a Brave GentleMan custom tailored blazer, among other things.

Partygoers were equally smitten over the Matt & Nat handbags, briefcases and backpacks that male and female models carried down the catwalk. The mother of an intern even later tried to buy one off of Hilgart. “I’m like, I’m sorry, I have no control over that,” Hilgart laughed while recalling the incident. “People love the Matt & Nat bags.”

What’s more, unlike a lot of animal advocacy happenings, albeit comparably lovely, Fashion Loves Animals drew fashion industry insiders. So, when Baur addressed guests, many were hearing his wise words and viewing his compelling slides for the first time, which is critical.

“Every day we make choices,” he began. “It’s about living in a way that’s more humane, more kind. These animals [at Farm Sanctuary] get to be who they are. They get to express, which is part of fashion, too. Animals on factory farms in cages can’t.”

Hilgart put it quite nicely when she explained to me her aesthetic motivation.

“I’ve always loved Sailor Moon in terms of design. [But, she also has] this amazing story. [She’s] a normal earth girl [who] tries to save a cat. The cat turns out to be a magical cat [that] gives [Sailor Moon] superpowers!”

Hilgart at last brought the creative concept full circle, “I feel like, that’s what life is. If you help others, you find your superpowers. And that’s true for everyone.”

Photos courtesy of Max Gordon.

We moved our offices last December from Chabanel street (otherwise known as the fashion district in Montreal) to an area not too far from there that feels really different. The streets in our new neighborhood are bordered with grass so it’s easy to step out and get some fresh air, eat your lunch seating on a rock or take a moment to relax outside. After 8 years spent on paved streets, I must say this new address makes me appreciate these simple pleasures. Given the incredible summer weather we’ve been experiencing the past couple of days, I decided to step out and take some pictures of our Dean backpack around the block this afternoon. The Dean has been one of our favorites recently:  it’s so simple and practical, and yet we love the sharp lines. It’s also great on a bike, so when we were experimenting with the recycled rubber from bicycle tires, it made sense to try the material on this style. What you see in the pictures is a development sample of the style for our Fall 13 collection, one of these prototypes we use to test our ideas. We changed it a little bit after that, maybe we’ll use this sample for one of our giveaways.

“I feel a tremendous sense of obligation and responsibility for this film to reach the people,” award-winning filmmaker Liz Marshall told me when we spoke on the phone recently. Even in the midst of preparing for its premiere, Marshall took time to discuss her much-buzzed-about film, The Ghosts In Our Machine.

A compelling documentary about both the ubiquity and the invisibility of animals in our world, Ghosts follows animal photographer Jo-Anne McArthur as she traverses heartbreaking and heartwarming terrain, figurative and literal alike.

“I wouldn’t say that I take photographs of animals,” McArthur says in the film. “I would say that I photograph the predicaments that animals are in because of humans.”

McArthur travels Canada, the United States and Europe, in each location documenting something (and someone—countless someones) different. From caged critters on fur farms to claustrophobic aquaria, from skittish lab beagles to formerly confined dairy cows making an escape, we become members of her critical mission: to uncover what’s at once hidden in plain sight, as well as what’s beyond the environs of our everyday encounters.

Food, fashion, entertainment and research—Ghosts explores each of these areas of exploitation, and does so with taste and tact, grace and gumption. Gorgeously shot and meticulously edited, it’s no wonder this aesthetic gem premiered at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival and, I’m told, received a standing ovation.

“This is a film designed to open the door to deeper awareness, or awareness for the first time,” explained Marshall as we concluded our call. “I hope people understand it, that’s all.”

Please read on for more from the talented auteur filmmaker. Then, peruse the interactive section of Ghosts’ site, which supplies an immersive introduction to the film. And, if you’re in Toronto, snag tickets to the theatrical release at Carlton Cinema between May 31 and June 6, as Ghosts is poised to resonate well into the future, long after the sentient beings we meet on screen are gone.

Why does this story need to be told?

Because it’s a significant social issue. I think it is being told, in various ways, by all kinds of incredible, multimedia [people] around the world: thinkers, writers, speakers, activists. I’m just adding to the way it’s being told. I’m adding a new language to tell this story, which has been around for quite some time. But, it’s all about how it’s told. The biggest challenge since I started developing it in 2010 has been trying to find the right tone. The right way to anchor the “animal question” to a story that could then be universally accessible. In terms of filmmaking, I think The Ghosts In Our Machine is [serving] a useful—and powerful—purpose at this particular juncture in history. We’re telling this story in a way that, I believe, [will be] received by a larger demographic.

How did you arrive at the title? Why “our machine” and not “the machine”?

[The latter] is all over the internet. Every possible genre has appropriated this phrase, especially science fiction. So, I decided on The Ghosts In Our Machine. The “our” in the title is very significant because, the way I see it, the “machine” is not an abstract notion outside ourselves. We are the machine. We feed the machine, as consumers, and we have the power to make a difference and change the way things are. In that regard, The Ghosts In Our Machine turns it on the viewer. It says to the audience, Well, what can you do?

 Absolutely. With that said, when and why did you become vegan?

I became vegetarian when I was 18 because I read John Robbins’ amazing book, Diet for a New America. It really radicalized the way I think about animals, the environment and food production. But, I slipped occasionally. I would forget why I was vegetarian. I would sometimes eat fish or chicken. But, when I [got together with] my partner, Lorena, nine years ago, she reopened my eyes to the animal rights issue. I chose to become vegan when I started developing The Ghosts In Our Machine, about three years ago.

 Onto the nitty-gritty, what was it like sneaking into a fur farm and filming?

That was my first time doing any kind of animal investigation. And it was really, really, really hard. As a social issue filmmaker, I’ve been to the frontlines of human atrocities all over the world—war-torn countries, HIV AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa, poverty-stricken slums in parts of Africa and South America, things like that—but I’ve never done a documentary that focused on animals caught within this machine. It makes you wonder how we can do this to other species. I don’t understand it.

I am comparably perplexed. On a separate note, it’s incredible the pristine production, especially given the circumstances and crew size. You had, like, five people (crew included) plus security on watch outside, right? Wasn’t that tough and super risky?

We took equipment that was very conducive to doing fieldwork. Yes, we were definitely several people, but it was a tight ship, let’s put it that way. Very, very, very well-planned. [We] were planning that investigation for five months leading up to it.

I can’t even imagine. So, your film focuses on several specific things, like fur farms, lab beagles, aquaria and dairy cows. How did you determine what elements of abuse (and rescue) to incorporate, given the pool of options is so vast?

In total, there’s about 180 hours of footage. The film is 92 minutes long. I wanted there to be one investigation story. I didn’t want more than one, because I think it would be overwhelming. I definitely wanted there to be a couple of rescue stories. The film ebbs and flows between witnessing animal use and then animals living in peaceful, happy, loving environments, like Farm Sanctuary. It was important to try to create that balance. People will not want to watch this film if, from beginning to end, it’s all about animal abuse. Ultimately, I want people to walk away with a new understanding of animals, as truly unique, feeling, conscious beings. So, that’s what this film is trying to achieve.

I noticed—and appreciated—that it was equal parts uplifting and harrowing. So, what aspect of the experience making this film was most difficult for you?

The totality of it. You know when you know something intellectually and then you actually feel it? I had a deeper “ah-ha” moment when I decided to go vegan. The blinders came off 100% and I became very aware that, all around me in the urban environment, animals are everywhere. Animals have been reduced to ingredients. To bits and parts all around us. And we’re so accustomed to it. It’s “normal,” in a way. Quote-unquote, normal. But normal doesn’t mean it’s right. When you grow up with something as normal, you don’t necessarily question it. You need the veil to be lifted. You need that awakening. So, my own awareness was the impetus for me to try to create a film for people that would gently lift the veil. By the end of the film, people leave the theater with a new awareness. And that’s a big task to try to accomplish, but that truly is the goal of the film.

Anything you would go back and change if you could do it all over again? (Apart from setting every caged animal free.)

I feel at peace with the film. In the past, there was always something nagging at me. But, with this project, I feel it’s done. It’s ready to be released.

Please consider supporting Jo-Anne McArthur’s ambitious book project, We Animals, which, once published, will add yet another element to Ghosts’ potent story.

No release is scheduled yet for the U.S. Film distribution leads are warmly welcomed. Please chime in if you know how to help bring Ghosts below the border.

All photos are courtesy of Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals, except for the shot of the camera photographing the sheep, which is courtesy of Liz Marshall.

Here are a few of the samples that we fiddled with. The process is almost as fun as the final product. What are your thoughts?

We’re starting off small, only offering it as an exclusive small batch to our unify collection. Stay tuned for our launch in August!