A Stigmatism: A Short Film
Donation protected
Hello!
We are a team of young artists currently enrolled in the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, located on the Steiner Studio Lot in Brooklyn, NY. We’ve been busting our guts working on this project set to shoot at the end of this month: February, 2021.
As students, we did not receive a budget to produce our film, and with COVID-19 restrictions limiting our access to school facilities and resources, the truth is we need your help. This team is filled with incredibly talented artists able to create some exceptional, award-winning work, and we wouldn’t be asking for your help if we didn’t want to deliver something exceptional. That’s the situation: as students, we expected to be able to have access to certain facilities, equipment, and safety precautions that unfortunately aren’t available to us due to the pandemic. Your donation will help us overcome these obstacles, secure locations, keep our cast and crew COVID-19 safe, and share this project with as many people as we can.
The Story:
Oono, an isolated one-eyed man, checks himself in to have ocular surgery while the whole world awaits a very rare eclipse of the sun. When his unorthodox operation is complete, he is able to find companionship amidst the terrible effects the eclipse has had on the world.
A Stigmatism was inspired by the director’s personal experience as a one-eyed person undergoing surgery and seeking for a normal life. Her pursue for fitting social molds got her into the path of creating this story and casting a one-eyed actor to maintain authenticity.
We are in the midst of a global civil rights movement which demands that marginalized voices be represented and amplified in the spaces where they’ve been stifled and muted for centuries. A Stigmatism is designed to reach back to a disabled community that has been disregarded, ignored and othered in film since its inception. It does not aim to glorify or canonize us, but sincerely reflect the raw and harrowing complexities of our lived experience.
If it’s true that we cannot be what we cannot see, this project is determined to pave the way for a new generation of disabled artists to tell their stories and to clear a path for heightened visibility, so bright, that the visually impaired might finally be able to see themselves and know they’re understood.
How does your donation help?
Your generous donations are going to be put toward the cost of restructuring our film for remote, on-location production. This includes:
- Purchasing materials for dressing location sets
- Special Effects Makeup
- Travel expenses
- Equipment rentals
- COVID-19 approved craft services and meals
- PPE for COVID-19 safety
Additionally, donations will go toward submitting A Stigmatism to film festivals around the world. Don’t worry, donors will be able to see it first!
The rest will be put toward giving our supporters (that’s you, you beautiful person!) some rewards as a thank you for supporting us!
Donation Reward Tiers:
All who donate and leave their name will be added to the end credits of the film as a thank you for your support! All amounts are welcome; there are no small donations.
We are also offering rewards for those who provide significant contributions to the film.
Our reward tiers build upon one another, so each next tier includes all of the rewards in the previous tier!
Tier 1: $10+
- A private virtual link to the film
- A special thank you in the credits
- A thank you post on our social media
Tier 2: $25+
- All Tier 1 rewards
- Access to a fully curated showcase of development & concept art for the film
Tier 3: $50+
- All Tier 1 & 2 rewards
- Physical Poster (18x24in)
- Original Eye-ssortment of merchandise
Tier 4: $100+
- All Tier 1, 2, & 3 rewards
- An invitation to a virtual screening with Q&A with the creative team
Tier 5: $250+
- All Tier 1, 2, 3, & 4 rewards
- An Associate Producer Credit & access to BTS footage & commentary
Tier 6: $500+
- All Tier 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5 rewards
- An Executive Producer Credit & one ticket to a film festival screening of A Stigmatism
The Crew:
Director: JULIA ZANIN DE PAULA is an award-winning Brazilian filmmaker and designer based in New York. Her latest film, Mother of Monsters, screened at 40 festivals including SITGES, Festival de Cinema de Gramado, and the NOLA Horror Film Festival, receiving 18 awards on the circuit.
Julia has an eye for finding beauty in the bizarre and horror in the peculiar — One eye, to be precise. Born blind in one eye, Julia was drawn to the camera’s one lens, and found her flair for filmmaking at an early age.
With 6+ years experience directing commercials, including work with Volkswagen, Coca-Cola, Ray-Ban, and Mastercard, as well as directing narrative shorts and music videos, Julia’s work has been screened around the world and celebrated for its fantastic realism. Julia was a featured juror on the 2019 Brooklyn Horror Festival, and currently works as a freelancer and at Steiner Studios in Brooklyn, NY.
She wears one glass eye. Can you tell which one?
Cinematographer: DONNA DEL CASTILLO is a Peruvian photographer and cinematographer based in NYC. She studied Audiovisual Communication with a minor in broadcasting and currently pursuing a MFA in Cinematography. Donna grew up in the mountains of Peru traveling since an early age. After getting her BFA she spent most of her time traveling across the Andean communities and the Peruvian jungle researching and exploring Peru’s largely diverse society. Focusing mainly on portraying the different faces of the Andean woman through photographs and documentaries. Donna’s interested on stories that portray authenticity and a sense of truth for the subjects or characters even when she works on fictional films.
Co-Producer: JORES PHILIPPE is a Haitian Film Producer. His passion really comes from listening to old folks stories. Growing up In Haiti really gave him different perspective in life. Jores believes that there's a lot of stories that has not been properly portrayed in Hollywood. Specially for people living in third world countries. He will make it his mission to change that . Jores is currently enrolled at Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema.
Co-Producer: LIAM D. O'BRIEN is a freelance film producer residing in Brooklyn, New York. He holds an A.A.S. in Radio and Television Production from Northampton Community College as well as a B.A.S. in Cinema, Television, and Media Production from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. In addition to producing content for clients such as Crayola, Nerd Street Gamers, and the Frederick Douglass Institute, Liam currently produces In Love With The Process, a filmmaking podcast based out of Los Angeles and is working toward his MFA in Cinema Arts at Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema.
We are a team of young artists currently enrolled in the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, located on the Steiner Studio Lot in Brooklyn, NY. We’ve been busting our guts working on this project set to shoot at the end of this month: February, 2021.
As students, we did not receive a budget to produce our film, and with COVID-19 restrictions limiting our access to school facilities and resources, the truth is we need your help. This team is filled with incredibly talented artists able to create some exceptional, award-winning work, and we wouldn’t be asking for your help if we didn’t want to deliver something exceptional. That’s the situation: as students, we expected to be able to have access to certain facilities, equipment, and safety precautions that unfortunately aren’t available to us due to the pandemic. Your donation will help us overcome these obstacles, secure locations, keep our cast and crew COVID-19 safe, and share this project with as many people as we can.
The Story:
Oono, an isolated one-eyed man, checks himself in to have ocular surgery while the whole world awaits a very rare eclipse of the sun. When his unorthodox operation is complete, he is able to find companionship amidst the terrible effects the eclipse has had on the world.
A Stigmatism was inspired by the director’s personal experience as a one-eyed person undergoing surgery and seeking for a normal life. Her pursue for fitting social molds got her into the path of creating this story and casting a one-eyed actor to maintain authenticity.
We are in the midst of a global civil rights movement which demands that marginalized voices be represented and amplified in the spaces where they’ve been stifled and muted for centuries. A Stigmatism is designed to reach back to a disabled community that has been disregarded, ignored and othered in film since its inception. It does not aim to glorify or canonize us, but sincerely reflect the raw and harrowing complexities of our lived experience.
If it’s true that we cannot be what we cannot see, this project is determined to pave the way for a new generation of disabled artists to tell their stories and to clear a path for heightened visibility, so bright, that the visually impaired might finally be able to see themselves and know they’re understood.
How does your donation help?
Your generous donations are going to be put toward the cost of restructuring our film for remote, on-location production. This includes:
- Purchasing materials for dressing location sets
- Special Effects Makeup
- Travel expenses
- Equipment rentals
- COVID-19 approved craft services and meals
- PPE for COVID-19 safety
Additionally, donations will go toward submitting A Stigmatism to film festivals around the world. Don’t worry, donors will be able to see it first!
The rest will be put toward giving our supporters (that’s you, you beautiful person!) some rewards as a thank you for supporting us!
Donation Reward Tiers:
All who donate and leave their name will be added to the end credits of the film as a thank you for your support! All amounts are welcome; there are no small donations.
We are also offering rewards for those who provide significant contributions to the film.
Our reward tiers build upon one another, so each next tier includes all of the rewards in the previous tier!
Tier 1: $10+
- A private virtual link to the film
- A special thank you in the credits
- A thank you post on our social media
Tier 2: $25+
- All Tier 1 rewards
- Access to a fully curated showcase of development & concept art for the film
Tier 3: $50+
- All Tier 1 & 2 rewards
- Physical Poster (18x24in)
- Original Eye-ssortment of merchandise
Tier 4: $100+
- All Tier 1, 2, & 3 rewards
- An invitation to a virtual screening with Q&A with the creative team
Tier 5: $250+
- All Tier 1, 2, 3, & 4 rewards
- An Associate Producer Credit & access to BTS footage & commentary
Tier 6: $500+
- All Tier 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5 rewards
- An Executive Producer Credit & one ticket to a film festival screening of A Stigmatism
The Crew:
Director: JULIA ZANIN DE PAULA is an award-winning Brazilian filmmaker and designer based in New York. Her latest film, Mother of Monsters, screened at 40 festivals including SITGES, Festival de Cinema de Gramado, and the NOLA Horror Film Festival, receiving 18 awards on the circuit.
Julia has an eye for finding beauty in the bizarre and horror in the peculiar — One eye, to be precise. Born blind in one eye, Julia was drawn to the camera’s one lens, and found her flair for filmmaking at an early age.
With 6+ years experience directing commercials, including work with Volkswagen, Coca-Cola, Ray-Ban, and Mastercard, as well as directing narrative shorts and music videos, Julia’s work has been screened around the world and celebrated for its fantastic realism. Julia was a featured juror on the 2019 Brooklyn Horror Festival, and currently works as a freelancer and at Steiner Studios in Brooklyn, NY.
She wears one glass eye. Can you tell which one?
Cinematographer: DONNA DEL CASTILLO is a Peruvian photographer and cinematographer based in NYC. She studied Audiovisual Communication with a minor in broadcasting and currently pursuing a MFA in Cinematography. Donna grew up in the mountains of Peru traveling since an early age. After getting her BFA she spent most of her time traveling across the Andean communities and the Peruvian jungle researching and exploring Peru’s largely diverse society. Focusing mainly on portraying the different faces of the Andean woman through photographs and documentaries. Donna’s interested on stories that portray authenticity and a sense of truth for the subjects or characters even when she works on fictional films.
Co-Producer: JORES PHILIPPE is a Haitian Film Producer. His passion really comes from listening to old folks stories. Growing up In Haiti really gave him different perspective in life. Jores believes that there's a lot of stories that has not been properly portrayed in Hollywood. Specially for people living in third world countries. He will make it his mission to change that . Jores is currently enrolled at Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema.
Co-Producer: LIAM D. O'BRIEN is a freelance film producer residing in Brooklyn, New York. He holds an A.A.S. in Radio and Television Production from Northampton Community College as well as a B.A.S. in Cinema, Television, and Media Production from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. In addition to producing content for clients such as Crayola, Nerd Street Gamers, and the Frederick Douglass Institute, Liam currently produces In Love With The Process, a filmmaking podcast based out of Los Angeles and is working toward his MFA in Cinema Arts at Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema.
Organizer
A Stigmatism
Organizer
Elmont, NY