A film that took a devoted and determined Malibu mother and her daughter 23 years to make is one of just 10 films to receive a gala screening at this month’s prestigious Toronto International Film Festival.
“The Journey is the Destination” tells the remarkable story of Dan Eldon, an artist, adventurer and Reuters News Agency’s youngest photojournalist, who was killed in Somalia in 1993 while covering the plight of a nation enduring war and famine.
U.S. Marines made the fatal mistake of bombing what they thought was a council of warlords in Mogadishu. Many innocent lives were lost. Dan and three other journalists were killed in the ensuing riot — Dan was just 22.
Grief stricken and bereft, Dan’s mother, Kathy, and his sister, Amy, found meaning and purpose in their lives again by continuing Dan’s work — to inspire people around the planet to live more fully and give back more to others.
Even by Hollywood standards, 23 years is a long time to get a movie made.
“I wanted it to be an entertaining story that could ignite a movement of young people around the belief that they could make a difference in the world,” Kathy said. “Gathering the best team for the project and raising the funding took much longer than I expected, but I’m thrilled with the outcome — starting with director Bronwen Hughes’ choice of Ben Schnetzer to play Dan.
Malibu resident and major Hollywood actress Maria Bello plays Kathy in the film.
“Maria is an activist for peace and justice, an amazing actress and a dear friend. Ben Schnetzer absolutely channels Dan and Ella Purnell is the right combination of fierce protector and challenger, just like Amy,” Kathy said.
“To share this experience with Kathy has been everything,” Bello said.
Immediately after Dan’s death, Kathy worked to bring the world’s attention to the serious problem of journalists at risk. She produced “Dying to tell the Story,” with Amy interviewing frontline journalists.
Nominated for an Emmy, it premiered at the UN and was distributed globally by CNN. It led to successful documentary careers for Amy and Kathy.
“But I always wanted to make a film about the young journalists around Dan. I envisioned a film that was not just a movie but would act as a vehicle to ignite a global movement of young people, and the young at heart, to believe they have a role to play in changing the world around them,” Kathy described.
Shot over eight weeks in and around Johannesburg, South Africa, the film portrays scenes from London, Malawi, Kenya and Morocco, just a few of the 40 countries Dan visited in his life.
“This is a film that’s uplifting, it’s energizing, it’s activating and it will make people, I hope, dance out of the movie, wanting to live more fully, love more fully and just enjoy life,” Kathy said. “I want them to head out of the theatre to think about what they can contribute to the world.”
In her terrific memoir, “In the Heart of Life,” Kathy reveals the power of love and love’s ability to heal, even after death. It’s a brutally honest family saga that explains the Eldon family’s love affair with Africa.
Divorced from Dan and Amy’s father, Mike Eldon, the two remain close friends.
Perhaps Kathy and Amy’s greatest achievement is Creative Visions on PCH, an agency for creative activism. The foundation, established in Dan’s name, also has branches in Atlanta and New York — soon in the U.K. and Hawaii. Their mission is to ignite the creative spark within all of us to make a positive difference.
“We provide tools, resources, mentorship and community to help people use the power of media and arts to build social movements and impact the world,” Kathy said.
Since 1999, Creative Visions Foundation has supported more than 260 projects and productions on five continents.
Thanks to an acclaimed and bestselling collection of his journals, “The Journey is the Destination: The Journals of Dan Eldon” (Chronicle Books), Dan’s life has ignited sparks in millions around the world. This and two more of Dan’s books will be re-released along with the film, also titled “The Journey is the Destination,” in 2017.
“Dan has been a legend for me for 17 years,” Bello said. “My son’s father first gave me the book, ‘The Journey is the Destination,’ because I was traveling all over the world, photographing and attempting to do collage — but nothing like Dan. When I read it, I was inspired by Dan’s way of walking in the world. And that’s what I try to instill in my child.”
Kathy and Amy live next door to each other on PCH: Kathy with her husband, architect Michael Bedner, and Amy with hers, producer Jon Turteltaub, and their three children.
Dan Eldon would be proud of his mother and sister who turned tragedy into triumph and continue his work to help make the world a much better place. That’s some legacy.
For more information: creativevisions.net and kathyeldon.com
