Nina´s adventure to an Oscar ;) !
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Hello. My name is Nina Jakulin Vavpotič (the middle one in the photo), I´m 22 years old and I will be one of the greatest filmmakers ever. Too cocky? Don´t worry, I´m not there yet! As part of the new year, I am adopting a new philosophy- TRY SAYING YES TO EVERYTHING!
Part of this plan is also starting this go fund me page. But before you get too excited, let me tell you a little bit about myself.
I was born as a second child on the (lucky) Friday 13th, 1997. That´s right. I am still technically a 90s kid. I was raised in a little, chicken-shaped country called Slovenia (google it) and I had a fairly normal upbringing, filled with laughter and mischievous adventures with my sister as a result of my insufferable unhappiness with boredom.
My mom and dad did their best, raising us into two independent, free-thinking women who dared to dream and wanted more of life. It looked like my fairy tale life was on an uphill climb. However, as is often the case, life always finds a way to surprise us.
At the beginning of my final high school year, my father needed a heart surgery which was supposed to be easy, or so was I told. It turns out there is no “easy” heart surgery. During the procedure, there was a rupture in his artery and to try and save him, doctors put all of their attention to stopping the bleeding and his brain remained without oxygen for 2 minutes. To try and help his body heal they put him in a medically induced coma. He remained in a coma for almost 8 months.
As my mother was trying to sustain whatever normalcy we had left, my sister was finishing her architecture master’s degree and I was trying to finish high school and finals. A week short of my finals, my mother called me on the phone and told me my dad died. From that moment on everything, I knew had completely changed.
My mom started working harder, I somehow finished my finals with good enough grades that allowed me to study drama and film in Manchester, England. During that time, we fell on some hardships which were masterfully hidden by my amazing mother. I am currently finishing my final year, preparing to graduate from university and although we´ve gone through more than most I am aware some people aren´t even half as lucky.
It is my dream to be a film director. Stories can transcend and transport us far away, they allow us to connect with people, share our dreams and express our feelings. But most importantly, for me, they give us purpose. They have the ability to make us cry and laugh and feel. They remind us we´re human in times where our humanity is threatened of being taken away.
I don´t have money for film school but I still wanted to make this post and perhaps find a way of allowing me to tell and share my stories. To make the best decision and put myself in places where my odds for success would be the greatest. I wish I could attend the National Film and Television School in England in January 2021, but the tuition fee is £14.800 per year and the course takes 2 years. That is a lot of money to ask of someone (I´m sorry :/). I will be working part-time and everything I have and will have saved will go into this fund. I will keep you posted about my journey and contributions. If you´d like I can also share my past short films, theatre productions I have been a part of and all extracurricular stuff I have been doing in order to get to know me better :)
From all I have learned, (and I am young and perhaps inexperienced in some departments of life), I know one thing to be true - People will always surprise you. Everything that I´ve done or had happened in my life has led me to this moment, writing this letter and putting hope in other people.
Part of me thinks this is incredibly selfish and self-absorbed. There are people dying in this world, people who need money more than me, some Balkan girl with dreams too big for her. I know. I know… The only thing that keeps me going and doesn´t allow me to stop writing this, is the fact that I know I can do some good if I get a little bit of help. And not to say you can´t help people without money. What I want to say is that I know my stories can help people and I know once I “make it” (I hate that expression) I can help so many more people. Plus, wouldn´t this be a great story to tell on Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon or Ellen? Being the first Slovenian to win an Oscar, and funding her studies through gofundme??
So allow me this final exertion of self-indulgence. I know this is a lot to ask and I understand anybody who´s going to be offended by this post or will ignore it. But I will never stop trying to follow my dreams and help my family in any way I can.
Thank you, anyone and everyone who will contribute anything at all. I appreciate you more than you will ever know. HVALA, HVALA, HVALA and I hope your kindness gets repaid.
Thank you again,
Yours sincerely,
Nina
Part of this plan is also starting this go fund me page. But before you get too excited, let me tell you a little bit about myself.
I was born as a second child on the (lucky) Friday 13th, 1997. That´s right. I am still technically a 90s kid. I was raised in a little, chicken-shaped country called Slovenia (google it) and I had a fairly normal upbringing, filled with laughter and mischievous adventures with my sister as a result of my insufferable unhappiness with boredom.
My mom and dad did their best, raising us into two independent, free-thinking women who dared to dream and wanted more of life. It looked like my fairy tale life was on an uphill climb. However, as is often the case, life always finds a way to surprise us.
At the beginning of my final high school year, my father needed a heart surgery which was supposed to be easy, or so was I told. It turns out there is no “easy” heart surgery. During the procedure, there was a rupture in his artery and to try and save him, doctors put all of their attention to stopping the bleeding and his brain remained without oxygen for 2 minutes. To try and help his body heal they put him in a medically induced coma. He remained in a coma for almost 8 months.
As my mother was trying to sustain whatever normalcy we had left, my sister was finishing her architecture master’s degree and I was trying to finish high school and finals. A week short of my finals, my mother called me on the phone and told me my dad died. From that moment on everything, I knew had completely changed.
My mom started working harder, I somehow finished my finals with good enough grades that allowed me to study drama and film in Manchester, England. During that time, we fell on some hardships which were masterfully hidden by my amazing mother. I am currently finishing my final year, preparing to graduate from university and although we´ve gone through more than most I am aware some people aren´t even half as lucky.
It is my dream to be a film director. Stories can transcend and transport us far away, they allow us to connect with people, share our dreams and express our feelings. But most importantly, for me, they give us purpose. They have the ability to make us cry and laugh and feel. They remind us we´re human in times where our humanity is threatened of being taken away.
I don´t have money for film school but I still wanted to make this post and perhaps find a way of allowing me to tell and share my stories. To make the best decision and put myself in places where my odds for success would be the greatest. I wish I could attend the National Film and Television School in England in January 2021, but the tuition fee is £14.800 per year and the course takes 2 years. That is a lot of money to ask of someone (I´m sorry :/). I will be working part-time and everything I have and will have saved will go into this fund. I will keep you posted about my journey and contributions. If you´d like I can also share my past short films, theatre productions I have been a part of and all extracurricular stuff I have been doing in order to get to know me better :)
From all I have learned, (and I am young and perhaps inexperienced in some departments of life), I know one thing to be true - People will always surprise you. Everything that I´ve done or had happened in my life has led me to this moment, writing this letter and putting hope in other people.
Part of me thinks this is incredibly selfish and self-absorbed. There are people dying in this world, people who need money more than me, some Balkan girl with dreams too big for her. I know. I know… The only thing that keeps me going and doesn´t allow me to stop writing this, is the fact that I know I can do some good if I get a little bit of help. And not to say you can´t help people without money. What I want to say is that I know my stories can help people and I know once I “make it” (I hate that expression) I can help so many more people. Plus, wouldn´t this be a great story to tell on Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon or Ellen? Being the first Slovenian to win an Oscar, and funding her studies through gofundme??
So allow me this final exertion of self-indulgence. I know this is a lot to ask and I understand anybody who´s going to be offended by this post or will ignore it. But I will never stop trying to follow my dreams and help my family in any way I can.
Thank you, anyone and everyone who will contribute anything at all. I appreciate you more than you will ever know. HVALA, HVALA, HVALA and I hope your kindness gets repaid.
Thank you again,
Yours sincerely,
Nina
Organizer
Nina Jakulin Vavpotič
Organizer
