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Fred Ho's Last Year: A Feature Documentary
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Fred says that on the day he got his cancer diagnosis, "The old Fred Ho died. The next day, the new Fred Ho was born." I lost both my mother and my father to cancer, and when I discovered Fred's story I knew that this movie had to be made.
In this documentary, I follow award-winning Asian American jazz saxophonist and composer Fred Ho on an incredible year as he battles cancer, leads his orchestra, launches books, and mounts his magnum opus: a samurai jazz opera for the New York stage.
In 2013, we shot the movie. In 2014, we will screen the movie.
Your contributions have already allowed this film to be submitted to film festivals all over the world. Now we need your end-of-year contribution to take this film to wrap up post-production, present it to the Asian American Studies Conference in San Francisco, and book it into theaters.
What We Need, In Detail
Here is exactly what we need the money for:
1. Clear the rights for one photograph. With previous contributions I was able to secure the rights to all footage except for one historical photo of Archie Shepp, which will cost $450.00. (No, we don't just rip it off from google!)
2. Get more hard drive space. I have run out of hard drive space for the film, which currently takes up 9 terabytes (that is, 9 thousand gigs). The lack of storage space is preventing me from finishing the long version of the film. Feature film editing requires more expensive, faster drives.
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3. Fly to San Francisco. I need to go to the Asian American Studies Conference to exhibit there, and inspire the professors of Asian American Studies all over the country to invite this film to their campuses.
4. Design, write and print posters, study guides, postcards, an exhibition display, and DVD packaging for 600 Asian American Studies Professors. The "packaging" is crucial to inspire the professors to invite us, and it helps to convince other stakeholders at the universities as well as the students to support the film.
5. If we have extra funds, we can get started on the budget for going to the film festivals. It's never too late for us to start planning for the film festivals which (fingers crossed) may allow us to screen in the UK, Germany, and Hong Kong. Jazz gets more respect abroad, so traveling to promote the film is absolutely required if we are accepted.
If you have given to this documentary in the past, thank you. We couldn't be here without you, and we can only continue with your continuing support.
Your contribution allows us to recognize one of the great avant garde musical artists of our generation.
Over the course of countless acclaimed albums, Fred Ho continues to push the boundaries of music. Like all avant grade artists, Fred's impact on music may be felt many years later. It is up to the few people who are committed to Fred's message and music to bring this work to new audiences. We have to preserve it, because cancer will prevent Fred from doing it himself.
Your Contribution Makes the World a Better Place for People with Cancer, Especially Artists and Folks Who are Not Well Served by the Medical Establishment.
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There's a hundred documentaries about cancer, and between you and me, none of them are any good. Fred's struggle against cancer (which is inseparable from his development as an artist) is important because he refuses to accept the simple solutions. He says that "Capitalism is the cancer for Mother Earth," and to rid cancer off the planet, we have to change the world and change ourselves.
YOUR MONEY helps us to bring Fred Ho to these college campuses and to allow NEW AUDIENCES to learn about Fred's life and art for many years to come. Fred's art may continue to find new audiences perhaps for even a hundred years. With each click, you are making history.
Pick Your Album, and Be a Big Red Warrior, A Snake Eatin Mofo, or a Sweet Science Sweetie!
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Every contributor at $50 or above gets one or more of Fred Ho's wonderful albums, all of which are beautifully designed and lovingly recorded with extensive liner notes. In this fundraiser, we picked three just for you. Which album would you like? I will describe them:
Big Red
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BIG RED was recorded in 2004, two years before Fred's cancer diagnosis. It is a powerful album with the Afro Asian Music Ensemble, at times giving undertones of traditional jazz, and then providing the traditional twists and turns that are emblematic of Fred Ho's creative style.
Choose Big Red and give a $50.00 donation before the year is out, and become a Big Red Warrior!
Snake Eaters
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I used to listen to this album every day on the train on the way to editing this film. SNAKE EATERS shows all of Fred's incredible emotional and tonal range with the 30-pound baritone sax. It's fun, it's crazy, it's a wild ride. It is probably the first saxophone-only album in the world. This album is like a love letter to brass.
Choose Snake Eaters and give a $50 donation to be a SNAKE EATIN MOFO.
Sweet Science Suite
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Check out this New York Times Article about Fred's Concert Premiering Sweet Science Suite.
Sweet Science Suite was Fred Ho's most recent sold-out concert, conducted by his student Marie Incontrera, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, one of New York's most innovative large venues. Fred told the New York Times, "I conjure that era of the ’60s and ’70s black exploitation film soundtrack, but I’m upping the complexity of it.” Indeed, this muscular album is like a musical quest for the warrior in all of us, and it occasionally quotes, or embodies the spirit of, Muhammad Ali when he was in his physical and rhetorical prime.
Choose Snake Eaters and give a $50 donation to be a SWEET SCIENCE SWEETIE.
Want to Learn More About Fred Ho?
There's a lot to learn!
Our website: www.discoverfredho.org
My take on Fred Ho's significance to Asian Americans: https://vimeo.com/79441253
My trailer for Fred's show, Deadly She-Wolf Assassin at Armageddon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5-sr6-XyMQ
My video of Fred Ho's Wardrobe on Display at the Knox Gallery: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2wjVwfNvGo
My Video of Leah Poller's sculpture of Fred Ho: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJU1eCDsRKc
On Fred Ho's performance of Sweet Science Suite at Guggenheim Museum: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSts0EKHMUk
Other Ways You Can Help
1. Share this page to at least ten of your friends on your Facebook, Twitter, and email. Please!
Steven De Castro
Director
