This month’s crowdfunding picks test time in various ways. In Georgia Oakley’s “Little Bird” we travel back to 1941 London, where a young woman (Emily Taafe) is interviewing for the Women’s Royal Naval Service. The plot is inspired by writer Emily Taafe’s extraordinary family history. Taafe’s grandmother learned the story of her long-lost sister who fled Ireland to join the fight against Hitler during WWII. This story echoes the story of many young women who saw joining the war effort as their path to escaping the strict confines of their lives and the times.

In “20 Weeks, The Movie” timing is of the essence. In this film, a young couple (Anna Margaret Hollyman and Amir Arison) must make a life-altering decision. They must choose whether or not to continue a pregnancy after their baby is diagnosed with a serious health issue. The couple is torn about what to do and at 20 weeks of pregnancy, every moment counts.

Dawn Mikkelson’s documentary “Risking Light” asks a crucial question: when is it time to forgive and forget? Following the harrowing stories of several people, the film explores how people survive traumatic situations and how, with time, they come to forgive those who have hurt them and their families deeply.

Finally, the short film “37 Days” is about a young, Greek, pregnant woman named Maria (Elli Tringou). After being fired from her job on her due date, Maria decides she is not having her baby until she gets her job back. But the film is not just a story about a young woman desperate to regain her life; it is also a metaphor for Greece itself which is undergoing its own tumultuous time.

Here is the first installment of our June crowdfunding picks:

“Little Bird” — Directed by Georgia Oakley; Written by Emily Taafe

“Little Bird” is a short film about a young woman (Emily Taafe) who joins the Women’s Royal Naval Service during WWII. For this young women, the war means being able to see new places, experience new things, and have freedom not available in everyday domestic life of the 1940s. The film’s lush aesthetic captures the yearning and beauty of the times. The film is also notable for its casting of Imelda Staunton (“Harry Potter,” “Little Britain”) as First Officer Simpkins. Support this “short made by women about women for men and women to enjoy” and donate to the film via Kickstarter through June 12.

“20 Weeks, The Movie” — Written and Directed by Leena Pendharkar

In this romantic drama, a happy couple, Maya (Anna Margaret Hollyman) and Ronan (Amir Arison), conceive a baby and are eager to start this new chapter of their lives. However, when the baby is diagnosed with a serious health issue at 20 weeks, they must face the difficult decision of whether or not to move forward with the pregnancy. The film hits close to home for director Leena Pendharkar. She and her husband lived the through the physical and emotional toll of this situation, giving the film an empathetic and complex rendering of a divisive situation. You can support this film via Indiegogo through June 15.

“Risking Light” (Documentary)— Directed by Dawn Mikkelson

Though this powerful documentary is filled with heart-wrenching stories of genocide and murder, it strips down the salacious details of these crimes to focus on the humans who have lived these experiences. What results is a series of moving stories where heartbroken mothers and traumatized survivors are not driven by revenge, but by forgiveness. The life outlooks of her subjects were surprising to director Dawn Mikkelson. As a documentary filmmaker, she distrusted the ability of people to be good. She says, “I was regularly exposed to the dark side of humanity. I was overwhelmed by messages in our culture [and] in social media that we live in a cruel world — a dangerous world — that people were not to be trusted.” However, in the five years it took to make the film her subjects have taught her that “forgiveness is the most powerful act of peace a person can make in their lives.” You can support this uplifting project on Seed&Spark through June 22.

“37 Days” — Written and Directed by Nikoleta Leousi

Director Nikoleta Leousi explains the cultural importance of the premise behind her film, “[In Greece] everybody is fleeing as fast as they can, and the rest of us who stay cannot afford to have kids. Here, starting a family is a great achievement and Maria is doing that. She is bringing someone new to this world. Pregnant women often feel like they’ve lost control of their body and Maria [the protagonist] is fighting to gain back control of her life. And I think one of the biggest issues the Greek people are facing at the moment is that they feel they have no control over the future.” By equating the story of one woman to the larger experience of Greeks during this economically turbulent time, Leousi fuses the personal and the political into a story well worth watching. Donate to the film via Kickstarter through July 5.