Why did I decide to create this project?

“Can’t Figure It Out” was the first of a series of short experimental films that deal with the topics of
misunderstanding and misinformation and the flawed perspectives and decision-making that result from
the interaction of these two elements. We live in an age of incomplete information and misinformation,
which rather than feeding better understandings of everyday situations of personal, local, national and/or
international interest, inevitably often lead to contagious and potentially perilous interpretations that
threaten our well-being on multiple levels. I believe that we must search for ways of increasing awareness
of the dangers inherent in this situation and seek out means of helping people realize the fundamental
importance of informed understanding to our evaluations and subsequent acts. I hope that “Can’t Figure
It Out” can make a small contribution to raising awareness of the perils of the current situation.

How much of my soul is in this project?

100%! I believe that misunderstanding due to ignorance (whether due to inadequate accurate information
or intentionally created misinformation) is a major cause of conflict and polarization in contemporary
society. In many cases such confrontations promote growing inequality and intolerance leading inevitably
to prejudicial actions devoid of justification on any level.

Who do I wish to share this project with?

I would like to share the project with the general public as well as with filmmaking professionals. I would
like to see experimental works (both long and short pieces) occupy a more prominent place in the
filmmaking industry and be made more accessible to the general public.

To whom do I dedicate this project?

I dedicate this work to two groups:

• those courageous professional journalists that strive to present facts and informed analyses of
  evolving situations and events on local, national and international levels. Quality independent
  journalism helps make distorted rewritings of history more difficult to promote.
• all those people in every walk of daily life who take the time to strive for informed understanding of
  what is going on around them as well as in far-away places. This requires concentrated effort and
  dedication that is all too rare in contemporary societies in which the majority of persons eagerly
  embrace the most easily accessible sources of information without any consideration for the need to
  verify the source and true nature of such information.
  Rational, relevant action to face challenges of any sort or scale is only possible in the presence of
  informed understanding.