Hello! My name is Sarah Jean Williams and I am the director of my new short called Drowning. We need your help to raise money to tell this intimate story about the 17th Century, witches, time travel, pregnancy, and lost love.

Written by me and Lauren Koo who are hot sexy ladies

SYNOPSIS:

In the 17th century, Rebecca is persecuted by a witch-hunting mob for the charge of adultery. Her sentence: execution by drowning. Her impassioned pleas for justice have no effect on the mob, nor her illicit lover, and she is thrown in the lake. Underwater, Rebecca is transported to the 21st century, but her problems do not cease in modern times. Instead, her lover once again shuns her, and she is villainized by the man’s wife. Torn between the past and present, cast off by society in both, Rebecca feels that she is drowning.

WHY I’M MAKING THIS PROJECT/Directors Statement:

I try to tell the stories that are rarely depicted on-screen and amplify the voices of those who are underrepresented in the entertainment industry.

As a Black woman, it’s important to me that we can tell Black stories - without the stories soley being about race. I love movies that fit in the magical realism genre, but as a kid, I never got to see fantasy movies with Black main characters that aren't tokenized.

I believe in cinema's potential to "widen our circle of empathy." With this movie, I want to tell a story that addresses the flaws and hardships that are presented for Black women who are abandoned and blamed by their male partners and the rest of the world. I want to express in this film what it feels like as a woman to be blamed for things that are out of your control, and to be pitted as the scapegoat. And I want to do this by weaving in the themes of magic and fantasy that I grew up loving so much.

By collaborating with talented student artists, we plan on turning in nothing short of an amazing and rewarding project. Any amount will help and we will greatly appreciate your contribution to the movie. Women have such a unique and often painted perspective that deserves to be explored more in an artistic form, because even more relevant than the pain, is the beauty of these women’s souls.

WHY WE NEED THE MONEY:

There are a lot of costs that go into making a film that NYU frankly just doesn’t provide for.

The funds will mainly go to:

We are trying to make an ambitious project - which would be impossible to complete without your help.

TEAM:

DIRECTOR

Sarah Jean Williams is a director and writer based in LA and NYC.

Through filmmaking, Sarah Jean loves telling her own fairytales, with characters who look like her. She hopes to reframe the fantasy genre to represent contemporary culture and make a space for voices of today.

Sarah Jean has made films in partnership with Netflix, Neutrogena, and the Huntington Museum. She is currently a student at NYU Tisch School of the Arts continuing her passion for storytelling

PRODUCERS:

Larry Yu is a filmmaker, producer and photographer based in NYC. He currently studies at NYU Tisch School of the Arts with an intended major in Film & Television production and a minor in Child Psychology. Alongside producing several narrative short films, he has extensive experience in feature development, commercial videography and content creation work.

Kelly Kunyi Wang is a filmmaker, producer, and proud dog mom currently studying in NYC at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. With considerable experience producing and working on short form media, she takes a keen interest in coming-of-age stories and exploring the Asian American experience.

Producer: Elisabeth Viel

Director of Photography: Eamonn Wrighstone

Costume Designer: Kimberly Sumurur Hala

Art Direction and Styling: Jaclyn Goldstein

Casting Director: Nuala Sanchez

CAST:

Rebecca: Anike Sonuga

Lucy: Alana Marke