Wanna
hug? Meet Francis Firebrace!
Francis is one of
Australia's most original indigenous storytellers and an Aboriginal Elder. Ever
met one of those? You’re about to.
A prolific hugger,
entertainer and passionate humanitarian, Francis is on a mission to share the
ancient wisdom of his people, told through the Dreamtime Stories. If you’ve
never heard of these stories, this is your chance.
Open, exuberant and
funny, Francis touches the lives of everyone he meets and has spent the last 25
years of his life travelling the world spreading his own very special brand of
aboriginal consciousness, trying to affect peoples lives on an individual basis
and on a societal level, too.
He teaches the
importance of respect and self esteem to the most difficult audiences – from
teenagers, to prisoners to the leaders of multi-national companies.
Francis and his
Dreamtime stories have much to teach us about the world we live in, who we are
and where we came from.
In a topsy-turvy time
where answers are scarce – the world needs to hear what Firebrace has to say.
This is your chance
to help him say it.
Want
to make a contribution? We’ve got
some GREAT perks to thank you.
In return for your
contribution, you’ll have turned the volume up on a simple but important
message that has the potential to change frowns to
smiles, and shrugs to hugs all over the world. You’ll also be responsible for
protecting that message for generations to come. Take a second out for a moment
to imagine that.
And you’ll get a
perk! They’re all listed on the
side of this page and to give you an idea of what some of the look like:
![Firebrace Perks]()
Aboriginal Ochre - $20 contribution perk:
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Other
Ways You Can Help
If you don’t have a $
to spare – that’s OK! There are tons of other ways you can help us reach our
goal. Please tell anyone and everyone who might be interested in this
project by forwarding this page in your email, sharing on Facebook and posting
to Twitter!
How?
Director Kevin Lee
Brown met Francis 5 years ago and was so convinced by Francis’s message that he
has been filming Francis’s movements ever since. He has followed Francis to
schools, prisons, demonstrations and more… and seen the positive effect his message
has on people – a smile, a change of opinion, a day turned around.
But he’s also seen
the sad Francis. The man who left his family behind to do all this; and the man
who belongs to a nation of people that are slowly disappearing from the earth.
Francis isn’t magic,
or a saint. He’s made mistakes with the best of us. He needs to go back home to
Australia to bring his stories to his people and his family.
And that’s not all…
Francis won’t be
around forever, but with your help, his stories can be.
This is going to be a
true multimedia/cross-platform project that will give people an opportunity to
dive in and interact with the Dreamtime stories like never before. It
will build an archive of digital versions of Francis’ stories that will be preserved
online. It will tap into Francis’s ongoing outreach work with young
people and give audiences the opportunity to learn about traditional wisdoms
across different cultures, so Francis’ Dreamtime message is never lost.
Sound important
enough to you? We think so. A film for social change and a digital arts resource all in one? Bargain!
Here’s
how it breaks down:
We think we’ll
eventually need about $95,000 to get this emotional film made and get the
interactive Dreamtime project up online so people all over the world can start
plugging into Francis’ special way of thinking.
We're raising $50,000
right now to get the production underway. We'll use this to:
- Get a crew of
people to Australia to film for 8 weeks and
- Get a team of crack
web developers and designers working on building the platform that will let YOU
create, remix and share stories with Francis and the world.
You'll be able to
follow what and how we're doing on the production blog we're getting ready to
launch so you can see your contribution in action!
So far, with zero
budget, we've already:
- Created 5-years
worth of self-financed footage that will be used in the film;
- Created a short
YouTube film of Francis at Occupy London and created a great buzz around
this. It was later used in the Metro newspaper and on the BBC!
- Attracted
attention from broadcasters in the UK and Australia interested in potentially
showing the film when it's made.
