Figuring out who you are — and who you want to be — can be a difficult process, especially in a world so eager to put limitations on which identities are considered acceptable. This is an especially daunting task for women, who are often suffocated by the restrictive standards of conventional womanhood. Our latest round of crowdfunding picks examines the struggle of identity and the roles, good and bad, that women are placed into — as well as the ones they choose to claim for themselves.
In writer-director Alyssa DiMartino’s short, “Faccia Brutta,” 12-year-old Isabella finds herself being looked at through the critical eyes of her family’s matriarchs at a gathering, and struggles with the harsh and rigid standards of womanhood common in her Italian culture.
“Women in the Wilderness,” a documentary project spearheaded by Katherine Boucher, Caroline Heer, and Louisa Behnke, follows an all-woman adventure team as they embark on a 40-day ride with 14 mustangs across the American West.
In its depiction of Shira, a trans woman who is funding her transition with identity theft, Dana Aliya Levinson’s short, “Fraud,” explores whether we are born into our identity or if we create it. Can we choose who we want to be?
“Good Girl,” written and directed by Grace Zhang, tells us the story of quiet rebel Jo, who is navigating her rapidly changing body and identity in a world that doesn’t seem made for her.
Here are Women and Hollywood’s latest women-created and women-centric crowdfunding picks.
“Faccia Brutta” (Short) – Written and Directed by Alyssa DiMartino
The social and cultural expectations of womanhood, particularly with regard to objectification and the correlation of beauty with worth, can prove a difficult adversary for many women. In “Faccia Brutta,” which translates to “Ugly Face,” these issues are seen through the experience of a young Sicilian-American girl at a family gathering. Throughout the evening, while interacting with her family’s domineering and hyper-critical matriarchs, she discovers that she is not the only one struggling under the scrutiny — and must decide for herself whether or not to conform to the standards of womanhood her culture has imposed upon her and her family.
This film is written and directed by Alyssa DiMartino, who was inspired by her own experiences of the damage that family members and culture at large can do to the self-image and identity of young women. She notes that Italian culture, like many cultures, has a serious issue with objectifying women and reducing their value to their physical appearance.
“This way of thinking is a vicious cycle that is passed down by generations; inflicting serious harm on the self esteem and mental health of the young women who are subjected to it. I am making this film in hopes of ending this cycle in my family, and inspiring others to do the same,” DiMartino says. “I hope that this film will provide a source of solace for other people who have been through a similar experience, and to challenge the thinking of those who still consciously or subconsciously enforce these standards.”
“Faccia Brutta” will be her thesis film, and she is crowdfunding largely for casting, equipment, and costumes/production design, which will help the project achieve complete authenticity to the Sicilian-American experience.
Help make “Faccia Brutta” a reality by donating via Seed & Spark.
This October, three female horse wranglers will adopt and train a herd of mustangs, and then ride over 200 miles across the American West on a 40-day journey. Their goal? To address the plight of the wild horse and its survival on shrinking public land and preserve the spirit of the American West, all while highlighting the strength of the American woman — and the wild equine!
Along the way, the women will be speaking to Native tribes, ranchers, private industry owners, politicians, and civil servants on each side of the issue. The resulting documentary, filmed by trained filmmakers who will be along for the ride, will showcase the complex issues of policy in an attempt to balance economic development and preservation, as well as the fast-changing landscape of the American West and the adventuring spirit and ability of women.
This ambitious expedition is unprecedented in scale for an all-female team. They will be adopting and training a herd of 14 mustangs, and traveling over 200 miles using horse-packing, the methods by which ranchers explored the West on horseback. With the documentary’s all-women adventuring team, creators Katherine Boucher, Caroline Heer, and Louisa Behnke aim to empower women to challenge societal boundaries and seek opportunities to celebrate the parts of ourselves we feel we have to hide to fit in. These “wild women” hope to imbue viewers with a love for adventure, and the desire and courage to pursue it.
You can help fund “Women in the Wilderness” by donating to its Seed & Spark campaign.
“Fraud” (Short) – Written by Dana Aliya Levinson
“Fraud,” a short film written by Dana Levinson, follows Shira Rose Lowenstein, a trans woman funding her transition with petty credit card theft. After being recruited into an identity theft by a man named Andre, who unexpectedly makes her feel safe and seen, the pair enter into a dance of romance, criminality, and business over the course of a single night.
The central question of “Fraud” is that of identity. Shira struggles with being an addict, her past trauma, and desires more than anything to be loved and seen. She steals others’ identities in order to strengthen her own, which is always in doubt except for one aspect. In “Fraud,” each part of Shira’s identity is called into question, except for her womanhood. Crucially, the film presents trans womanhood as a fixed and unquestionable identity, and provides the opportunity for viewers to see complex and flawed trans female characters.
“I was interested in writing a trans character who was morally ambiguous, messy, gray, thorny… because to me, what true equality looks like in storytelling is when us trans folks are allowed to be all of those things,” Levinson explains in the Seed & Spark pitch video. “It’s an opportunity that cis, straight, white, male characters are afforded without question. It’s time to let us trans girls show you just how messy we can be too.”
Find out how to help “Fraud” by visiting its Seed & Spark campaign.
“Good Girl” (Short) – Written and Directed by Grace Zhang
“Good Girl”
“Good Girl” delves into the concept of duality: light and dark, masculine and feminine, public and private. All identities are multifaceted, but the ones that we consistently perform are often the ones others attach to us — sometimes to our detriment. “Good Girl’s” protagonist, Jo, is a high school student coping with her changing body and identity in a world with rules that seem arbitrary. With her friend Lucy, she acts out fantasies of what she believes men and women should be like, and she sees herself reflected in the strangest places — like the stray dog that persistently follows her. Gradually, through interactions with friends and strangers, Jo comes to accept the coexistence of both sides of her identity, in all their beauty and horror.
The short is writer-director Grace Zhang’s thesis film, as well as her first work that explores themes of gender and queer identity, which is important to her as a queer Chinese-American artist. Jo’s struggle with exploring her gender and identity are similar to Zhang’s own experiences, the filmmaker has explained. She also aims to combine Eastern and Western aesthetics, mixing Americana with contemporary Chinese art, to further reflect the struggles of contrasting identities.
“Although ‘Good Girl’ follows one specific story, I hope that the themes of perception, emotional repression, and the struggles of finding oneself as a teenager resonate universally,” Zhang says in her Kickstarter campaign.
You can support the production of “Good Girl” by donating via its Kickstarter 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.
