A cry for help

As told through the eyes of the river

While Gonzales already gets more than its share of accolades for being one of the most historically significant cities in Texas, it recently got another historical occasion to chalk up.

An Austin and San Marcos-based film crew making a documentary of the San Marcos River wrapped up its shooting recently by completing filming in Gonzales near the end of the river’s journey, just north of where the San Marcos joins the Guadalupe River.

“Yakona,” the 60-minute experimental documentary, will take viewers on a visual journey from prehistoric times through the present day from the perspective of the San Marcos River. San Marcos filmmakers Paul Collins, Anlo Sepulveda and Dean Brennan started collaborating on the movie 10 years ago because of their personal bonds with the river.

Now they’re working to finish the movie in time to screen it this summer.

Sepulveda, a digital video specialist at Texas State University, remembers tubing down the river as a child on annual family vacations from Corpus Christi. However, he said his bond with the San Marcos River really began when he started working for Texas State and moved into a house along the river, where for four years he would swim every day.

“I really started to see what was under the surface there,” says Sepulveda, whose film credits include the Austin-shot Otis Under Sky, which premiered at SXSW in 2011. “It’s such a dynamic environment.”

The trio have used imagery and score by Texas State alumnus Travis Austin to capture the underwater environment and to take what Sepulveda calls a “nonjudgmental approach” to study the relationship between humans and the San Marcos River in “Yakona.”

The surreal, dreamlike effect was captured entirely with underwater cameras, filmed from the bottom of the river up. It was through Collins’s initial experimental underwater filming that the group decided to move forward with a documentary about the San Marcos River.

“We wanted to create an experience for the audience that was as close as you’re going to get (to the river) without jumping in yourself,” Collins says.

Collins, a graphic artist in the Texas State Office of University Marketing, moved to San Marcos in 2000 to attend the university as an undergraduate. Although he was fond of the river when he was younger, he said he’s discovered the magic of the environmentally sensitive Spring Lake and the uniqueness of the San Marcos River through filming “Yakona.”

“I’ve known Paul since we were roommates in college,” says associate producer Chris Perez, whose family owns the property on which the final leg of the documentary was filmed. “We’ve been out here for the past month or so scouting for places. We finally decided this spot would be the best, and so we organized everything and got the shoot going. I’m glad everybody’s working together and giving one hundred percent. This is bigger than ourselves, and quite a historic and artistic endeavor. We really want to thank the Christian and Trammell families for their support with this project.”

Spring Lake is home to eight federally listed endangered species, such as the Fountain Darter, Texas Blind Salamander, San Marcos Salamander and Texas Wild Rice. The San Marcos River has been a continuum throughout the course of history in the San Marcos area. It is traditionally believed by the Tonkawa tribe, who lived along the San Marcos Springs and whose language the movie’s title is derived, that the San Marcos River has a conscience. The movie’s title means “rising water.”

Collins said the group spoke with the local Native American community about the film’s concept. He said the Tonkawa tribe and its language are endangered, paralleling the themes in “Yakona.”

To film in the cleanest and clearest water in Texas in 2010 at Spring Lake, the trio had to become not only dive certified, but attend the Aquarena Center Diving for Science authorization course.

Despite having no previous diving experience, insufficient funds to purchase SCUBA and other necessary equipment, and a month to become dive certified and film at Spring Lake because of the removal of the Aquarena Springs theme park, the “Yakona” crew dove into the filmmaking process.

Some of the film’s challenges were alleviated through the grant they received as 2011 AFS Texas Filmmaker Production Fund recipients, and SCUBA gear rental donations through The Dive Shop in San Marcos.

Brennan, Texas State Educational Technology Center digital video specialist, said he not only learned about the history of the San Marcos River and the endangered species that inhabit it through the scientific dive authorization course, but learned how to dive and hold a camera steady to film underwater.

“It’s crazy when you’re down there,” he says. “It’s unbelievable. People who don’t dive will be able to see it up close and personal in the film.”

Brennan says he, Sepulveda and Collins made Yakona to promote and conserve the San Marcos River by highlighting its intricacies.

“We know we can create respect and love by showing how beautiful the river is,” Collins says.

The beauty of the San Marcos River played a role in Brennan’s decision 4½ years ago to accept a job at Texas State and move from Michigan to San Marcos. Bodies of water have influenced Brennan’s decisions from an early age. He said his first word was “water.” As a child, he spent the majority of his time fishing on his grandfather’s boat on Lake Michigan.

Brennan says although he knew about the San Marcos River, he did not know a single person when he moved to San Marcos. He said the river helped him settle into the area.

“When I got here, I was pretty much addicted,” he says. “I went there every day.”

The “Yakona” filmmakers hope viewers will become addicted to the San Marcos River, too, when the movie is screened for the public in this year. They plan to start submitting “Yakona” to film festivals late this summer, including Sundance and SXSW.

Collins, Brennan and Sepulveda have developed an intimate bond with the San Marcos River during the last 10 years. With “Yakona,” they hope to share their love and empathetic spiritual connection with the river with as many people as possible. They are convinced that once shown the beauty and grandeur of the San Marcos River and its spring-fed headwaters, people from far and wide will strive to preserve and protect this natural resource.

“The part I’m playing represents a warrior that tries to save some young Comanches from being killed by Texas Rangers,” actor Tony Two Hawks says. “This is all about what the river sees. Many natives lived in the area because of the fresh water out of the earth. Even during periods of heavy drought, water in the San Marcos River still flowed. Once I heard what the story was about, I immediately knew I wanted to be a part of it.”

“I first got involved with the film musically,” says actress Tina Rodriguez. “Paul asked me to lend vocals to the soundtrack. I’m a healer – I use sound for healing. I also have a native background in Aztec medicine. When doing the vocals, I visited the San Marcos River. I liked the idea of the story being told from the river’s perspective, and the work that I’ve been doing now involves listening to the water and the earth, and interpreting what is really being said. It’s a cry for help. This part of the story is in the 1850s, but bad things are still happening to the earth in this day and age. The question is, ‘How can that be healed?’ So when Paul asked me to come to Gonzales today to play a Native American, I thought that was definitely in line with things going on in my life. This has been a wonderful opportunity.”

“We’re trying to show the impression that the audience is seeing through the eyes and conscience of the river,” Collins says. “We’re going to do that by showing historical reenactments of the past and modern day, and intertwine them to help set context to the struggles of today.

“The film will have no traditional narration,” he explains. “It will be a 60-minute story told through images, symbology, sound score and sound design. We’re hoping for a late summer release.”

“This will be a very dreamlike representation of historic events that have occurred along the river,” Sepulveda says. “We’re utilizing concepts such as dynamic imagery to create a flashback-like dream sequence from the perspective of the river. We’ve got a lot of folks here that have helped pull it together, and we’re lucky enough to have Chris and his family lend us their land for the filming.”

“It’s been fun,” says Geoff Marslett, senior lecturer with the University of Texas at Austin who teaches animation and 16mm film courses. On the final day of filming, he played Texas Ranger Jack Hayes. “I’ve gotten to wear this beard and give them some pointers in narrative,” he laughs. “I’m super-happy to support them in this documentary. It’s an important part of the whole history of this part of the world.”