Filmmaker follows former priest as he runs for office
By Dana DuGan
There are two stories here. One is that Reed Lindsay, a freelance journalist and filmmaker, who grew up in the Wood River Valley, is making his first feature-length documentary, “Charlie vs. Goliath.” The other story is that of his subject, Charlie Hardy.
Lindsay has been around. He’s lived and worked in Latin America, Egypt, and Haiti after the earthquake. He was the Washington, D.C., bureau chief and the Haiti correspondent for TeleSUR, the Latin American satellite TV network, from 2004 to 2009. He has reported from Libya, India, Venezuela and Honduras, among other countries, and has been published in more than 20 newspapers and magazines and broadcast on numerous television news networks. He just returned from Somoa, where he was at work on a documentary about a Somoan rugby player for Al Jezeera.
But it’s the returning to his roots in the West that has him busy these days.
“I’ve done most of my work out of the country, but it’s fun to get to know another state,” Lindsay said. His subject matter was close by, well known to him and an inspiration.
Hardy, a social justice activist who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate two years ago, sought federal office again this election cycle. A Cheyenne resident, Hardy ran for Wyoming’s U.S. House seat but lost the Democratic nomination to Ryan Greene, on Tuesday, Aug. 16.
“I’ve known Charlie about 13 years, since I was in my 20s,” Lindsay said. “I met him in Latin America. I was a correspondent at the time and was intrigued by him. He’s a dreamer and a visionary, striving to make the world better. He’s very youthful. He runs every morning for the last 45 years. He’s never been in the hospital. And was born in the house where he lives today.”
Lindsay’s film, “Charlie vs. Goliath,” has an active Kickstarter campaign now to help with the post-production costs.
“It’s the type of documentary that can promote some discussion,” Lindsay said. “It’s my first feature-length documentary and I’ve made a lot of sacrifices. I want to finally finish it and get it out there.”
Lindsay started filming his friend in 2014 while Hardy was running for the U.S. Senate, a campaign he eventually lost. Lindsay said he considered how to do a “film about a guy who probably doesn’t have a chance. The film doesn’t hinge on whether he won or not.”
Some facts: Hardy is a true American original. He lives with little material goods, had no corporate sponsors, ran a campaign with $10,000 and traveled around Wyoming in a 1970 Crown school bus.
“I thought it’d be a feature story, but I was inspired by his message to get money out of politics,” Lindsay said. “It’s the most important issue and not given enough attention by the media.”
Hardy, 77, served as a Catholic priest for 29 years, including in parishes in Cheyenne, Laramie, Rock Springs and Casper. He was superintendent of Wyoming Catholic schools and was a missionary in South America, living for eight years in a cardboard-and-tin shack on the outskirts of Caracas, Venezuela. Hardy is also the author of “Cowboy in Caracas: A North American’s Memoir of Venezuela’s Democratic Revolution.”
“This whole question of money in politics – there’s just that feeling that elections are bought and sold,” Hardy said. “They’re not won. If you have more money, you can fill the airwaves, fill the television waves. I would rather fill the hearts of people, which is more important than anything else.”
Lindsay was joined in his endeavors by two other volunteer filmmakers. They shot more than 300 hours of footage and now have a rough cut of the film.
“From a rational perspective, Charlie never wavered and remained optimistic,” Lindsay said. “If he could inspire me, and if I could inspire others through the film, then it could have a positive effect.”
Lindsay says that after this last election – Hardy won only Cheyenne – he may continue being an activist rather than trying for politics.
“He’s the type of guy who has no material demands. What fulfills him is making a difference.”
The Kickstarter campaign may be found at https://bit.ly/charlievusgoliath.