FOX FINDER: Note from the Director Mike Doben

Note from the Director…

FOXFINDER despite coming from across the pond feels very close to home within the pandemic-stricken psyche. The immeasurable loss and the grief that follows brings forth an innate human desire to have it all make sense. We all want the unexplainable explained. Perhaps that is the inherent flaw in our humanity.

Dawn King’s dystopian tale of farmers in the English countryside magnifies this to such a degree as to force us to question whether processing our grief requires answers and if so, from whom? These questions of course, have no easy or specific answer, as the old cliché goes: everyone processes grief differently… But what if someone showed up at your door with the authority to alleviate the burden of your discontent? What follows is an arresting story about wanting to believe, wanting to put reason to the unreasonable, and discovering that there is a price to mining truth from a world that often has none to offer.

Foxfinder draws for an American audience prescient comparison to the growth of the QAnon movement, the many dangers that come from government complicity in perpetuating absurdities, and the resulting chaos that is berthed from their embrace. There’s something in streaming this theatrical performance that feels right when considering these comparisons. Our lives so digitally intertwined that reality’s thread can become lost, but don’t worry there’s someone out there who agrees with your findings if you search hard enough… and that’s the danger isn’t it?

Filmed on two iPhones with a home-made dolly track, Foxfinder is presented for an audience at home with a dedicated eye towards live theatrical authenticity. My focus throughout the production was to create an authentic experience while utilizing the film medium’s strengths to tell this story because everyone deserves a front row seat. I hope you come away from your viewing with renewed perspective on coping with loss and grief, knowing you’re not alone in this entanglement. In these new times it’s important to lean on those you love, to take the time you need, and accept that some of life’s mysteries should remain just that. Thank you for watching.

Mike Doben