Trauma impacts all of us in different ways, and can come from many different places, whether they be our experiences with gender, race, and class, our family, or our friends. Our latest crowdfunding picks take a close look at the various unsettling effects of trauma, and the way both women and society deal with them — or don’t.
Writer-director Winnie Cheung’s “Last Call” explores the trauma associated with sex, immigration, and assimilation in its depiction of Claudia, a troubled Chinese-American motorcyclist harboring a grotesque monster from herself and her loved ones.
Farah Jabir’s short “Kokomo” follows 15-year-old Vic as she witnesses her father’s infidelity, and struggles to make sense of her rapidly-changing world and the complicated nature of family.
In “Jane,” written and directed by Diana Davis-Dyer, a killer-for-hire stumbles across an assault — and takes the opportunity to offer revenge to its victim.
Alexandra Velasco’s “Becoming” (“El Devenir”) depicts a day in the life of two Mexican immigrants: young upper-class Diego, and Mireya, a young Indigenous woman who works as a housekeeper for his family. What starts as a simple game between them takes a dark turn.
Here are Women and Hollywood’s latest women-created and women-centric crowdfunding picks.
“Last Call” (Short) – Written and Directed by Winnie Cheung
By day, Claudia works as a manicurist at her immigrant mother’s nail salon. By night, she rides around town on her beat-up motorcycle alongside her funny, rambunctious best friends — a dream girl gang. Despite this, Claudia feels deeply confused and uncomfortable in her own skin, and finds herself binge drinking and engaging in risky sexual relationships in a desperate attempt to fill the void. Eventually, after experiencing attraction to another girl in a local bar, Claudia’s self-destructive behaviors lead to a horrifying night.
“Last Call” is an erotic thriller where “bikes, babes, and karaoke stars collide,” writer-director Winnie Cheung explains in the campaign video above. It delves into the concept of the trauma we don’t confront, particularly regarding its intersection with sex, immigration, and assimilation, and how it can manifest into a monster. “We all know someone like Claudia, or perhaps like me, some of us are slow to admit that we are a version of her,” Cheung adds on the project’s Kickstarter campaign. Above all, “Last Call” is a film about what happens when women forget to listen to their own bodies.
“Last Call” will serve as a proof of concept short for Cheung’s feature film, “The One Who Got Away.” It is crowdfunding primarily for cast, stunt performers, and extras.
You can help fund “Last Call” by donating to its Kickstarter campaign.
“Kokomo” (Short) – Written and Directed by Farah Jabi
“Kokomo” follows 15-year-old Vic on an emotionally intense journey as she comes across her father’s infidelity, and attempts to understand her fractured world amid the commotion of her younger sister losing her favorite toy. Through Vic’s eyes, we are introduced to the impossibly contradictory and complex nature of her family. The short explores the richness of families and friendships, and the way that people deal with the inevitable pain that comes with such intense and close-knit relationships.
“Dysfunctional relationships with friends and families, a point of exploration in ‘Kokomo,’ are much more intricate than what’s portrayed on surface level. Some things like love and hate are intensely intertwined, interdependent, and
interchangeable,” Farah Jabir, writer and director of “Kokomo,” says on the short’s Seed&Spark campaign page. “We find it is possible to love and hate someone at the same time, a rather common paradigm present in many families, and we are deeply interested in the way we as humans process this pain.”
“Kokomo” is crowdfunding for production design, equipment, transportation, food, and location costs. It will shoot in New York, and use both orchestral music and rap to create a rich aural landscape. The short is also committed to diversity both in front of and behind the camera, being written and directed by a woman of color and featuring a primarily-female crew and a primarily-Latin American cast.
Find out how to help “Kokomo” by visiting its Seed&Spark campaign.
“Jane” (Short) – Written and Directed by Diana Davis-Dyer
As Jane, an assassin, preps for a job at a desert motel, she witnesses a violent assault — and decides to give the victim an opportunity for revenge. This short Western brings strong female voices to the forefront, and allows its women leads to be as morally gray and complex as their male counterparts in the genre.
“I want to see females standing up, and putting themselves in danger for the sake of what they believe in … without boundaries,” Davis-Dyer explains on the project’s Indiegogo campaign page. “Everyone has that fiery creed when it comes to a moral code or passion which often provokes impulsive, vengeful, and savage behaviors. In film, these behaviors have mostly been depicted by male leads. These are not male behaviors. They are human behaviors. ‘Jane’ explores this code and asks the audience, what would you do?”
“Jane” will film at the Budget Inn in the Mojave Desert, and is crowdfunding for production and post-production costs, cast and crew, gear and makeup, and submission fees to festivals.
Help make “Jane” a reality by donating via Indiegogo.
“Becoming” (“El Devenir”) (Short) – Written and Directed by Alexandra Velasco
Mireya, an 18-year-old Mexican immigrant, works as a housekeeper for the wealthy Molina household in the Hollywood Hills. When one of the three Molina children, Diego, is hurt, she looks after him. But as his siblings taunt him for being “in love with the maid,” Diego seeks to prove himself: after all, being friends with “the help” just isn’t done, and different classes should never mix. When the three boys engage in war games with their father’s rifle, Mireya becomes Diego’s victim — and this defines the man he will become.
“Becoming” (“El Devenir”) is based on a chilling true story. Writer-director Alexandra Velasco was dumbfounded by an article about a powerful figure in Mexican politics who shot and killed his young Indigenous housekeeper as a child. He and his family got away with only a scolding, because there are rarely consequences for the wealthy and powerful. With “Becoming” (“El Devenir”), she hopes to tell a story about the terrible results of unchecked power, privilege, and toxic masculinity.
Supporting “Becoming” (“El Devenir”) will help to elevate the voices of female Latinx filmmakers, as well as keep the conversation going about abuse of power and the injustices committed against Indigenous women and girls. The raised funds will primarily cover cast and crew, location costs, and post-production.
You can donate to “Becoming” (“El Denvenir”) via its Seed&Spark campaign.
To be considered for Women and Hollywood’s biweekly crowdfunding feature, please write to waheditorialfellows@gmail.com. All formats (features, shorts, web series, etc.) are welcome. Projects must be by and/or about women.
