It makes sense then that among the many big films nominated for Oscars this year, are three crowdfunded projects that reflect just how far the indie scene has come thanks in part to the internet. When it’s creative vision that matters more than an all-star cast, there’s no reason that smaller film-makers can’t go toe-to-toe with the big boys.
The nominations are: Inocente, Kings Point and Buzkashi Boys; and they should serve as marvellous inspiration for any prospective film-makers who are intimidated by the costs necessary to put together a film production.
And Nominated in the Category for Best Crowdfunding Site…
Specifically these three films come from Kickstarter where directors managed to raise enough funding to go ahead by winning over the site’s users to generate pledges. We all know how Kickstarter works by now (you create a project and a target sum, and then get to keep it only if that target sum is met), but perhaps many of us still think of it mainly as a place where tech projects such as indie games and gadgets are nurtured. This of course is not really the case though, with many events and artistic works also finding their financial backing on the site.
Reaching the Oscars though is still a particularly incredible achievement for the site and a great advertisement for crowdfunding in general. What’s more, the films raised more than $90,000 – and this isn’t even the first time that Kickstarter projects have made it to the Oscars. Three previous films had already paved the way: Incident in New Baghdad, Sun Comes Up and The Barber of Birmingham. In total, filmmakers have raised over $102.7 million in pledges via the site which went toward 8,567 different independent film projects, some incredible numbers. Thanks to Kickstarter, thousands of films have been made that previously wouldn’t have been able to find the funds, demonstrating how liberating community and technology can be when they meet.
The Films
So what are this year’s crowdfunded nominees? Well to kick things off, Inocente is the real-life story of a 15 year old homeless girl who nevertheless manages to attend school and enjoys painting and in particular face painting. Filmed as a documentary the trailer looks to be moving and inspiring as it follows her attempts to live her dream as an artist. Read more at www.inocentedoc.com
Kings Point meanwhile is another documentary, this time about five senior citizens living in a retirement resort in Florida. The film explores how these characters come to terms with declining health and increasing loneliness. Or to quote the synopsis on the website ‘the dynamic tension between living and aging—between our desire for independence and our need for community’. The site is www.kingspointmovie.com
Lastly, Buzkashi Boys is a film set in Afghanistan about a young boy set to become a blacksmith and a street urchin who have dreams to become buzkashi riders (buzkashi essentially being horse polo using a dead goat). This is the only one of the three films to tell a fictional tale, but nevertheless has many of the same emotional themes – again looking at someone succeeding and living their dreams against the odds. Perhaps this is art imitating life for some of the film-makers who themselves had to take alternative routes to follow their passions and get their films made? You can read more and watch the trailer at www.buzkashiboys.com
Inocente and Kings Point are nominated for ‘Best Short Documentary Film’ while Buzkashi Boys is up for ‘Short Film (Live Action)’. The three films have each already been highly successful to be nominated and have won many other awards already. This is yet another indication of how more and more entrepreneurs are managing to take on big companies and studios with crowdfunded works in just about every industry. Could indie be the future of film-making?
