Cavedigger

Cavedigger takes you on the journey of Ra Paulette, a singular, driven man whose art is creating caves in the sandstone hills of New Mexico.

The word "caves" doesn't really do justice to what Ra creates, they are truly works of art that need to be seen, just as Cavedigger needs to be seen. It tells the tale of one man's need to express himself no matter the odds. His artistic goals sometimes run counter to those of his patrons, and his need to support his family, and his own race against time and age, working in an art form that's incredibly physically demanding.

The documentary does a terrific job showing how and why this man is determined never to stop. He says that there may be an end to his need to create, but after watching this mesmerizing film, that's hard to imagine. For him, it's a spiritual journey, and Cavedigger itself is a journey into both the art he creates and the driven soul behind the art.

Cavedigger, by Jeffrey Karoff, has just been nominated for an Academy Award for best short documentary. The nomination is more than deserved.

This 40 minute jewel is about a unique artist who digs and sculpts caves in New Mexico. It is about creating beautiful art and the trials and tribulations of being a commissioned artist.

The story told is of how the desire and drive to create singular art is stronger than all the other challenges of age, money, and client needs. Ra, the cave digger, is a kind, soft spoken man with a dream that he is creating and an inspiring level of perseverance in the face of whatever obstacles come his way.

The beautiful film footage of these exquisite caves is awe inspiring and a wild trip that will equally captivate both nature and art lovers.

This is a documentary of a man who follows his own guide star, and creates beautiful art in an unlikely way. Ra Paulette lives in New Mexico, and fills his days carving beautiful, vaulted-ceiling caves in the soft sandstone. Without a background in architecture, art, or engineering, sometimes for himself, sometimes for others (though, as the movie points out, never quite "with" others - including his ex-wife and her new husband, and a number of patrons), he spends years on each project, producing a unique and breathtaking result. We never quite "see to the bottom" where his motives arise, and his inspirations are mysterious. But the results are almost spiritual. And we see there is more to come.

A remarkable film worth watching. I was held by, both, the beauty of Ra Paulette's creation and the complex honesty captured by the film-maker. I heartily recommend this quirky documentary to others. At a pragmatic level, I love the way the movie held me, simultaneously, in solidarity with the main character's struggle against other people's efforts to control his clearly visionary endeavor, and yet frustrated with his own seeming inability to "play-well" with others in the sandbox of his creations. The movie seem's especially potent as a metaphorical tale regarding the universal human dilemma to rise out of our existential day-to-day, down-in-the-dirt struggle to merely survive, in order to leave behind some extraordinary witness of our presence in the world.

After Jeffrey came back from his first shooting with the "CaveDigger", I knew he was on to something.

The character of Ra and his artistic obsessions, the unique perspectives of the work and of Ra from the people with whom he interacts, and the true grit of the environment in which he works are all captured exquisitely and completely in a way that only a director who is a true artist himself, could.

Jeffrey Karoff puts people at ease as he rolls the camera as if it was always part of the natural milieu, thus capturing the subjects basic humanness. He guides them on a path to the unknown that eventually unfolds into a story that was always there but until then, hidden. That is Jeffrey's gift.

Bravo. Encore.