Dreamdate

New Haven, Connecticut | Film Short

Drama, Fantasy

Dreamdate Team

1 Campaigns | Connecticut, United States

11 days :20 hrs :38 mins

Until Deadline

34 supporters | followers

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$7,040

Goal: $10,000 for production

In this supernatural drama short, a jealous lover makes a deal with a shape-shifting incubus that can grant her any wish, forcing her to face both queerness on a spectrum and the ghosts of shame haunting the Indonesian diaspora.

About The Project

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Mission Statement

Dreamdate is about the choices we refuse to make when it comes to our own desires. Inspired by the traditions of Javanese spirit folklore and wayang shadow puppetry, the film uses a specific Southeast Asian context to explore the incongruence of self that every one of us faces at some point.

The Story

In the dead of night, a stranger comes to your bed wearing your lover's skin and asks: "What is it you really want?"




When KIRANA’S jealousy is sparked by the return of an old friend, BEA, she is visited by GENDERUWO, a folkloric shape-shifting incubus that grants wishes in exchange for a carnal connection. Hesitantly, Kirana wishes to reclaim her boyfriend MILO’s attention. 


At first, Genderuwo appears to Kirana as a shadow in a dream, but soon it takes on Milo’s form, imitating a more and more “perfect” version of him after each of its intimate encounters with her.


As Kirana becomes increasingly entangled with Genderuwo, the incubus reveals the truth underlying her anxieties, ultimately conjuring the fantasy of desire she was too afraid to wish for herself.


Director's Statement



Coming from a family rooted in Javanese spirit belief, and navigating queerness within a little-known Indonesian American community, I have always been fascinated by the folklore of the shape-shifting incubus: GENDERUWO. As the story goes, a beastly spirit of the jungle changes into charming and familiar men at night, stalking and deceitfully seducing vulnerable young women. 



Through fluctuating histories of colonization, military occupation, and state violence, the Indonesian diaspora has accrued a culture of shame and stigmatization that haunts the way we embody desire — especially for those who exist outside of the heteronormative ideal. In Dreamdate, the incubus represents the instability of self found at the intersection of queer desire, diaspora, and (dis)embodiment — what we make of our physical bodies when our desires are incongruent with the way we have been taught to see ourselves.


As proposed legislation in Indonesia seeks to ban content depicting both mysticism and LGBTQ narratives, my senior thesis film seeks to confront the threat of disappearance facing queer Indonesian media and livelihoods, while reckoning with both the privilege and confusion that come with living in diaspora. In this fantastical narrative short, we intend to blend the supernatural with the sensual and the repressed with the residual to look past desires that lie at the surface. 


-- Diza


Influences



Inspired by the works of Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Joachim Trier, and Andrew Thomas Huang, Dreamdate encourages us to embrace our repressed desires and aspires to conjure empathy in its audience in the most visceral sense.



Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul) influences our take on a hypnotic supernatural drama, entwining hybridity with Southeast Asian spirit belief. We hope to borrow our shadows and shape-shifters partially from this world.


The Worst Person in the World (Joachim Trier) inspires the way our film examines sex and intimate relationships between characters. We hope to take bits and pieces of those awkward conversations and successful seductions for our film.


Finally, Kiss of the Rabbit God (Andrew Thomas Huang) is our role model for fantasy realism that combines ancient myth with a contemporary queer Asian diaspora. We hope to do dreaminess and desire nearly as much justice as this short film does.


Timeline



In addition to our creative team of director, producers, and DP, we have also secured the majority of our crew. As we lock casting and locations in January, our film is set to go into rehearsals in February, with production officially taking place in early/mid March.


The majority of the funds raised here will go toward making production possible! After wrapping, our very first cut will be delivered in a senior thesis program by the end of Spring 2025 (in time for Diza to graduate!), and we hope to finish an initial festival cut by the following fall. If all goes well, a wider release of Dreamdate will happen in 2026 -- when you'll be able to see it!


Budget



Dreamdate’s premise of shadow-spirits and seduction will require our creative team and performers to have the safety and resources to imagine, explore, and grow our shadow-world together. Our crowdfunding goal of $10,000 is the minimum amount we need to give this production the care, time, and manpower it deserves while maintaining a safe and equitable environment for our cast and crew. Most of our budget will go toward compensating, feeding, and housing our team.


The complete breakdown is as follows:



28.2% - Compensating Cast & Crew (including kit fees in some cases)

20.7% - Meals & Craft Services

12.5% - Art, Set Dressing, and HMU Costs

11.1% - Gear Rental

9.5% - Post-Prod (Color, Sound Mix)

7.2% - Transportation

5.2% - Accommodations for Non-Local Cast & Crew

3.3% - Contingency/Festival Submissions

2.3% - Location Fees


We need your help to get our production across the finish line! We ask that you consider contributing to this campaign if you can -- no amount is too little. If you can’t contribute financially, please consider sharing this campaign with your community!


STRETCH GOALS


Any funds raised above $10,000 will go toward covering the Seed & Spark platform fee, covering more of our post-production expenses, such as coloring and sound mixing, allowing us to submit to more festivals, and also better compensating our cast and crew.


$10,500 - Cover our Seed & Spark platform fee

$11,000 - Help us hire a colorist and sound mixer

$11,500 - Help us better compensate our cast and crew, who are contributing their time on this project at generous rates

$12,000 - Help us submit to more/more expensive festivals


Keep up with our production on Instagram @dreamdatefilm:

A jealous lover makes a deal with a wish-granting incubus. A thesis short film by @diza.edgina

DP: @anneliseratner

Prod: @eliberliner @adam.calabresi

Wishlist

Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.

Cash Pledge

Costs $0

Meals and Craft Services

Costs $2,050

To feed our cast and crew across our 5-day shoot.

Sound Mixing and Color Correction

Costs $950

To properly bring the ambience of our dreamworld to life.

Location Fees / Set Design

Costs $1,450

To rent locations and purchase props and scenic decoration for set dressing.

Equipment Rental

Costs $1,100

To rent gear for our Camera and G&E departments.

Transportation

Costs $720

To pay for equipment van rentals and reimburse team travel.

Compensating Cast

Costs $1,400

To compensate our cast of talented actors!

Compensating Crew

Costs $2,000

To compensate our crew and pay for relevant kit fees!

Submitting to Film Festivals

Costs $330

To cover the costs of submitting Dreamdate to film festivals once completed.

About This Team


Together, our creative team has had past work featured in festivals such as SFFILM, the Cannes Emerging Filmmaker Showcase, Austin Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, DC Indie Film Festival, and Hawai’i PlayFestival.


Diza Edgina Hendrawan, Writer-Director

Diza is a Javanese American writer and filmmaker who grew up in the tropical archipelago of Hawai’i. They are fond of ghosts, cultural folklore, and queer anecdotes. Diza is a recipient of the MTV Joel Schumacher/Sophia Cranshaw Mentorship Award and a current senior at Yale University, majoring in Film and Media Studies with a concentration in Production. This is Diza’s thesis! Thank you for helping her graduate.


Annelise Ayuravann Ratner, Director of Photography

Raised in Southeast Asia, Annelise seeks, among other narrative endeavors, to tell stories focused on the region and its diasporic histories and imaginations. Between binging YouTube videos on cinematography and screenwriting, she likes to go on long, meandering walks (and talks) and eat spicy food until her eyes water.


Eli Berliner, Producer

Eli is a producer and filmmaker from New York City. He is a junior at Yale, double-majoring in Humanities and Film and Media Studies, and is also the co-director of the Yale Student Film Festival. Eli has directed and produced over 20 short films, which have screened at over 50 film festivals worldwide. 


Adam Calabresi, Producer

Adam is a production manager and screenwriter from Washington, D.C. He is a junior at Yale, majoring in English and minoring in Mandarin Chinese, and currently serves as a board member for the Yale Student Film Festival. He has contributed to the scripts of multiple in-development feature films and has worked on over 20 short films at Yale.

Current Team

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