After a sold-out world premiere at the 2017 Hot Docs Festival, A Better Man returns with a Toronto theatrical run at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema from June 9-21!  For tickets: bit.ly/abmtoronto

We will be screening A Better Man across Canada and abroad with the support of local organizations, post-secondary schools, and other partners.  If you're interested in bringing the documentary to your community, please email us at info@abettermanfilm.com.  For Indiegogo contributors who claimed a digital download perk, the film should be available to you in 2018.

On the last day of our campaign, we hit our second stretch goal and in the end raised a total of $110,765! Thank you for believing in our documentary and our amazing team. We look forward to completing the film and sharing it with all of you!

My name is Attiya and I want to make a film to help end violence against women. I am a survivor of intimate partner violence. Throughout my career, I've worked with women experiencing domestic violence. I’m making this documentary because I’m tired of hearing non-stop stories of pain and hopelessness. I can't keep just listening to these stories. I need to do more. And I need your help.

The man who abused me is taking responsibility for his actions.

For two horrible years we lived together. He hurt me daily. Twenty years later, I ran into him on a street corner and realized that it was an opportunity to get answers. I wanted to know how he remembered our relationship, how he justified what he did and how the violence he perpetrated had affected his life. I asked him if he would let me film our conversation.

It took courage for him to talk to me about the things he had done. One of the things he said was, "Attiya, I wish I could have been a better man." I'm making this documentary because I believe he, and people like him, can change, and I want to create a space for that to happen. 

A Better Man will tell our story, while also bringing to light the incredible work people are doing with men who are hurting others. It has the power to strengthen the movement to end violence against women through a deeper focus on abusive men.

Making A Better Man will be painful for me. I will need to talk openly about the abuse, see the person who hurt me, remember the violence. But I know that this pain will be outweighed by hope - hope that I will get answers to questions that have been keeping me awake for two decades; hope that the person who hurt me can be given a chance to redefine himself; hope that our conversation can be the beginning of a broader change that will prevent stories like ours.

My team and I cannot create this change alone. We need the help of a broader community. You will be among the first supporters of a film with the potential to change the lives of women and men, while influencing public debate and public institutions. We can make progress towards ending violence against women.

A Better Man will be a high-quality documentary. That requires a professional crew, beautiful cinematography, great sound design, and strategic promotion and distribution. Our team will also continue to focus on community outreach and advocacy throughout the making of this documentary, with the goal of helping to build a movement that goes beyond the film. This project is ambitious. It will cost money; our estimated budget is $450,000. Indiegogo is a fundraising platform that requires a LOT of smaller contributions and MANY larger contributions. Every amount helps, and no contribution is too small.

We need $75,000 to start filming this documentary. Although this is not enough to complete the film, it will provide us with the opportunity to conduct a significant shoot with three of our main subjects. This will reveal information that will become the spine of our story, and will define the narrative for the film. 

I realize this is a HUGE undertaking. This documentary is not only something I need to do, but it is the next step we need to take in the field of violence against women. Let's work at achieving this goal together! 

We chose our perks to respect the issue of violence against women and show its pervasiveness. Respecting and honouring people who have been victims/survivors by adding their names to the credits in the film will demonstrate to the audience how distressingly common violence against women is and the importance of becoming part of the movement to end it.

We also wanted our rewards to focus on a theme of self-care. Making a contribution and receiving an exercise class, yoga class, massage or haircut in return can help the body and soul!

The perks highlight the important role that artists have in the movement to end violence against women. We are fortunate to have amazing artists such as Sarah Polley (who is hosting a dinner with crew), Justin Rutledge (who is hosting a living room concert), and more stepping up to be part of our perks. Join them! 

We even have an original piece of artwork from Andrew Scott of Sloan! This 3'x4' oil on canvas is titled "Caramel" and could be yours. 

Other rewards include: a digital download of the finished film, acknowledgement in the credits in the film, and much more!

*You can choose to give without a perk. Click the red "Contribute Now" button near the top of the page and enter any amount. 

**You can also contribute more money than the perk amount displayed. 

The impact we seek is both personal and political.

Personal: A Better Man will create a much-needed space for both survivors and perpetrators of abuse to change their lives. It will provide men who have hurt others with a vehicle for taking responsibility for their actions, changing their behaviour, and becoming part of the movement to end violence against women. Survivors of abuse will be able to hear others taking responsibility and gain some hope that broader solutions are possible. 

Political: We seek to persuade the public, policymakers, and those who work in 
the violence against women field to widen their focus to include abusers as a means of preventing violence against women. The film will advocate for bold, systemic change while identifying specific interventions, based on existing cutting-edge work by experts, practitioners, and advocates, that can help abusive men to change their behaviour and decrease the incidence of violence against women. 

A Better Man will empower audience members to create change, whether in their own relationships or as part of a broader movement for social change. 

The production team for A Better Man brings years of experience on award-winning, high-quality documentaries. The team includes:

SARAH POLLEY (Executive Producer) is a writer-director whose dramatic features include Away from Her (nominated in 2007 for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and winner of the 2008 Genie Awards for Best Motion Picture and Achievement in Direction) and Take This Waltz, starring Seth Rogen, Michelle Williams and Sarah Silverman. Her most recent film, Stories We Tell, was awarded Best Documentary by the Toronto Film Critics Association, the New York Film Critics Circle, the National Board of Review and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. It was also on the shortlist for the 2013 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Sarah is currently adapting Margaret Atwood's historical novel, Alias Grace, as well as John Green's debut novel, Looking for Alaska. 

CHRISTINE KLECKNER (Producer) is a producer whose short film Barefoot (2012) premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, received honourable mention at The Berlinale, and was selected for the Not Short on Talent Showcase at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.  Prior to that, she produced Wapawekka (2010) which screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, Sundance and the Berlinale. During her time with the National Film Board of Canada, she collaborated on ground-breaking projects including Stories We Tell and the multi-platform Filmmaker-in-Residence. She is an alumni of the National Screen Institute of Canada’s Drama Prize Program. Christine resides in Toronto working freelance in documentary and drama.

LAWRENCE JACKMAN (Writer/Co-Director) is a Toronto-based filmmaker.
Over the past fifteen years he has worked on many award-winning films, focusing primarily on independent documentaries and dramas. He often works as an editorial consultant that includes a long-standing association with the National Film Board of Canada, and is experienced working at critical stages to creatively and structurally bring films to completion.  Both as an editor and in his own filmmaking, he is interested in creative storytelling and pushing genre boundaries.  In 2011 he directed the award-winning How Does It Feel, a documentary musical about the importance of creative fulfillment told through the musical pursuits of a singer with cerebral palsy.

IRIS NG (Director of Cinematography) has been collaborating with filmmakers and artists for over a decade. Her credits include Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell, Morgan Spurlock’s Committed: The Toronto International Film Festival, Angad Singh Bhalla’s Herman’s House, Rama Rau’s The Market, Min Sook Lee’s My Toxic Baby and international art installation projects by Luis Jacob and Chris Curreri.

So let's put our energy into contributing to this documentary so we can end violence against women. I am grateful for any contribution you can make! Here are some ways you can help:

• Make a contribution: Any amount helps!

• Spread the word: The more people who know, the more people can help. You can raise awareness about the project by sharing news on Facebook and Twitter and by letting others in the movement to end violence against women know about the film.   

Everyone who helps becomes a part of the movement to end violence against women.  

Thanks for taking the time to support A Better Man.