Refugees Use Film as A Medium To Raise Their Voice
The Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security officially ranks Afghanistan as the worst place for women to live. “One Day Before Being Sold” is an upcoming non-fiction drama film by Gayatri Kumar on the plight of women in present-day Afghanistan. The film features the story of 15 year old Rihana who discovers her father’s plans to sell her to the Taliban the next day for money. It’s essentially about how a family–without resources or money–passes those final 24 hours. Moreover, the story reveals the final refuge for a country that has been utterly isolated. This is a film by a woman for the women and to make the dream of this mission a reality, the filmmaker has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, and she is welcoming generous community support and backing.
“Our film will be shot in India in three different locations and because this is a film about a poor family within a hard-hit region, we’re keeping our budget very limited,” said producer Tommy Donohue while introducing this project to the Indiegogo community. Inspired by and put together from real-life incidents, the film is a forty minute prayer that will show the families in Afghanistan what it takes to survive the cruelest of environments.
Kumar says: “The most beautiful part about this project is that we’re casting actual Afghan refugees throughout: the people who have fled from Taliban’s terrors. These refugees were the first ones to donate to this film because it’s very important that this film is made right now. The fire is still burning. The iron is hot to strike. So strike the iron.”
The Indiegogo Campaign is located on the web at:
www.indiegogo.com/projects/one-day-before-being-sold and backers from around the world can become a part of this project by making generous pledges and donations. This film depends entirely on crowdfunding and it helps refugees who are dying to tell their story. Rewards for donating range from being credited on their website to having an Afghan family say a prayer for you. The team claims there are emotional benefits too. They assert that this is “an invitation to the seat at the table of humanitarians.”
Ultimately, this project is aiming to show that the film industry can be for more than just entertainment. It can have a real-life impact. A film about the poor should not make a rich actor richer. It should put money in the hands of the poor. In the refugees’ own words “We can’t pick up a gun. No one is answering our pleas. That’s why we are doing this film.”
Media Contact
Company Name: Shastra Productions
Contact Person: Gayatri Kumar
Email: Send Email
City: Bronxville
State: New York
Country: United States
Website: www.thesoldfilm.com
