“Gaia” had it’s world premiere in the “Visions” category of the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2009. The film was conceived, written and directed by Jason Lehel, who took a completely unique approach to shooting this film. With a general idea of his story and no script, Jason and his producing partner took a couple of cameras and their lead actress, Emily Lape, out into the Arizona desert. There he found his locations, his other non-actor leads and a strong vision for an absolutely heart wrenching ride.

Jason was looking for musical intensity that ranged from very subtle to extremely dramatic for Gaia’s two hour journey with almost no dialogue. And with an organic, semi-acoustic score The Angel delivered just that.  “Gaia” completed a round of sold out screenings at the Phoenix and Nashville Film Festivals, the American Film Festival in Poland, Berkshire International Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury prize, and the LA based  Dances With Films Festival, where it won the Fusion Feature Audience award.

Screen Daily: “Gaia’s visuals, which pull from desert scrub, cacti, and dust a nearly transcendent beauty, are the major draw for this low-budget first feature by Lehel, a professional cinematographer. He has an ear for music as well, overlaying an excellent score by The Angel…”

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