Synopsis
Earth is uninhabited by man. Most died, few left for Titan, a moon of Saturn. With them they took the remnants of humanity, what was left of it anyway. But there was an accident, the ships were damaged, and the remnants lost. They arrived on Titan without their history and soon began to lose their memory.
Sankofa is a film about the woman they asked to find it.
![Sankofa]( "Ship")
Along the way she makes discoveries, including a crate of from Earth that contains documentaries about memory, the past, and what it means to live in the present moment. As she inspects these relics she begins to question her mission.
The documentary follows different individuals and their interaction with memory and the moment - the abstract and concrete. Looking through (and into) the eyes of a photographer, child, and a filmmaker - these film ask, "How does our past, and how we record it, affect our present and future?".
It is a film about history, memory, and the recorded moment. Sankofa seeks to ask the question of why someone would choose to live their life behind a camera, or in front of it? What do we gain from documenting our experiences and what do we lose?
The making of (in two parts)
Part One: Science Fiction
Production of the science fiction portion of Sankofa took place in Berlin during the month of March. We rented a space, built a spaceship, and shot the film all in just 28 days.
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We were a talented and dedicated skeleton crew of ten volunteers. Because we believed in our film we worked ourselves nearly to death making the absolute most of our limited resources. We are proud to announce that it shows in the footage.
Though shot on a modest budget of 15,000 dollars our film has achieved an incredible production value. This combined with the amazing performance from the incredibly talented Allie Hankins has gotten us very excited about the completion of Sankofa.
Part Two: Documentary
This portion of the film consists of three vignettes that are scattered throughout the film. These segments have been in the works for over a year and were shot around the world from Japan to New Mexico to Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia.
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Gifu, Japan
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Albuquerque, New Mexico
Perhaps most exciting is the footage obtained in Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia.
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In Serbia, Bosnia, and Croatia monuments called Spomeniks stand in remembrance of those lost in World War II. Spomeniks are remarkable both historically and aesthetically, and they have seldom been documented. In our searches we have found a few photographs (specifically the book Spomenik by Jan Kempenaers) and only fragments of video. So it is with great anticipation that we provide this rare and astonishing footage of Spomeniks.
Why are we crowd funding again?
We want to be as open and honest about our project as we can. The budget for Sankofa was raised on Kickstarter in December of 2012. Our goal was 15,000 dollars and we made just a bit more than this. We had said that the film would be completed in July and we are painfully aware that it is now November.
We have sent a portion of the rewards promised to the contributors of our Kickstarter Campaign and we have set aside money for the production of DVD's and other rewards that can only be given once the film is mastered.
We want to make sure our backers receive their rewards and to give them a film that they will be proud to have supported.
Our goals is to be transparent and we are happy to answer any questions or discuss any concerns. We hope you understand.
What we need.
What we need is a professional sound mix and color correction in order to bring our film to the big screen.
We have put in countless hours and can't present the film without its finishing touches. We have already registered for some major film festivals and are excited to see where the film takes us.
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The Team
Sankofa is a film that formed a family. We enlisted the help of our friends, family, and fellow movie lovers/makers to bring Sankofa to life. These are incredibly talented, dedicated, and warm individuals who, rightfully, take great pride in the work they have done on this project. Helping us to complete the film will give meaning and reward for the hours labored.
We have also partnered with a German production company, Molly Aida Film, who have been instrumental in our film's success. We would have not been able to make this project without them.
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www.MollyAida.com
The amazing team of Sankofa!
Kaleb Wentzel-Fisher - Director/DP
http://www.supernormals.org
Eli Wentzel-Fisher - Writer
http://www.the-normal-files.blogspot.com
Allie Hankins - Actress
http://partandparcelperformance.wordpress.com/
Martina Chamrad - Producer
http://betweeneastandwest.tumblr.com/
Yugodrom - Milena Savić & Vladimir Crvenković - Designers
http://www.yugodrom.tumblr.com
Riccardo Falletta - Art Director
http://www.qvdr.blogspot.de/
Laila Cola Weeks - Costume Design
www.lailacolaweeks.com
Tom Bonyage & Kito Colchester- Set & Model Design and Construction
http://geschwistergeschwister.tumblr.com/
Hawk and a Hacksaw - Music
http://ahawkandahacksaw.net/
Asa Wentzel-Fisher
http://www.wholehogeditions.com/
Timothy Armstrong - Sound Designer / Animator
http://www.timothyarmstrong.com/
Jackson Glasgow - Student/Filmmaker
http://j-glasgow.tumblr.com/
Our Sponsors!
We would also like to thank our amazing sponsors for contributing to our film!
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http://en.iguaneye.com/![]()
http://www.sailvideosystem.com/![]()
http://www.foto-akcesoria.com.pl/
What we can offer
Physical Rewards
We have many great rewards to offer contributors including the film itself, custom made postcards, and a limited edition Sankofa lithograph printed by Master Printer Asa Wentzel-Fisher.
Here is one of the postcards included from the talented design team Yugodrom!
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Metaphysical Rewards
Contributing to the success of this project and others like it will allow the world to become more interesting. Crowd-funding is great because it gives everybody from the richest philanthropist to the hungriest artist a chance to support good ideas. We firmly believe that Sankofa is a good idea and that it will be a great movie.
Thanks from the Sankofa Crew!
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Please contribute what you can and spread the word via all the usual social pipelines. And don't forget to check in on the campaign from time to time. We will be updating you with our progress and releasing more photos and videos as we get closer to our goal.
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Gifu, Japan
Albuquerque, New Mexico
