GROS MORNE - Deep Time

There are places we visit, and places that become part of us.
 

On the western coast of Newfoundland, Gros Morne National Park is a world of ancient mountains, deep glacial valleys, towering cliffs, waterfalls, forests and fjords. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is one of the rare places on Earth where the geological forces that shaped our planet are so dramatically revealed.

But Gros Morne is more than its extraordinary geology.
 

It is a living landscape, constantly transforming through light, weather, water and time. Clouds move through valleys carved by glaciers. Waterfalls descend from cliffs hundreds of metres high. The sea meets mountains that have stood for hundreds of millions of years. And everywhere, life finds a way to inhabit this remarkable terrain.
 

We came to Gros Morne with our cameras, hoping to capture some of its beauty.

We left having experienced something much greater.

For an entire week, Sharif Mirshak and I explored Gros Morne in the company of Julia Endicott of Parks Canada.  It is difficult to imagine a more extraordinary introduction to a place.  Julia doesn't simply know Gros Morne. She lives it, loves it, and seems to carry the entire park within her. Its mountains, trails, forests, waters and changing moods are part of her world, and for one unforgettable week, she invited us into it.  She brought us to her favourite places, guided us through landscapes we could never have reached or understood in quite the same way without her, and shared an enthusiasm that seemed to grow with every new discovery.
 

We hiked for hours, climbed steep mountains, carried cameras and equipment through demanding terrain, and followed the light wherever it led us. Early mornings became long days, and long days became late evenings. Every effort was rewarded with something extraordinary.
 

What impressed me just as much as Julia's knowledge was her generosity, her energy, and the obvious love she has for this place.
 

Throughout our journey, I witnessed the respect people have for the Parks Canada uniform, and Julia seemed to embody everything that uniform represents: care, knowledge, dedication and a profound connection to the land.
 

Gros Morne is Julia, and Julia is Gros Morne.

At least, that is how I came to experience it.

Western Brook Pond Gorge was only one chapter of our time in Gros Morne.  Throughout the week, Julia led us through the park's extraordinary diversity of landscapes, from mountain heights and ancient geological formations to forests, valleys, coastlines and quiet places where the passage of time seems to slow.
 

We encountered the park through changing weather and shifting light, discovering how profoundly a landscape can transform from one hour to the next.
 

And we encountered it through life itself: the vegetation, the wildlife, the water, and the delicate relationships that make even the most monumental landscape feel intimate.
 

The films that emerged from this journey are not conventional documentaries.

There is no host, no narration, and no attempt to explain everything we see.
 

Instead, the camera observes.  It allows the clouds to move, the light to change, the water to flow, and the landscape to reveal itself at its own rhythm.
 

These are films to inhabit as much as to watch.
 

WINDOWS TO CANADA

Gros Morne is the second chapter of WINDOWS TO CANADA, a series of long-form cinematic portraits created by NOMADslow.tv with the support of Parks Canada.
 

Beginning at L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site, continuing through Gros Morne National Park, and travelling onward to the Mingan Archipelago, the project explores a new cinematic language for the Canadian landscape.
 

One with its own pace and depth.  One that invites us to experience these places not only as destinations, but as states of mind.  Each location becomes a collection of extended NOMADslow.tv films, allowing the images and original music to unfold freely. From these explorations, a definitive cinematic portrait is created for Parks Canada.  Together, the films form an evolving journey through some of Canada's most extraordinary protected places.
 

MUSIC AS LANDSCAPE.

The music accompanying these films is created by ANTENNAE, NOMAD's musical ensemble exploring Fourth World music: music beyond time and place.
 

Recorded live at NOMAD in Montréal, the performances are improvised in response to the images.

There is no predetermined score.  The musicians encounter the landscape as the viewers do, listening, responding, discovering and allowing the music to emerge from the experience itself.
 

Sometimes the music follows the movement of the water. Sometimes it rises with the mountains. Sometimes it becomes almost imperceptible, leaving space for the images to breathe.
 

The landscape becomes part of the ensemble.

And the music becomes another way of travelling through it.
 

A STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS

NOMADslow.tv is a collection of long-form cinematic journeys through landscape, light and time.
 

These films are not designed to demand your attention, but to give it back.  They can be watched, contemplated, or simply allowed to inhabit a room, transforming a screen into a window onto another place.
 

NOMADslow.tv | a stream of consciousness

Created by Jason Rodi | NOMADlife.tv