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
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
"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
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’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!