Gold, Guns and God

Juan Paredes was Bill Gann's 8th Grade English student at the American School, Graded, Escola Graduada de Sao Paulo, in Brazil.

Because Juan's English was poor at the time, the only thing in class that engaged his imagination where the slide shows and stories that Bill told about the American Southwest desert, an area he had visited and photographed for over 40 years.

These stories of native American power spots, miners seeking treasure and freedom, outlaws with guns escaping the law, mystics and artists finding God or Ghosts in the desert.. were how Juan learned to speak English and think about America -- its landscape, ingenuity and the strength of character that settled the West.

20 years later, after finishing his second feature documentary, Eat Like You Live, the student sought his former teacher to ask about those tales that had so fascinated him. He was surprised to learn that not only where these tales true, people Bill had actually met, but that there was a lot more. More stories, more characters, more patinas to the narrative.

Possessed by the impulse to capture the power of the Southwest desert, they burn through their savings to buy the appropriate filming equipment and set out on a journey to write a book and make a feature documentary about the American Southwest desert.

They meet Hal Newell, famed sculptor Gordon Newell's son, who built a 12 stone monument where he placed many of his dad's sculptures while hand-making a stone house and studio, a place of peace, light, human connectedness, inspiration. 

They relive Bill's memories of the amazing radio show Edge of Texas, which captured so much of the west best stories and lore, a show hosted by archeologist and author Alex Apostolides and his wife Patti. 

They meet stories of rock and magic in anthropologists who shared time with Carlos Castaneda; stories of outlaws who arrived at the El Paso Wilderness in camel caravans; A massive buddhist temple standing at the Edge in Adelanto; Burro Schmidt, his tunnel, and cowboy poets who were never seen again.

They seek the stories of the West. The Gun. Those on the right and those Jacksonian democrats who stand firmly behind the second ammendment.

They visit The Alabama Hills. Its film and TV history. The Gene Autry Show. The Lone Ranger. Gunga Din. Django.

They hear the stories of Jim Morrison, L. Ron Hubbard, Phillip K.Dick and other mystics, who sought solitude and a space of freedom in the desert.

America is the power of freedom. Solitude makes one realize that one is free, this freedom breeds ingenuity, this ingenuity creates art.  This is Gold, Guns and God.