Help us finish our food doc series: Roots & Wings

ABOUT OUR SERIES Roots & Wings is a documentary series that celebrates self-made, trailblazing chefs and the cultural connections they maintain and share through food. The women we chose to feature in our series have all entered the food world out of necessity -- to fill a void, to share their traditions and connect people through meals. 

Our first episode was shot in 2018 and featured Filipino American Chef, Yana Gilbuena, who brought her kamayan-style pop-up dinners to all 50 states of the U.S. The first episode was 100% female made (from the shoot down to our post team) with a majority BIPOC crew. It made its rounds in the festival circuit last year and will finish its run at this year's New York Food Film Fest. 

We took a break from filming AAAAND then the pandemic hit. Everything screeched to a halt, and both the food and film scenes were on uncharted, fragile territory. But little by little, signs of life and resilience, hope and even resistance emerged. And we became even more inspired to tell these stories. So now we feel it’s time to pick up where we left off. Now more than ever it's important to, once again, share meals at the dinner table and stretch our capacities to see and understand one another.

For the next two episodes, we are excited to highlight Parisa Parnian and Irene Yoo. Pre-pandemic, Parisa’s pop up dinners in Los Angeles not only illuminated Persian cuisine but also brought together the LGBTQ community, while Irene Yoo’s pop-ups in New York offered a decidedly new take on Korean home cooking and street food. We're also excited to delve into how each of them have pivoted since the pandemic and what food and community look like in their respective new realities.

WHAT YOUR FUNDS WILL DO The pandemic required us to be adaptable in how we tell our stories. We are so looking forward to getting back to a full-sized crew but in the meantime we've decided to pare down our production this summer with just our camera, focusing mainly on the intimacy of each interview and relying on the strength of each story and the help of our chefs' personal photos and videos. We could really use your support at the post production stage, helping to pay for the edit, the color, the artwork, the sound and music. Your funds will, of course, be supporting an all female, predominantly BIPOC collective of storytellers.

WHERE THIS FILM WILL GO These episodes will hopefully have a go at the festival circuit, just as the pilot episode did, and ultimately live on our website and Vimeo page; it could also find a home on Amazon Prime. A dream of ours, though, would be for this series to be picked up for distribution, say on PBS or other channels with a wider audience. And from there, perhaps more episodes.

We also plan to give this series some life outside of our computer screens, with live screenings and panels with chefs, food activists and other change makers to discuss anything from inequity in the kitchen to diaspora food culture to the importance of representation.

WHAT YOU'LL GET AS OUR THANKS Here are some special perks for our supporters: 

• $10 Social media thank you via IG Stories
• $20 Thank you in film credits + the above perks
• $30 Link to BTS photos from shoots + all of the above
• $50 Thank you email with filmmakers' and chefs’ favorite recipes + all of the above 
• $75 Roots & Wings tote bag (limited supply) + all of the above
• $100 First look at the finished Episodes 2 and 3 + all of the above
• $125 A copy of Chef Yana’s limited edition No Forks Given book (limited supply) + $100 level perks
• $150 A lovely Parisa swag bag: her Perxican spice blend, Frida Kahlo cutting board and her beloved Make Tahdig Not War shirt (limited supply) + $100 level perks
• $200 Our curated Women Rule the Food Scene goodie bag of handpicked pantry items and cookbooks from our favorite women-owned businesses (limited supply) + $100 level perks
• $300 Power Lunch: For SoCal, Bay Area, NY, Maine funders we are offering Filipino and Hawaiian treats and meals homemade by the Paper Tongue team or a local BIWOC chef and hand delivered to your doorstep. For non local funders we are offering a food box with ingredients and recipes from our featured chefs (limited to 5 funders) + $100 level perks
• $500 Associate Producer film credit + $100 level perks
• $1,000 Co-Producer bragging rights, film credit + $100 level perks
• $5,000 Executive Producer bragging rights, film credit + $100 level perks

ABOUT US We are Paper Tongue Productions. As filmmakers, we wanted to see more of ourselves and our histories in the stories being told on screen. So we made it our mission to raise visibility for women of color and to champion underrepresented voices.

We are storytellers of Filipino, Hawaiian and Basque lineages. We are truth-seekers inhabiting Ohlone, Kumeyaay, and Wabanaki lands. We are proud members of Brown Girls Doc Mafia, Women in Film, International Documentary Association and Alliance of Women Directors.

Please join us on this journey and help us celebrate food and heritage within our communities. And please SPREAD THE WORD to help us make this fundraiser a success!

Salamat, mahalo, big thanks for your support!

Lisa, Michelle, Irene