I have been making award winning short films for 10 years and am thrilled to be embarking on my first feature length project. THE PIN is scheduled to shoot
in Toronto this Fall. I've been working hard to make sure we meet
that deadline but need some help getting there. THE PIN is being shot
on a bare minimum budget and I am hoping that indiegogo can give us
enough supplemental cash to pay
the amazing crew.
I have raised a large portion of the budget and only need $30 000.00 to start shooting.
THE PIN is the first Yiddish Language film (with English subtitles) to be shot in Canada and the 2nd in North America in over 70. I have had a lot of pressure to shoot this film in English to access more money but I'm sticking to my guns and need your help!
THE VISION
THE PIN is a holocaust story and a passion project for me. It is
essential for me to imagine the small stories within the larger daunting
reality of history. It is the only way that I can digest a tragedy of such
enormous proportions.
But what I hope, and what I felt when I wrote THE PIN, is
that it would extend beyond the label of Jewish Film or Holocaust film, because
at the heart of this film is the universal story of the human spirit struggling
to find balance between oppression and tolerance, life and death, love and
pain. I want THE PIN to resonate with all people, because ultimately it is a
film about the triumph of the human spirit.
THE STORY
An embittered elderly Shomer, a religious watchman
responsible for guarding the souls of the dead before their burial, comes
face-to-face with his long lost first love Leah when her dead body is wheeled
into the morgue one fateful night.
Time melts as he relives their days and nights spent hiding
in a barn in Lithuania, fighting for survival as World War Two rages around
them. Brought together in these extreme circumstances, what starts as mistrust
develops into love, marriage and ultimately murder.
In the end, the Shomer is able to find peace after a
lifetime of regret by fulfilling a promise he made to the young Leah on their
last night together.
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THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE PIN
The inspiration for THE PIN came from my grandmother Leah who passed away 8 years ago. I
found out after she passed away, that throughout her long life she had an
intense fear of being buried alive. In her later years, as death was approaching, she made my
father promise to prick her hand with a pin once she had died, to ensure that
she was actually dead before she was put in a coffin. This story always
fascinated me, because it required an act of true love that was also an act of
violence.
The idea for the setting of THE PIN came to me while watching the
entire series of Six Feet Under over the course of one month (a feat indeed). I
became fascinated with the idea of how people interact with dead bodies. It is
obvious that people miss the spirit and soul of someone after they die, but
what about missing the actual body, the physical touch, the weight, the
contact? I wondered what it would be like to find someone you thought
you would never see again, but to do so only after they had died.
ABOUT THE WRITER DIRECTOR
I'm a graduate of the Canadian Film Centre's Director's Lab and have been writing and directing award winning short films for the last 10 years that have screened all over the world. My films have received support from the Ontario Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, the National Film Board and BRAVO FACT. THE PIN will be my first feature film.
SUPPORT FOR THE PIN
I have had a lot of support for this project over the last 4 years. I wrote the first two drafts of THE PIN in 2007-8 with the
financial support of a scriptwriting grant from the Canada Council for the
Arts. I completed a third draft after attending the Women in
the Directors Chair (WIDC) masters class
in 2008. In 2009 I was
awarded the prestigious Women In Film And Television (WIFT) Kodak New Vision
Mentorship Award for the script and most
recently have been awarded an Ontario Arts Council Production Grant for the film.
WHY YIDDISH
The Pin will be shot predominantly in Yiddish (with English
subtitles). It is very important for me to create a film that is authentic as
possible and given the time and location of the story set in the past -
Lithuania circa 1941, Yiddish is
the only realistic option. The more I delve into the challenges of shooting in
Yiddish and the more support that this project receives from the community
because of this choice, the more excited I am to make the first Yiddish film
ever shot in Canada and the second Yiddish language film shot in North America
in the last 70 years.
WHERE WE ARE
Having successfully raised the lion's share of the budget, I am now at the point where I really need your help. Indiegogo is the last chance I have to raise the remaining $30 000.00 needed to shoot this film.
Every penny that you pledge goes directly to the THE PIN's budget. It will go directly on the screen. With your help, I am confident you'll see the film at a theater near
you in the year 2012.
WHAT'S THE MONEY FOR?
This film is being made on a bare-bones budget that will require a lot
of compromise, creativity and sacrifice. I want to insure I get the best people possible on board for this project. I do not want the bare bones budget to
require these people to work for free. The money pledged here will go
towards the minimal wages for the crew while we
shoot for 3 weeks in and around Toronto.
NEXT STEPS - 60 DAYS AND COUNTING!
The shoot for THE PIN is weather dependent - I have to shoot
before the weather turns cold, this means I have to shoot by mid October. The
film is cast, the script is translated, the actors are in Yiddish lessons. I am
location scouting and locking down my key crew members. This film is happening and I have 60 days to raise 30 000.00
It will take 300 people to donate $100.00 or 600 people to donate $50.00 or 1200 people to donate $25.00
You can help by spreading the word!
Post the link on facebook.
Email it to all your contacts.
Tweet about it.
Without you this film will not happen. Thank you in advance for all your support in making THE PIN a possible.
info@thepinmovie.com
www.thepinmovie.com
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/The-Pin/137688249654537
