A long, long time ago, about a thousand years ago, I had the idea for this film and the first person I reached out to was Paolo Soleri. As I wrote in a very early post, we spoke on the phone and he said that if perhaps I was making a trip to the Grand Canyon, we could meet and discuss his participation in person. I trekked to Arcosanti soon after that phone conversation and met with him. Make no mistake, he was interviewing me.
He asked me questions about the film and about the other people who would be involved with it. To tell you the truth, I don’t remember much of the conversation because I was nervous as all get out. I pitched the film, spoke about its themes, what I hoped to say, where I hoped it would show. It wasn’t awkward, but there wasn’t unbridled enthusiasm, either. But in my mind, there was a moment during that initial meeting that I felt convinced him to be in the film.
I mentioned a few films as reference points. Errol Morris’ Fast, Cheap and Out of Control. Soleri hadn’t seen it. Hiroshi Teshigahara’s Antonio Gaudi. He hadn’t seen that, either. (Soleri isn’t a big filmgoer; in fairness, when I mention these two films to serious filmgoers, many haven’t seen them, either.) I was striking out. Then I mentioned Nathaniel Kahn’s My Architect. Soleri hadn’t seen that either, but when I said it was about architect Louis I. Kahn, my architect perked up.
He said something like, “He is the one I feel most akin to.”
I connected. My insides did a fist pump and shouted “YESSSSsss!”
I had gotten lucky. Yes, lucky. Though there are obvious similarities between Soleri and Kahn (concrete, monumentality, certain shapes) I had no idea the desert dweller felt an affinity for the Philadelphian. By the end of my two-day stay at Arcosanti, Soleri agreed to be in the film and A Life’s Work was on its way.