What is art for in a fraught time, if not to serve as a template for those difficult conversations that are rarely introduced simply or without fuss at the dinner table? Though the best fiction may make the stakes feel real, the screen can serve as an intermediary, allowing filmmakers and audiences alike to test the waters before gathering the courage to implement such discussions in their own homes.
In this month’s crowdfunding picks, Women and Hollywood spotlights three projects with protagonists who step into difficult conversations, and go against the grain in worlds that are much more comfortable avoiding confrontation.
Whether it be breaking through the silence around mental health and addiction in “Tallahassee,” challenging the racist views of a childhood friend in “Not Far From Here,” or seeking a way out of the monotony of predestined love in “Pragma,” these picks are sure to encourage discourse.
Here are Women and Hollywood’s newest women-created and women-centric crowdfunding picks.
“Tallahassee” (Short) – Directed by Darine Hotait; Written by Hala Alyan
From director Darine Hotait and writer Hala Alyan,”Tallahassee” is a short drama that explores the much-suppressed issue of mental health needs in Arab American families.
Mira, who has just been released from a psychiatric facility following her accidental overdose, is returning to her family home in Brooklyn in order to celebrate her grandmother’s birthday. As she soon discovers, her sister has hidden the reason for her absence, instead telling the family that Mira was only on a trip to Florida. Now, it’s up to Mira to decide what to reveal to her Palestinian American family.
The “Tallahassee” team is primarily made up of those who know the story best, with a majority women of color crew, and Alyan, who both stars in and created the story, coming from a background as an Arab American writer and clinical psychologist. As they write on their campaign page, the filmmakers recognize that “Arabs represent a vastly underserved population in terms of mental health care — through storytelling, we want to change that.”
While the film wrapped pre-COVID-19, the team is raising money for post-production sound, color-grading, and marketing, with hopes of submitting the film to Sundance.
You can learn more and support “Tallahassee” on Seed&Spark.
“Not Far From Here” (Short) – Directed by Aqsa Altaf; Written by Alanna Bennett and Will Graziano
In this Italian-American dramatic short, Leola, a young Nigerian-Italian girl, must decide whether she can protect her own safety, or confront her childhood friend, after he exposes his racism by throwing glass bottles at an African migrant. The choice is made especially difficult when the boy’s mother catches him spray-painting xenophobic graffiti, and drags him to Leola’s house in order for her household to help unravel the reasons behind his behavior.
“Not Far From Here” is a short with a message, and as the campaign page explains, its themes mirror the fact that “Black Italians who were born and raised in Italy, or who arrived in the country at a young age, have experienced a large wave of physical and verbal abuse in the last few years.” While the Black Lives Matter movement is a staple of American cultural conversation, the short uses an international lens to show that Americans certainly aren’t the only global citizens suddenly becoming aware of racist, xenophobic physical and emotional violence toward Black people.
The split Italian and American team behind “Not Far From Here” includes up-and-coming director, and award-winning pupil of the Werner Herzog Filmmaking Workshop, Aqsa Altaf, screenwriter and cultural critic Alanna Bennett, screenwriter and star Will Graziano, and scholar Angelica Pesarini as the script consultant.
You can learn more and support “Not Far From Here” on Kickstarter.
“Pragma” (Short) – Directed by Ellie Heydon; Written by Lucy Heath
Our last crowdfunding pick offers up some lighter fare. In a world that already uses algorithms to find love, the short sci-fi comedy “Pragma” explores what it might be like to push that mathematical equation to the extreme. What if there were an institute dedicated to breaking love down into its most rational, logical, and flawless elements? And what if that uncontested perfect match actually wasn’t so perfect after all?
Set at such an institute, “Pragma” follows a young woman, Willow (Lucy Heath), who is matched with Tom (Sid Sagar), a “well-intentioned, mature young man but perhaps not the most exciting partnership,” according to the project’s campaign page. Although Willow attempts to go along with the program, she has her eye on a much more exciting match: the charming Jack (Phil Dunster), for whom her instant attraction isn’t as quantifiable. However, the higher powers of the institute are overseeing everything, and warn Willow that her next steps will doom her romantically if she tries to go against her calculated match.
As she says in the short’s crowdfunding video, writer-star Heath came up with the plot after simultaneously experiencing her first break in relationships in her adult life, and also watching her parents’ relationship end. Her spin on finding a soul mate, with director Ellie Heydon and a majority female-led crew attached, will playfully test preconceptions about love, and use the convention of sci-fi to explore the very real conundrum of trusting your instincts when society tells you to do everything but that.
You can learn more and support “Pragma” on Kickstarter.
To be considered for Women and Hollywood’s biweekly crowdfunding feature, please write to waheditorialfellows@gmail.com. All formats (features, shorts, web series, etc.) welcome. Projects must be by and/or about women.
