FRIENDS FOREVER; DVD DVD (2003), Used "We are here to save the world from what rock and roll has become."  -Nate Hayden Take a broken down VW minibus, a beaten up drum kit, an old bass guitar, and a portable generator.  And two energetic youths. Mix.  What do you get?  The almost unbelievable musical group Friends Forever.  Drummer Nate Hayden and Bassist Josh Taylor are not into music for the drugs or the sex or the fame and fortune.  They are in it for their love of music.  They are also on a mission to bring rock music back to the people.  This duo (along with Jenn who does the lighting and their three dogs) travel the country spreading their music, but they don't play inside clubs, they set up out on the street and jam.  The van is their stage, transportation and house.  Wherever there is an empty parking space, they will give a concert.  No audience is too small, and no distance is too far to travel.  They journey from their home in Denver, Colorado to New York City to play one 15 minute gig. Friends Forever is also the name of Ben Wolfinsohn's documentary about this unique musical duo.   Traveling with the band across the USA, Wolfinsohn films these unusual individuals from small show to smaller show, from LA to New York City.  You get to see what drives them and why they do what they do.  With fog machine and strobe lights, Nate plays his drums inside the van, while Josh runs around the parking lot playing his bass.  Josh will come out wearing a wolf head, or a jacket covered with illuminated light bulbs.  He'll get on the roof of the van and set off fire works, all while playing something that resembles a tune.  Their music is DIY noise punk at it's finest. Nate and Josh may seem like slackers who are avoiding life at first, but as the movie progresses, you come to realize how hard they work for such little return.  The little money they make is from selling T-Shirts ($5) and tapes ($3) after their shows.  They even feel bad about charging for these, thinking that anyone who enjoys the show should have a tape.

LA VIDA LOCA; DVD (2008) DVD (2008) The fearless photographer and documentary-maker Christian Poveda submerges himself into central America, into the underbelly of society. He managed to get permission from the Salvadorian police and one of the gangs, the "18", to follow them in their lives. Four years later, La Vida Loca sees the light, taking you along the path of violent outcasts of society. And it is very different to what you might imagine.  The documentary takes us from the unfolding of someone's life to their funeral after a shooting. It is an endless spiral of gang violence, with seemingly no point to the gang war whatsoever, other than that of having an enemy to unite them. Joining a gang is not even an alternative employer for the poor, as the gang does not offer any external symbols of success (wealth, privilege, whatever). In fact, the gang does not seem to offer anything at all but the prospect of death, jail or invalidity. Hardly the attractive option, but these youths are already broken by their lives. And change becomes inevitable with the gang tattoos (voluntary or forced) marking their allegiance. Once you are have your face covered in tattoos, you can no longer send your CV anywhere. They can not back down.  After the films release, filmmaker Christian Poveda was killed by gang members who appeared in the film, who claimed that he was a police informer.