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About Your Father: A Documentary by Ruth Murai

A story about my father, me, and how I can remember him, even if the memories are not my own.

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About Your Father: A Documentary by Ruth Murai

About Your Father: A Documentary by Ruth Murai

About Your Father: A Documentary by Ruth Murai

About Your Father: A Documentary by Ruth Murai

About Your Father: A Documentary by Ruth Murai

A story about my father, me, and how I can remember him, even if the memories are not my own.

A story about my father, me, and how I can remember him, even if the memories are not my own.

A story about my father, me, and how I can remember him, even if the memories are not my own.

A story about my father, me, and how I can remember him, even if the memories are not my own.

Ruth Murai
Ruth Murai
Ruth Murai
Ruth Murai
1 Campaign |
Los Angeles, United States
$4,712 USD 69 backers
117% of $4,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal
Overview
ABOUT YOUR FATHER is a film about how to remember someone once they’ve died, even if the memories are not your own. To make this film I will interview my mother, brother, and Uncle about my father, and then travel the West Coast to meet the men who were his pallbearers, most of whom I’ve rarely met, and whose stories I’ve never heard.

The Story:

In 1999, a month after my second birthday, my father had a heart attack and died suddenly at the age of 45. Since then, my mother has done her best to keep him alive for me, telling stories vividly and often. But after she suffered brain injuries from a car accident in late 2016, I began to understand the fragility of relying on her memory to paint a picture of my father. So now, twenty years after his death, I am going to travel up the West Coast to talk to the men who carried my father’s casket at the funeral, his closest friends. Most of them I hardly know, if at all. I’ve always wondered why that is, and how they have remembered my father on their own. This film will capture the journey of meeting them, discovering more about who my dad was, and beginning to understand what it means to grieve for a person you love so deeply, but cannot remember at all.

The Filmmaker:

I am a senior at UCLA, studying film and television and concentrating in documentary. This short film will serve as my senior thesis. I’ve known I wanted to be a filmmaker since I was in elementary school, and realized my passion was in documentary my first year at UCLA. Since then, I’ve pursued documentary through journalistic videos for the Daily Bruin, an internship making videos for the ACLU, and an internship and part-time position as a Research Assistant with the filmmakers behind the documentaries The Hunting Ground and The Bleeding Edge.

The Funds

There are a lot of costs that come with making a documentary. The money I raise in this campaign will be used for these expenses:

  • Insurance for equipment and crew
  • Travel to and from the Bay Area, Oregon, and Washington
  • Meals for crew
  • Data storage
  • Music licensing/composing
  • Festival entry fees

Without your help, it wouldn't be possible for me to complete this project, and I thank you so much!

The Purpose

This story is personal, but it's not just mine. We all experience loss and grief. Which is terrifying, but also natural. While the idea that devastation immediately follows the death of a loved one is understood, I think it's essential to explore this idea of what grief and remembrance look like decades later. I am making this film not just to better understand the father I didn't get to know. I'm making it to understand this feeling that so many of us live with, of grief that evolves and how the people who leave us become a part of us. This story is also yours. 

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Choose your Perk

Embarrassing Childhood Photo

Embarrassing Childhood Photo

$10 USD
Part of the process of making this film involves going through hundreds of family photos, a lot of which I would rather not have see the light of day. Donate $10, and I will e-mail you one of these embarrassing (but let's be honest-probably pretty cute) photos.
Included Items
  • Embarrassing Childhood Photo
Estimated Shipping
May 2019
7 claimed

Weird Postcard from I-5

$25 USD
To make this film, I'll be driving back and forth from the Bay to LA a few times. Interstate 5 has lots of funny touristy, pretty odd spots. Donate $25, and I'll send you a handwritten postcard from the road!
Included Items
  • Embarrassing Childhood Photo
  • Postcard
Estimated Shipping
March 2019
8 claimed
Ships worldwide.

Name in Credits

$50 USD
Your name will be listed in the credits as a thank you for your generous donation.
Included Items
  • Embarrassing Childhood Photo
  • Postcard
  • Name in Credits
Estimated Shipping
June 2019
19 claimed
Ships worldwide.

Director's Notebook

$75 USD
Get a behind the scenes look at the making of the film through a PDF copy of my journal. This will include scene breakdowns, notes from interviews, etc.
Included Items
  • Embarrassing Childhood Photo
  • Postcard
  • Name in Credits
  • Director's Notebook
Estimated Shipping
July 2019
4 claimed
Ships worldwide.

Associate Producer Credit

$200 USD
For your support, you'll be named an Associate Producer on the film.
Included Items
  • Embarrassing Childhood Photo
  • Postcard
  • Director's Notebook
  • Associate Producer Credit
Estimated Shipping
June 2019
5 claimed
Ships worldwide.

Executive Producer Credit

$500 USD
For a donation of $500, you will be named an Executive Producer of this film.
Included Items
  • Embarrassing Childhood Photo
  • Postcard
  • Director's Notebook
  • Executive Producer Credit
Estimated Shipping
June 2019
0 claimed
Ships worldwide.

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