Self-perception is a two-way mirror. Self-perception is how we see ourselves: all our ambitions, all our anxieties reflected plainly in the looking glass. Self-perception is also how the person on the other side of the glass sees us: what they observe when they behold the same visage, what they perceive as an outside spectator, unbeknown to our internal chatter and most private emotions. And how others perceive us — or how we think they perceive us — often informs how we see ourselves and even the world around us.
This week’s crowdfunded projects interrogate this reciprocal relationship between self-image and external observation. The proposed films encourage viewers to rethink preconceived definitions of “normal,” to entertain the idea that there is no singular, definitive reality that is experienced universally. The following films jettison the albatross of “normality” to bring to life stories from unique perspectives.
Dominique Seward-Campbell’s “The Art of Silence” is told from the vantage point of a 10-year-old girl who is partially deaf, and whose disability empowers her to achieve her goals. Crazy Broad Productions’ “Smudge Smile” also revolves around a young girl: Zoe, 15 going on 16, who is forced to maintain a jovial façade for her loved ones as she battles depression on her own. Finally, So Young Yang’s “Krazy Beautiful” considers “different states of being human” through Kristen, a woman diagnosed with schizophrenia who experiences self-discovery against all odds.
Here are Women and Hollywood’s latest women-created and women-centric crowdfunding picks.
“The Art of Silence” (Feature) – Written and Directed by Dominique Seward-Campbell
Our late-stage capitalist world is as loud as it is verbose. It is a world of excess that rarely offers respite from the notifications, headlines, and advertisements that bombard us every day. But what does a world of everlasting silence look like? Namely through the eyes of a young girl?
Filmmaker and entrepreneur Dominique Seward-Campbell’s debut feature film, “The Art of Silence” follows Kono Duwas, a partially deaf African-American girl whose eyes become her ears. In addition to helping her navigate her childhood, Kono’s faculty of sight also “[frees] her from a metropolitan dystopia,” according to the campaign page. “The Art of Silence” invites us to rethink disability without lamenting nor romanticizing it: in the case of Kono, her deafness is not a limitation but a catalyst to her success. She effectively becomes “the bridge between the flawless and incapacitated.”
Six years in the making, “The Art of Silence” holds a lot of personal significance to Seward-Campbell. She believes that “everyone has a right to have their story told” and to this end, her project will be the first feature film with a protagonist who is both a racial minority and a person living with a disability. Seward-Campbell hopes to celebrate people’s differences in “The Art of Silence,” and dispel popular misconceptions about disability. As she puts it herself, “It reminds us that what society deems as ‘flawed characteristics’ such as, autism, deafness, or blindness are actually powerful enhancements.”
Thirty-five percent of the project’s Kickstarter proceeds will be donated to the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind.
Learn more about “The Art of Silence” and donate on Kickstarter.
“Smudged Smile” (Short) – Directed by Ella Greenwood; Written by Hannah Westall
Created by female-led Candid Broads Productions, “Smudged Smile” tells the story of Zoe, a buoyant 15-year-old eagerly awaiting her Sweet 16 party. Everything is rosy for Zoe, whose joie de vivre uplifts those around her — but “a smile can paint a thousand stories.”
Despite the vibrant prospects of the year to come, Zoe finds herself mired in depression, “an inner turmoil that overshadows what is meant to be the most exciting night of her year,” according to the Kickstarter page. She is forced to nurse her mental health while also keeping up appearances for her loved ones.
Screenwriter Hannah Westall, who has written extensively on mental health, said she wanted to depict teenage mental illness in an honest, unembellished manner. Director Ella Greenwood likewise hopes the film will offer a holistic representation of teenage depression on-screen, one that accounts for the emotional peaks and troughs. “Even if things are going fantastically around you, you can still be sad,” she says in the promotional video. “Even if things are going really badly around you, you can still be happy — it’s not always dependent on external circumstances.”
The creators said that the impetus for this film was the spike in mental health problems in the wake of the pandemic, felt acutely by Generation Z or “Generation COVID.” As Westall expressed, teenage depression is routinely misunderstood by adults, dismissed as a “phase” or hormonal imbalance. The team hopes to deflate common myths through a realistic — but not sensationalized — portrayal of teenage depression.
The film short will demonstrate how mental illness can be compounded by social expectations — and the pressure to satisfy these expectations — for a young girl who must also negotiate her teenage years.
Learn more about “Smudged Smile” and donate on Kickstarter.
“Krazy Beautiful” (Feature) – Written and Directed by So Young Yang (양소영)
“K” is for Kristen. “K” is also for “Krazy,” as in “Krazy Beautiful,” the debut narrative feature of filmmaker and artist So Young Yang. Kristen is a woman living with symptoms of schizophrenia — “However, is that all there is in her life?” That is the central question of the narrative, according to the film’s official website.
“Kristen seems closed off,” the website reads, “and yet she is about to embark on a journey of self-discovery with some friends.” She undergoes life-changing events that prompt her to question whether she is mentally ill or possesses “supernatural abilities,” according to actress Flora Jiwu Hwang, who portrays Kristen. Remarkably, “Krazy Beautiful” does not gloss over the tribulations of mental illness nor does it wallow in misery; it is “a light-hearted approach to all that seems serious and heavy, finding certain humor in it all to lift our hearts,” as described on Kickstarter.
So said the film questions “how we perceive different states of being human,” with “Krazy Beautiful” focalized through a character whose insights about the world are dismissed as “abnormal” because of her diagnosis. “Krazy Beautiful” deals with the societal alienation felt by individuals battling mental illness, along with the stigmas against neurodiversity. Kristen’s journey, however, will strike a chord with any viewer: “This film could be mirroring a corner of your private life where you are hurdled up wanting to be understood and supported.”
Ultimately, So hopes that her film will encourage open, compassionate dialogue about mental illness. “It was hard to believe how many people all of a sudden had a brother-in-law, a sister, or a close aunt who were in such diagnosed states,” she said. “Omitted yet pervasive came across my mind. We are in a habit of hiding.”
Learn more about “Krazy Beautiful” and donate on Kickstarter.
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.
