Hi everyone, producer Alex here.

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Visual references from Sylwia's photography

Tesfa tells the story of DB, a photographer who after years of work in her job has become detached from the suffering and hardship that she documents on a daily basis. But whilst working on an assignment in Ethiopia, with her similarly apathetic co-worker Terry, she relearns through the people she meets how to show empathy and compassion to those in need and how to engage with the culture she is surrounded by.

Sywia's concept art and photography

The concept of the film serves as a metaphor for the suffering and hardship that we bare witness to everyday and without realising it can easily become desensitised to, whether it be witnessing firsthand the homelessness epidemic in the uk or turning on the news and watching a seemingly countless number of atrocities unfold around the world. That's the main reason why everyone involved with the film is SO committed to seeing it's completion, as we are all aware that we have the very special and rare opportunity to create a piece of art that resonates with those who see it and can have a positive social impact.

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However, to make this film a possibility we really need your support and generosity, as everyone knows there are huge costs involved with film production and those are increased significantly when we have to transport our entire production team cross continent to Ethiopia and the many other logistical costs that come with it!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/59037616@N02/albu...

Photos available for purchase(see perks section for details)

I have broken the main costs of production into the following areas:

-Air Travel

-Travel within Ethiopia

-Social filming model

-Visas

-Food and accommodation

-Vaccinations

Air travel above all is the most daunting cost to our production, with return flights per person costing upwards of £400, in addition to this we will also need to fly over a lot of equipment. We are trying to negotiate a deal with an Ethiopian based airline company under the basis that we will be showcasing the country of Ethiopia at its beautiful best and also trying to benefit the local communities we work with our social filming model(more below). However, we must prepare for having to pay full price for our air fare and this where really need your support.

Travel within Ethiopia: Once in Ethiopia we will be filming at a number of different locations, using some of Ethiopia’s most beautiful landscapes and vistas. To transport all our kit and crew between these locations we will need to rent several vans. We are going to try and keep this cost to a minimum by being through precise and pragmatic planning to only take what is essential on each day of filming.

Social filming model: As I mentioned in the video it is really important to us that we give back to the communities we are working with, hence it is our plan to pay all supporting actors, crew and communities a decent living wage for their support to our film, as their contribution can really not be undervalued(it is important to note that this is not always the case with films shooting abroad especially with student films).

In addition to this all proceeds made from the film will be given to the xxx charity, a charity who’s support in xxx can really not go unheard.

Visas:  Every member of the crew will be needing travel visas, this an unavoidable cost which could amount to around £400 between all of us.

Food and accommodation: We will be in Ethiopia for 10 days, again we are going to do everything within our power to source the best possible deals for accommodation and food, but even taking this into account the cost will still be considerable.

Vaccinations: Most of our crew members will need several vaccinations before travelling to Ethiopia, we are going to our best to source all of these vaccinations through the NHS, but there is a chance that this will not be possible, in which case will have to source our vaccinations privately, as we are not willing to jeopardise the health of any crew member.

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Meet the Crew

Sylwia during her time in Ethiopia

Director: Around 10 years ago our director Sylwia Pecio left a well paid job in Poland to travel the world and pursue her passion in photography and film, since then she has become a versatile and experienced filmmaker, developing her own unique style, she is also now an award winning photographer(http://www.lucies.org), she is currently in the final year of her course in digital film production at Ravensbourne University, for which Tesfa will be her final project.

One of Sylwia's stills from Ethiopia

Sylwia also lived in Ethiopia for 8 years where she worked as a photographer, started a family and gained the inspiration for writing this script. It goes without saying that country of Ethiopia is extremely important to Sylwia and making this film is something that she has been devoted to for many years! The time has finally come for her to make what will be her biggest and most personal project to date.

Matuesz Kanownik

Director of Photography: Matuesz Kanownik is a widely experienced cinematographer, who has worked on a range of short films, documentaries, music videos and features. He is adept at working with natural light and stunning landscapes, which is largely how we will be shooting this Tesfa. In addition to this he will be shooting on an Arri Alexa, a top of the range camera used shoot many oscar winning films. With this combination of factors is a certainty that Tesfa will be a stunning film.

Uk production team

Production Team: Myself, Nicole and Ben make up the dynamic production team working on this side of the water for the production of Tesfa, we have a daunting task ahead of us, but together we are going to give it our all and make sure that Sylwia’s vision is realised and we create a film we can always look back on with pride. 

Dawit SK founder of Blue media PLC

Producer: Dawit is a highly experienced producer who’s films have won several awards, most notably his beyond stunning film People of the Delta, produced by his company Blue Media PLC, gained official selection for a number of film festivals, winning several awards along the way. He hopes to replicate this success with Tesfa.

People of the Delta(2016)

Oscar Perez

Sound Engineer: One of the most important yet sometimes unnoticed aspects of film production is the seamless and intricate work done by sound engineers to turn moving image into an immersive audio-visual experience and that is exactly what our sound engineer oscar is going to do. Oscar has accumulated a wide range of experience working in projects outside his home country, which enabled him to in his own words, "spread around the world my passion for creativity and beauty". 

Dana Gavrilla

Editor: Our editor is Dana Gavrilla, currently in her 3rd year of study at Ravensbourne University, has worked as an editor and colour grader on a large number of short films, bringing to life the footage she is given. She is going select the very best of our footage from Ethiopia and cut together something spectacular.

Hadra Ahmed: Locations manager

Hadra Ahmed has a range of experience working as producer and freelance jounalist for the BBC, the NYT and various other companies. As our locations manager she is going to use her local knowledge and intuition to find us the best locations possible to tell the story of Tesfa.

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We would all like to thank you in advance for your generosity and support, without your help this amazing film wouldn't be a possibility!