Douglas Varchol

1951 - 2023

October 2, 1951 - July 13, 2023 Douglas Varchol, an American filmmaker whose documentary works educated and urged action by government and civil society leaders to support social and environmental justice, died 13 July 2023 in Los Angeles. A decade-long part-time resident of Thailand, he was 71 years old and leaves his life partner, Karn Racharak of Pattaya, and a legacy of films shown internationally through public broadcast and digital platforms, human rights and environmental film festivals, and at conferences around the globe addressing critical public policy concerns. He was also committed to nurturing the creativity of next generation of leaders of civil society.

Varchol was born on 2 October 1951 in New Jersey and brought up in the waterways of Florida. An inveterate seaman, his passion for the earth was inspired by the arts, especially literature such as Moby Dick, The Heart of Darkness, and speculative science fiction. He earned a Master of Science in geophysics from Pennsylvania State University in 1980, followed by a stint onboard research vessels searching for oil deep below ocean seabeds using explosive depth charges.

Turning his life away from destruction and extraction, he sought solace in the performing arts and landed in San Francisco, where he managed the San Francisco Opera's Western Opera Theater supporting the careers of upcoming artists. In the mid-1980s, Varchol moved to New York, where he worked with Alwin Nikolais and Murray Lewis as director of the Nikolais Dance Theatre. These experiences fixed his love of contemporary avant-garde culture for a lifetime.

Varchol wrote, directed, and produced works for public educational television in the United States on science, history, and cultural programming, including broadcasts for The Learning Channel, The History Channel, and PBS. His work reached international audiences through Discovery Channel Europe and BBC World News in the United Kingdom, where his films challenged viewers to contemplate the intricate relationship between humanity and the environment. He was a member of the Writers Guild of America West and author of The multimedia scriptwriting workshop (Sybex, 1996).

In 2006 Varchol earned another master's degree, in environmental science, from the University of California Santa Barbara, where he became a protégé of Professor Durwood Zaelke. Varchol was inspired to turn his entertainment industry–honed storytelling skills into tools that framed the big environmental and social issues of the day on a deeply personal scale. As a talented photographer, he found the right angles that prompted civil society and government leaders to see the human impact of their decisions and to respect problem-solving at a palpable communal level. Throughout this last phase of his career, Varchol collaborated with organizations such as the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, and the Rotary Peace Fellowship.

Varchol's camera lenses captured the essence of communities and cultures around the world, reflecting his commitment to show global challenges through personal stories. From Sudan, Kenya, and Tanzania to Nepal, India, and Ladakh, he traversed borders to bring attention to regional issues that demanded global attention. He explored the ecological and cultural richness of Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Philippines, Borneo, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, and Australia, vividly documenting their unique landscapes and the profound impact of human activities on their ecosystems. There was no mountain path too obscure or village too remote for Varchol to bring the entire world along on his journey to tackle climate change.

Varchol's films won critical acclaim and often instigated tangible change in the face of environmental adversity. His passion for the planet often motivated governments, civil society, and individuals to strengthen their commitment to conservation and sustainability. This included numerous United Nations agencies and other policy development organizations such as the International Conference on Environmental Compliance and Enforcement and the UN Climate Change Conferences of the Parties.

As writer, director, and producer of the hour-long Mekong River project (2012), he traveled the three thousand mile river as it flows on the brink of dramatic changes brought on by modernization-promising changes that affect the entire river basin and the millions who depend on it. These were captured through his lens as he stopped to speak with villagers, officials, and industrialists en route, revealing the tension and dilemmas of hard choices and often bitter ironies that are the consequences of opportunities.

One of Varchol's most ambitious projects, Waa'gey: Mysteries of the Wayfinding Voyagers (2017), addressed global warming's impact on sea level rise, the fragility of traditional cultures, and the urgent threats to the survival of the people of the Pacific islands. He worked with Waa'gey, a community-based multi-generation organization in the Federated State of Micronesia, to document the revival of traditional skills and crafts, including instructions by master boat carvers for the next generation, along with lessons from the last person who knew how to hand-weave a pandanus leaf sail and the communal rituals for safety of the sailors. Varchol made the challenging five-day open water journey onboard one of three hand-wrought sailing canoes from Lamotrek to Guam. By sharing these narratives, Varchol granted a global stage to the people of Micronesia atolls, inviting the world to recognize the wisdom and rich heritage of the Pacific islanders.

Another film that he wrote, produced, and directed focused on the plight of Sombath Somphone, a prominent development worker in Laos who was honored by the Ramon Magsaysay Award. Sombath was on his way home from work when he disappeared at a police checkpoint on 15 December 2012, and his whereabouts remain a mystery. Varchol's film, The Enforced Disappearance of Sombath Somphone (2018), explains how the activist used his skills and knowledge to improve the lives of poor rural families and communities like those he grew up with. The documentary also provides the political and social background of Sombath's life and work in Laos. The film has been streaming online and shown to government officials and at major film festivals to bring to light the importance of the work by this winner of "Asia's Nobel Peace Prize." As he often did, along the way Varchol helped coach and mentor young Lao friends interested in videography and cinematography, showing them how to tell their stories using the camera.

Varchol's 2021 tribute to Mexican scientist Mario Molina highlighted the Nobel Laureate's role in discovering how chlorofluorocarbon gases in aerosol spray cans were destroying the Earth's stratospheric ozone layer, and the need for mandatory laws to reduce these and other supper climate pollutants to mitigate the twin catastrophes of ozone depletion and climate change.

Friends and fans worldwide will remember Varchol through his films, widely available on Vimeo and YouTube, including recorded screenings he did with the Rotary Peace Fellowship Alumni Association. As the world bids farewell to this extraordinary filmmaker, his friends take solace in the knowledge that his cinematic legacy will continue to inspire generations and guide them toward a more sustainable and just future.

In memory of Douglas Varchol, contributions can be made to the Maasai Girls Education Fund, supporting a cause he held dear to empower the next generation of leaders.