LANDSCAPES OF LONGEVITY
Landscapes of Longevity (2014) is a feature-length documentary film co-directed with UVA classmate and research partner Harriett Jameson in 2013 – 2015. The film premiered at the 2014 Virginia Film Festival and won the American Society of Landscape Architecture’s highest student Award of Excellence in 2015. The film and research efforts were also recognized with a 2014 ASLA Research Honor Award, and a 2015 VA-ASLA Communications Award.
With 70 million Americans retiring over the next decade, it is essential for urban designers, public health officials, and city leaders to explore how we can more effectively design our communities to engender healthy living and aging. Landscapes of Longevity investigates three landscapes of extraordinarily high life expectancy – Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; and Loma Linda, California – through the communities and narratives of their healthy seniors. We interviewed over 60 seniors and documented their daily, spatial routines within these cultural landscapes where they live happily, healthily, and independently.
Photo gallery: LANDSCAPES OF LONGEVITY
![](http://asaeslocker.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/4-Psych-OK-Taira-with-tree-string-from-earth.jpg "Taira Toshiko (age 94) in Kijoka, Okinawa: Taira creates traditional kimono fabric from a local banana tree; it is her "ikigai" or purpose for being and living.")
In addition to the VA-ASLA Award for Communications in 2015, the film was also recognized with the 2014 ASLA Student Research Honor Award. I envisioned the film and coordinated all the interviews overseas; I shot all the original footage in HD and edited the entire film in Adobe Premiere Pro.
“3 Minute Trailer” on Vimeo:
Selected Media & News:
“It Takes One: Asa Eslocker and Harriett Jameson” The Cultural Landscape Foundation interview and feature article about the Landscapes of Longevity film (3.12.18) https://www.tclf.org/it-takes-one-asa-eslocker-and-harriett-jameson
“Living off the Land” – Landscape Architecture Magazine online (3.28.17)
WTJU Radio Interview: “Asa Eslocker on Landscapes of Longevity and Thriving Cities Project” on WTJU 91.1FM (9.15.15)
“U.Va. Film Linking Long Life and Landscape Design Wins Statewide Award” Charlottesville Tomorrow. (7.23.15)
“Landscapes of Longevity film to examine the impact of the physical environment on lifespan” The Daily Progress (5.19.15)
Radio Interview: “Landscapes of Longevity” on With Good Reason (2.21.15)