One of the things that independent cinema does best is tell stories of relationships found outside of the dominant culture. The mainstream tends to focus on romantic relationships between men and women, families that are structured in a more nuclear fashion, and friendships brought about through workplace proximity — being an Avenger is a job, right? An unpaid internship? — leaving out an incredible range of human connection. As so many of us enter yet another year of a pandemic and continue to rethink what our lives could look like, what true care looks like, and how to deal with loneliness, sometimes the best feeling is recognizing our story on screen. This month’s crowdfunding projects give us a chance to do just that.
“A Few Kind Words About Donna Aveyard” explores what it means to make a new family structure in the midst of grief.
Created by two women who found that their embarrassing individual experiences are much more universal than they realized, “Vibrator Girl” started out as a short story by Morgane Jelinek that made writer, producer, and actress Zoe Mintz feel less alone. The short explores the relationship between a woman and her vibrator, people and loneliness, and women and the medical system.
Loneliness is also explored in “Whistle Down Wind,” a queer love story set in Appalachia created by regional filmmakers for the place they call home.
All three films illuminate relationships that we don’t see often enough: between a grandmother and granddaughter thrown together by circumstance, between a woman and her own body, and between two queer people in a part of the country where many assume anyone LGBTQIA+ has left far behind.
Here are Women and Hollywood’s latest crowdfunding picks.
“A Few Kind Words About Donna Aveyard” (Short) – Written and Directed by Patryk Zięba
“A Few Kind Words About Donna Aveyard”
When Donna Aveyard passes away in her mid-30s she leaves behind Nora, her 14-year-old daughter. Already grief-stricken and struggling to adjust to a world without her mom, Nora must make the cross-country journey to live with her grandmother, Maria, a loner who considers a chicken her closest friend. She’s been removed from people for so long she isn’t quite sure how to be in a relationship with others any longer, let alone her heartbroken granddaughter.
Alexandra, a family friend and something more to Donna, finds the task of delivering Nora to her grandmother incredibly painful.
In the isolated Yorkshire countryside, granddaughter and grandmother will find that they cannot make do alone, and will instead find a way to be a family.
Learn more about “A Few Kind Words About Donna Aveyard” and donate on Kickstarter.
“Vibrator Girl” (Short) – Directed by Kara Strait; Written by Morgane Jelinek and Zoe Mintz
Created by an LGBTQ and women-led team with backgrounds that range from Shakespearian theater to pole dancing, this short film draws from myriad inspirations to create a horror film about masturbation, technology, and the medical system.
Marianne can no longer orgasm with people and has become increasingly isolated. The more she uses her vibrator, the stranger the things that happen to her body: twitching fingers, hair falling out, blue liquid dribbling from her mouth. She ignores these changes until her vibrator begins talking to her, and she is forced to acknowledge that something strange is going on.
Finally leaving her home to seek help, Marianne cannot find it. Not in the doctor’s office, not at a self-pleasuring workshop, not with a pretty new friend, not by going cold turkey. When she returns home after her self-help journey, Marianne is worse off than when she started and undergoes a complete transformation that is more of a disintegration.
According to the fundraising page, screenwriters Morgane Jelinek and Zoe Mintz’s “ideas about medical anxiety, anhedonia, body dysmorphia, social isolation, and technology coalesced into the struggles of ‘Vibrator Girl’s’ protagonist, Marianne.”
Phones aren’t the only technology that can take over someone’s life.
Learn more about “Vibrator Girl” and donate on Seed&Spark.
“Whistle Down Wind” (Feature) – Written and Directed by Andie Morgenlander and Julia Christgau
“Whistle Down Wind”: Justice Film Collective
Queer cinema, while incredibly diverse in some ways, often leaves out the stories of those living outside of major cities. “Whistle Down Wind,” which delves into the relationship between Janie and Alex, is set in the rural Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and created by a local team.
This film follows the friendship, and then romance, of Janie and Alex from high school into adulthood. People-pleasing Alex tries to find acceptance from her boyfriend and conservative family while Janie mourns the death of her mother. As the two grow and change, they find they can no longer continue a secret relationship and must decide what that means for their futures.
“There are so many ways to exist as an LGBT+ person in Southern Appalachia. Many of these experiences aren’t currently reflected in film. Our vision is for ‘Whistle Down Wind’ to be a bright thread in the tapestry of queer cinema, as it continues to be woven,” the filmmakers explain on “Whistle Down Wind’s” crowdfunding page.
Based on a short film by the same name, the film seeks to break away from stereotypes of the south and spotlight characters living at the crossroads of conservative ideology, sexuality, and gender identity.
Learn more about “Whistle Down Wind” and donate on Indiegogo.
To be considered for Women and Hollywood’s biweekly crowdfunding feature, please write to wandhcrowdfunding@gmail.com. All formats (features, shorts, web series, etc.) welcome. Projects must be by and/or about women.
