by Katie Carman-Lehach
As a filmmaker I understand the growing importance of crowd-sourcing – funding an artistic project by building financial support through a large group of people. In fact, I partially funded my second feature using Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/katiecarman/off-season-a-new-feature-film-from-cold-hands-prod-0). It's a great way for filmmakers to reach true supporters of independent cinema, and likewise benefits film lovers who get to support a project that might not see the light of day otherwise.
I'm disappointed though that the two most popular crowd-sourcing websites don't allow you to search specifically for projects created by female directors. Because there isn't yet a common holding ground for these projects, I thought it might be helpful to occasionally report on a few interesting projects nearing their deadlines.
Here are three films, each very different, all in need of your support (and one film that was recently successful!):
"Women of the Gulag: The Last Survivors" - by Marianna Yarovskaya (Director) - 8 days to go!
http://www.indiegogo.com/womenofthegulag
I'm disappointed though that the two most popular crowd-sourcing websites don't allow you to search specifically for projects created by female directors. Because there isn't yet a common holding ground for these projects, I thought it might be helpful to occasionally report on a few interesting projects nearing their deadlines.
Here are three films, each very different, all in need of your support (and one film that was recently successful!):
"Women of the Gulag: The Last Survivors" - by Marianna Yarovskaya (Director) - 8 days to go!
http://www.indiegogo.com/womenofthegulag
There are too many instances in history where the experiences of women have been left out of the story. This is certainly true in the history of Russia’s gulag. While we all think of the Secret Police as having only imprisoned men, in actuality thousands of women were interrogated, tortured, and sent to labor camps where they endured horrific conditions; hard physical labor, extremely low food rations, horrible hygienic conditions and dismal medical care (as well as constant sexual violence.)
In Marianna Yarovskaya's heart-wrenching documentary, "Women of the Gulag: The Last Survivors" we meet several women who against all odds survived the brutality of the gulag. They tell their stories in complete sobering clarity, and detail the difficulties they had adapting, their struggles to meet work quotas for meager food rations and how they cared for their families, all while humanity and civility crumbled around them.
A friend once told me how he felt 'losing a loved one is like having a library burn down' and that saying can ring no truer than for the women of the gulag and this film. With each passing day, fewer opportunities to record this history disappear, as the numbers of female survivors dwindle. This may be the last chance for these stories to be told and recorded, making Marianna's film that much more important and necessary.
"Ice Cream Walla" by Terrie Samundra (Director) - 15 days to go!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1431419255/ice-cream-walla
In Marianna Yarovskaya's heart-wrenching documentary, "Women of the Gulag: The Last Survivors" we meet several women who against all odds survived the brutality of the gulag. They tell their stories in complete sobering clarity, and detail the difficulties they had adapting, their struggles to meet work quotas for meager food rations and how they cared for their families, all while humanity and civility crumbled around them.
A friend once told me how he felt 'losing a loved one is like having a library burn down' and that saying can ring no truer than for the women of the gulag and this film. With each passing day, fewer opportunities to record this history disappear, as the numbers of female survivors dwindle. This may be the last chance for these stories to be told and recorded, making Marianna's film that much more important and necessary.
"Ice Cream Walla" by Terrie Samundra (Director) - 15 days to go!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1431419255/ice-cream-walla
I wouldn't normally be so interested in a project without a video introduction, but Terri Samundra's next feature sounds like quite an interesting one from the logline alone:
"Jessie, troubled & pissed, has just lost her father to suicide. That's when she meets his boyfriend, Sean." Already I'm intrigued!
Samundra details the rest of the story in detail in the Kickstarter listing, and explains that the story is about the complexities of family secrets and love, and how we each live in a duality between life's expectations and what we desire for ourselves. She says making the film was a way of "dissecting and taking apart and trying to make sense...at least in this one story, how we can find a better place to be despite having all the odds against us."
"Calisthenics: A Love Story" by Olivia Peniston-Bird (Director) - 16 days to go!
http://www.indiegogo.com/CalisthenicsALoveStoryPost
"Jessie, troubled & pissed, has just lost her father to suicide. That's when she meets his boyfriend, Sean." Already I'm intrigued!
Samundra details the rest of the story in detail in the Kickstarter listing, and explains that the story is about the complexities of family secrets and love, and how we each live in a duality between life's expectations and what we desire for ourselves. She says making the film was a way of "dissecting and taking apart and trying to make sense...at least in this one story, how we can find a better place to be despite having all the odds against us."
"Calisthenics: A Love Story" by Olivia Peniston-Bird (Director) - 16 days to go!
http://www.indiegogo.com/CalisthenicsALoveStoryPost
These aren’t the “Calisthenics” you remember from high school gym class, but a new Australian form of artistic exercise. Originally created for city dwellers during the Victorian Gold Rush, “Calisthenics” has morphed into a “team-based competitive performing art featuring elements of rhythmic gymnastics and ballet combined with a strong emphasis on theatricality, costume, dance and musical interpretation.”
In “Calisthenics: A Love Story" by Olivia Peniston-Bird we learn the intriguing history of the art form itself, framed through the inner workings of a family whose three generations of mothers and daughters have seemingly grown obsessed with the sport. This is no American child beauty-pageant reality show – but rather a traditional sport held in very high esteem.
This crowd-source campaign is actually to help finish the post-production of the film, and backer rewards range from a photobook and DVD of the film, to a producer’s credit on IMDb.com.
...I also want to share with you a success story! Here’s a female-directed project that was recently funded successfully (and even surpassed their goal!) Congratulations to the team of...
"Sophisticated: The Untold Hollywood Story of Dorothy Arzner" - FUNDED!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/517575886/sophisticated-the-untold-hollywood-story-of-doroth
In “Calisthenics: A Love Story" by Olivia Peniston-Bird we learn the intriguing history of the art form itself, framed through the inner workings of a family whose three generations of mothers and daughters have seemingly grown obsessed with the sport. This is no American child beauty-pageant reality show – but rather a traditional sport held in very high esteem.
This crowd-source campaign is actually to help finish the post-production of the film, and backer rewards range from a photobook and DVD of the film, to a producer’s credit on IMDb.com.
...I also want to share with you a success story! Here’s a female-directed project that was recently funded successfully (and even surpassed their goal!) Congratulations to the team of...
"Sophisticated: The Untold Hollywood Story of Dorothy Arzner" - FUNDED!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/517575886/sophisticated-the-untold-hollywood-story-of-doroth
I recently learned about “Sophisticated: The Untold Hollywood Story of Dorothy Arzner” the same way you probably found this post: through a post on Facebook. Intrigued by the story behind the project, that of Dorothy Arzner, the first woman to direct in the Hollywood studio system, I had to click through to learn more.
I’d never heard of Dorothy Arzner, yet she’s credited with directing over a dozen films throughout her career from the 1920s to the 1940s– she even created the first boom pole out of a fishing rod on the set of 1929’s “The Wild Party”!
I’ve already bemoaned the plight of the fledgling female filmmaker, with an idea in her head but no visible mentor or role model to look up to. Its no wonder we feel we never have role models – history has erased them all!! But thanks to filmmaker/producer Wendy Haines, “the story of this incredibly inspiring unsung heroine can inspire women to see that accomplishments like Dorothy's are possible... that it's always been possible!”
I’m very proud to be a supporter and backer of this film!
I’d never heard of Dorothy Arzner, yet she’s credited with directing over a dozen films throughout her career from the 1920s to the 1940s– she even created the first boom pole out of a fishing rod on the set of 1929’s “The Wild Party”!
I’ve already bemoaned the plight of the fledgling female filmmaker, with an idea in her head but no visible mentor or role model to look up to. Its no wonder we feel we never have role models – history has erased them all!! But thanks to filmmaker/producer Wendy Haines, “the story of this incredibly inspiring unsung heroine can inspire women to see that accomplishments like Dorothy's are possible... that it's always been possible!”
I’m very proud to be a supporter and backer of this film!
RSS Feed
