Goldfish: British East Asian Asexual Short Film
What is the film about?
GOLDFISH is a British coming-of-age comedy-drama short narrative film, written and directed by Darius Shu, and produced under Silverprince Pictures. It brings East Asian as well as the Asexual spectrum to the forefront. It will explore a range of what intimacy, love, companionship, and joy mean in this community.
The story follows Vinnie, an asexual man who is in a loving relationship with Ryan, but as things progress over time, will the relationship fall apart when Ryan’s sexual desires arise?
We are all passionate about bringing this story to life, and your support will help make that happen.
LOGLINE: Everyone is having sex except Vinnie. But when Vinnie meets the perfect guy, it's sex that gets in the way.
It will be set in a retro and modern world and peppered with humour, visual poetry, surrealism and boldly stylised.
UPDATE: We have raised a total of £6k on our previous crowdfunder and the involvement of an executive producer. We need another £9k to achieve our goal of £15k to begin production hence this GoFundMe page. Please help us reach our target as we aim to begin filming in Late Summer 2023.
PERKS
£25 and below - DIGITAL THANK YOU + LINK TO FILM
£50 - SPECIAL THANKS CREDIT IN FILM + LINK TO FILM
£100 - A COPY OF SCRIPT + SPECIAL THANKS CREDIT IN FILM + LINK TO FILM
£500 - POSTER + CAMEO IN FILM + SPECIAL THANKS CREDIT IN FILM + LINK TO FILM
£1000 - ASSOCIATE PRODUCER CREDIT + EVENT SCREENING INVITE + LINK TO
£2000 OR MORE - EXECUTIVE PRODUCER CREDIT + EVENT SCREENING INVITE + LINK TO FILM + DINNER WITH DIRECTOR
Why Is This Important?
There is a lack of representation of telling asexual stories within the LGBTQ+ community and in mainstream media. Asexuality has not been explored in a positive light nor has it been given the focus it deserves for people to understand the spectrum that it exists at a relationship level and more so in the East and Southeast Asian cultural context where it is completely taboo.
By focusing on an East Asian asexual man and his exploration of existence in a relationship, my film aims to bring much-needed visibility to an under-recognised, under-served subpopulation within the asexual community and wider LGBTQ+ communities. Capturing the asexual male experience serves to validate and demarginalise their existence within their own communities and the communities around them.
Goldfish will feature predominantly an East Asian and Southeast Asian led cast with a multicultural diaspora of secondary cast on screen and behind the screen. Yasmin Benoit, who is an award-winning asexual activist and represents the ace community, is on board as a script consultant. With her recent one-of-a-kind partnership project with Stonewall to raise awareness of asexuality, this film will drive conversations around this topic to a whole new level and be made accessible for an audience of all ages and backgrounds.
This is the positive imagery and visual representation needed in the current political climate to encourage love beyond race, identity, and gender, and continue to challenge heteronormative ideas.
WHO IS INVOLVED?
The multitalented crew, on screen and behind the screen will be predominantly Asian.
Writer/Director: Darius Shu
Darius Shu is a writer-director who loves telling poetic visual stories with striking imagery.
A storyteller who loves arthouse films and is a firm believer in the concept of 'show... don't tell' and creating images that stay with you well after. His work is characterised by richly textured imagery, paintings inspired, surrealism, and stylish visuals that complement the use of music and sound.
Darius channels the power of visual storytelling to create positive representation in film & TV, driving societal conversations by incorporating social awareness and surrealism elements in his films and striving to illuminate the visual narrative to complement the story. He is drawn to stories that depict the existential and exploration of identity, humanity and social construct and is always fascinated to create something fresh out of something ordinary, to have his characters deal with the presence of anxiety, and be morally ambiguous. Darius’ films often portray radical themes hinging on the polarised context of socio-modern issues.
Darius' slate of award-winning projects includes a poetic psychological thriller short film His Hands, nominated for Best Narrative Short at Tribeca Film Festival 2019. His second film I AM Norman, a fictional documentary thriller premiered at Rhode Island International Film Festival 2020 with five-star reviews from HeyUGuys and Mark Gatiss calling it ‘A beguilingly beautiful gem’. Both films are streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
With his extensive 6 years background as a cinematographer across a slate of genres, the latest TV documentary he filmed, Always, Asifa, is nominated for a BAFTA at the BAFTA TV Awards 2023. It also premiered at BFI London Film Festival 2022 and is now streaming on ITVX and Sky TV.
He lensed the critically acclaimed musical-drama film Queer Parivaar, which won the prestigious BAFTA-qualifying 'Best British Film' award at Iris Prize 2022, had its World Premiere at BFI Flare 2022 and Outfest LA, and was selected at over 20 international film festivals. Queer Parivaar was broadcasted on Film4 and now streaming on All4.
He shot a Netflix documentary, Peach Paradise which premiered on Tik Tok's first-ever live-stream showcase and was nominated for Best International at Iris Prize 2022.
He has worked with artists such as Léa Seydoux, Lily James, Gemma Chan, Tia Kofi, The Vivienne, Omari Douglas, Kaya Scodelario, Big Zuu, and Dominic Cooper. Darius is the founder of the arthouse production company Silverprince Pictures.
Producer: Kelly Wong
Kelly Wong is an independent film producer, currently working in development at DNA Films & TV (A24 EX MACHINA, A24 MEN, T2 TRAINSPOTTING, NEVER LET ME GO), working across film and television projects, including for A24, Apple TV, BBC, Film4, and FX/Disney+.
Previously, in 2020, she was selected for the BFI Creative Producers Lab, and in 2021/2 produced three BFI NETWORK-funded short films with emerging filmmakers, to be released in 2023.
Her credit includes short films Cuppa Chai (directed by Amit Kaur), House Party (directed by William Alexander Boyd III), and Longing (directed by Courteney Tan, executive produced by Chi Thai).
Kelly is passionate about telling more British Asian stories and is excited to see GOLDFISH on the big screen.
Script Consultant: Yasmin Benoit
Yasmin Benoit is a British model, award-winning asexual activist, writer, speaker and project consultant. Yasmin created the popular #ThisIsWhatAsexualLooksLike movement and co-founded International Asexuality Day. In 2019, she became a board member of the Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN) and in 2020, she made her presenting debut with her 'Me and My Asexuality' BBC Sounds series. She has been featured on Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Glamour Magazine, British GQ, and Sky News. On International Asexuality Day 2022, Yasmin launched the UK's first ever asexual rights initiative in partnership with Europe's biggest LGBTQ+ rights organisation, Stonewall, The Stonewall x Yasmin Benoit Ace Project. This will be Yasmin's acting debut.
Website: www.yasminbenoit.co.uk | Instagram: @theyasminbenoit
What We Need
GOLDFISH will begin principle photography this year in London and will be completed by December 2023 for next year's festivals.
Be a part of the making of the film and create something groundbreaking together. Your contribution will help fund the production shooting days from pre-production to post-production. It will cover expenses such as camera and lighting equipment, catering, travel, props, costume, and location fees.
We recognise as filmmakers that we need to ensure the film has proper exposure and showcased when it is ready. Therefore once production is complete, part of your contribution will also go into:
> Applying for BAFTA and Academy qualifying festivals.
> Have a 10% contingency
> PR and marketing
> Private Screening/Events
Socials
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