March 13th 2008
Madonna’s Gardener Directed And Filmed Her Malawi Documentary
Filed under: campaigns, film-tv, movies — Michael Andre d'Estries @ 8:46 am
You wouldn’t expect a guy with a green thumb to suddenly be the man behind the lens of Madonna’s new documentary — but that’s exactly what happened to Nathan Rissman. As the main gardener for one of Madonna’s properties, he became intimately involved with her family and started sending short films to the famous singer of her kids and other moments.
“He used to be my gardener… He’s a brilliant, lovely guy - one of those guys who came into my life and did every job. He was a runner, an intern, a gardener,” said Madonna. “He took care of my kids. He did everything and he did it with humility. And everyone just grew to love him. And then he started doing these little movies of my children and sending them to me, and making films out of photographs and just being really creative. One day I said, ‘I need somebody to document this,’ and then looked at him and said, ‘And that person is you.’ He really stepped up to the plate.”
Madonna and Rissman flew down to the African country of Malawi — where Madonna has done a tremendous amount of charity work — and set about documenting the impact of poverty, famine, and AIDS. She hopes the film when released will help show that these issues can be overcome. Speaking more about the gardener, she added: “He spent a lot of time in Malawi, literally sleeping on the floors of people’s huts and waking up with chickens on his head. He really lived it and approached it with an open heart and so much gratitude. People opened their hearts to him. I couldn’t have done that.”
via Female First
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