Raphael Lyon and Andres Ingoglia were both in Buenos Aires in 2001, when — along with the subjects of their film — they found themselves caught in the whirlwind of political upheaval that followed the collapse of the Argentine economy in December of that year. Over the next year they witnessed deposed presidents, assassinations, ongoing protests as well as the explosive growth of varied nonhierarchical social movement trying to make change outside of a government structure.

Using only a consumer-grade camera Lyon recorded of hours of footage, both on the street and within the collective. He then returned to New York to edit the film. At the Indymedia center there he gained access to a computer, editing software, and a corner to sleep in. He labored several months to make sense of the footage, at the same time participated in IMC-NY’s efforts to cover the escalating violence in the Middle East and the local organizing against it.

Translating from Argentine Spanish was a challenge, and Lyon was aware of his outsider status as he tried to understand the nuances of the history. He realized quickly that he needed a partner. “I needed someone else — someone with filmmaking experience, who shared the politics and ideas that were driving the project, and was from not just South America, or Argentina — they had to be from Buenos Aires, they had to be a Porteño. And they had to be in New York City at the moment!”

By fate or coincidence, it was not a day later that Ingoglia showed up at the Indymedia office. “When the guy who I asked for arrived at the door ten hours later, I didn't know what to think,” said Lyon. “I still don't.”

Ingoglia, an Argentine citizen, had also been in Buenos Aires, during the upheaval, but had not crossed paths with Lyon. Taking the massive protests to be a sign, he had decided to travel — first to New Jersey where he had relatives. “I had made an internet search, and come up with a list of ten places that I would like to work or help. And Indymedia was first in the list. I took a trip to the New York City, rang the bell at the midtown Indymedia office and a barefoot Raphael opened the door. I said ‘I have no idea what you guys do here but I would like to help. I am from Argentina and just got to the States.’ Raph answered ‘Argentina? I am making a film about Argentina, do you want to work with me?’ And I said yes.”

It’s been four years since Ingoglia startled Lyon with his timeliness and determination. Since then, the pair completed Eye of the Storm, a prequel based on the original footage Lyon shot on his original trip to Buenos Aires. It showed at festivals across the US and Europe, including Rotterdam and the New York and Chicago Underground Film Festivals, and was translated into nearly half a dozen languages.

After a short fundraising speaking tour Lyon and Ingoglia returned to Buenos Aires with the proper equipment and assimilated themselves into the Indymedia Buenos Aires collective for a period of months. Going to meetings and covering actions with the collective, the pair did their best to make friends among crises that were faced almost daily. “Working with the collective in Buenos Aires was mind-blowing,” said Ingoglia. “In an organized chaos they managed to listen patiently to one another in pursuit of one clear objective: bring the media tools to the marginalized poor and create a space for them to communicate their struggles and stories.”

Lyon and Ingoglia created “i” without corporate funding or large individual grants. The pair were determined from the beginning to prove that a film like this, about network theory, could be made through a collective effort of sharing resources, time, advice and interest. “It’s really a challenge to make a film about invisible things,” said Lyon. “And that’s what this film is about — largely invisible things. I don’t think we could have done it if we didn’t have the resources and creative courage that comes from doing really non-commercial work.” Currently they are gearing up for a speaking tour with “i” this fall, and preparing to launch an experimental community-based distribution strategy that mirrors the grassroots media-making that the film is about.

"i" the film tour information: 

Filmmaker Raphael Lyon Recipient of the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts Film & Video Fellowship: 

From RISCA Press Release

Local filmmaker Raphael Lyon is this years’ recipient of the RISCA Film & Video Fellowship Award for the feature length documentary "i".  Co-directed by Argentinian Native Andres Ingoglia, "i": contains up-close footage of the Argentinean economic collapse of 2001, the social uprisings that accompanied it., and the Independent Media Center activists who chronicled the events as they unfolded. "i" had its US premier at the Ann Arbor Film Festival in March and will be screened in Providence for the first time at the Columbus Theater- August 31, at 8pm.  Beginning in September 2006 Lyon and Ingoglia will be touring with the film to share their first hand experiences with student groups, activists, filmmakers and universities across the US, South America, and Europe. 

The RISCA Film & Video Fellowship recipients are selected through a blind panel process, based solely on the applicants’ artistic merit.  The panel felt that although they have seen countless documentaries about political activists, Lyon’s stands out as being of exceptional quality—they appreciated the sophisticated use of imagery, and the privileged access to the inner circles of the film’s subjects’, and the unique and important perspective on the films’ topic.
Raphael Lyon is a graduate of Brown University, and a filmmaker, musician, performance artist and screen printer living in Providence, RI, where he also runs the record company FreeMatter fortheBlind.  He has been the recipient of two RISCA Individual Project Grants.  He may be contacted at: PO Box 5788, Providence, RI 02903. For more information on I: The Film, go to www.ithefilm.com

The RISCA Fellowship Program is the State's most significant direct support to individual artists in Rhode Island.  Each year RISCA receives hundreds of Fellowship applications from across the state.  Fellowship Winners are chosen for their exceptional work in a specific field by a panel of artists representing that discipline.  Fellowship recipients receive an award of $5000 and their work is featured in RISCA's Annual Fellowship Exhibition which takes place in February.