Oscar Nominated Live Action Short – Cavedigger, Director Jeffrey Karoff

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Ra Paulette has dug 14 caves in the sandstone cliffs of Northern New Mexico Paulette using only hand tools — a pickaxe and wheelbarrow strapped to his back, each project taking months, sometimes years to complete. Paulette digs cathedral-like, ‘eighth wonder of the world’ art. Each creation takes him years to complete, and each is a masterwork. Paulette’s process is wholly intuitive — he creates arches, pillars, rooms, doorways, steps, benches with carving as detailed as a cathedral. But patrons who have commissioned caves have cut off nearly all of his projects due to artistic differences. Paulette is the subject of filmmaker Jeffrey Karoff’s Academy Award nominated Live Action Short, CaveDigger. Director Karoff joins us to talk about the challenges of capturing the Paulette’s particular vision and spectacular works on film.

“Akin to Andy Goldsworthy—who also painstakingly creates fleeting beauty in the wilderness, but mainly reaches his audience through photographs of those creations—Paulette may benefit from being the subject of Jeffrey Karoff‘s intriguing doc portrait.”  – Aaron Hills, Village Voice

For more on Cavedigger news and screenings go to: cavediggerdocumentary.com/

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