ABOUT THE FILM

SYNOPSIS

As the Wind is the first-ever documentary film about Eden Ahbez, composer of the popular standard, “Nature Boy,” and the proto-psychedelic concept album, Eden's Island (1960). “Nature Boy” was first performed by Nat “King” Cole in 1948 and has been subsequently recorded by thousands of artists worldwide. Yet by the time of Ahbez's death in 1995 he was more or less forgotten. This documentary seeks to redress that. 

Understanding the reason for his cultural disappearance is one of the early topics we address in the film. During his lifetime, for instance, Ahbez was known to have lived an austere existence, eschewing materialism and the rat race in favor of a life lived close to nature. He was a vegetarian and yoga practitioner in the 1940s, subsisting mainly on a diet of raw fruits, nuts, and vegetables. He camped out with his fellow nature boys in caves in Tahquitz Canyon near Palm Springs, and in various backyards of friends in Topanga Canyon, Sunland, and Los Angeles; and he also famously lived under the Hollywood Sign for a spell, making his ascent to the top of the Billboard and Cash Box charts in 1948 an unlikely feat.

TECHNICAL

As a documentary subject, Ahbez has posed a unique set of challenges, including the absence of an immediate family; the advancing age of his few remaining collaborators; and a subject himself who shunned publicity for most of his later years. His wife and son, for instance, both preceded him in death, and most of his former friends and collaborators are at this point deceased as well. Thus telling his story for the first time has required a number of experimental techniques in terms of both visuals and editing. 

One of the ways we have approached the telling of Ahbez's artistic process and unorthodox philosophy is by structuring the documentary in a non-linear fashion. This has allowed us to focus on specific themes and artistic projects he worked on over long periods and to pick up these subjects at different points in the timeline. The story of the song “Nature Boy,” for instance, is told at the beginning of the documentary through the lens of Nat Cole and his management team receiving Ahbez's hand-written manuscript, then picked up again later in the film and told through the lens of Ahbez himself and his time living and composing in the mountains above Palm Springs. This approach has also allowed his story to unfold as a series of discovered clues—out of which a pattern emerges and a more intimate portrait of the artist is formed. 

We have also sought to bring many of his imaginary utopias, including Eden's Island, to cinematic life via a contemporary animation style which will allow the images in his music and lyrics to flow into the material world. In terms of interviews and narrative, the storyline of the documentary emerges primarily through the voices of eleven individuals who worked with Ahbez in the past, and who are able to retrace his and their steps together through memories and artifacts. In place of sit-down/talking head interviews, however, we have chosen instead to film each of these persons as an active participant in the storytelling, as verité subjects who help us explore Ahbez’s music by taking us back to the various places they worked with him in the 1950s, '60s, '70s, and '80s.

Because he lived most of his life outdoors, and because his life story has been heretofore untold, this documentary also relies heavily on rare clips from early radio and television appearances by Ahbez; also news clippings, letters, photos, poetry readings, and unreleased music. In essence, his story is recounted through his own words, and through the memories of those who knew him best. 

CONTEMPORARY RELEVANCE

In the end, Ahbez is presented in As the Wind as an important lost voice in the history of 20th century art and music, and also as a figure of increasing relevancy in this time growing inequality, runaway technology, environmental peril, and the re-emergence of alternative lifestyles. This has been seen in recent cultural touchstones such as the Burning Man festival and the Academy Award-winning film Nomadland (among others). Ahbez blazed the trail for these types of counter-culture movements despite his full story being untold and his catalog still largely unknown. The production team behind As the Wind is poised to finally re-establish this great artist to a place of prominence.

Research and development funds have been procured so far from Academy Award-nominated director Nicholas Winding Refn and from the Kenneth Karmiole Foundation. Producers currently representing the project include: Jimmy Edwards, Art Horan, and Jean Sievers.