The Elements of Mutual Aid

Ypsilanti, Michigan | Series

Documentary

Leah Ayer

1 Campaigns | Michigan, United States

Green Light

This campaign raised $19,700 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.

177 supporters | followers

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This four-part docuseries looks under the hood and into the operations of mutual aid efforts across North America. Struggling to build in a collapsing system, we hear the perspectives of over a dozen groups who explore the origins, structures, healing ways, and logistics of collective organizing.

About The Project

  • The Story
  • Wishlist
  • Updates
  • The Team
  • Community

Mission Statement

Nothing about us without us is for us! This is a project for the people. It's been crafted through intimate, on-the-ground relationships, trust, and solidarity. Co-directors Payton and Leah are both community organizers and are committed to releasing the film through broad and accessible platforms.

The Story

The Elements of Mutual Aid provides a platform for grassroots projects to shed light into the rapidly growing movement for mutual aid-based efforts across North America.

The series explores four distinct themes:

  1. What is mutual aid?
  2. How are collectives meeting their community’s needs?
  3. How are communities healing from oppression?
  4. What collective structures and logistics help get the work done?


Each hour-long chapter is subtly framed by one of the four natural elements (fire, earth, water, and air). Across the four installments, we'll meet a cast of over 30 unique projects and individuals who will take us into their communities and share their insights into collective organizing. From young medic healers, to mothers fighting eviction, and neighbors recovering from disaster, this series will only scratch the surface of what's happening and what's possible.

 

 

 

 

Over 85% of our shooting is already complete! We need support to finish production and make it through our editing process!

In 2022, we visited and filmed over a dozen projects across the so-called U.S., Montreal, Puerto Rico, and Tijuana, Mexico. In early summer of this year, we'll complete our last stretch of filming and spend the rest of the year in post-production editing the series. By summer of 2024 we plan to be done with the series and ready to take it on a screening tour.

But, first we need some financial support to fill our gas tank, compensate our remaining interviewees, pay for translation services, and make some serious headway on the next year of editing ahead of us.

 

 

 

 

In response to climate disasters, the George Floyd rebellion, and the pandemic, thousands of mutual aid efforts have been sparked, with more people looking for ways to not only resist oppression and ecological destruction, but bring to life direct alternatives to them. The legacy of revolutionary mutual aid dates back thousands of years through Indigenous traditions before colonization.

Today, in the face of mounting oppression, meeting each other's needs with collective values is challenging and complex work. Burnout, represssion, and stolen traditions have distanced most people from living in communal ways. This series takes a peak into the conversations and tactics to build community infrastructure on our own terms. A love letter in four parts, The Elements of Mutual Aid is designed as a tool for community organizers to sharpen their understanding of collective liberation.

 

 

 

We’re not “neutral” or “objective” observers. We’re active participants in social struggles against oppression and, like Gordon Parks once said, the camera is our choice of weapon. We've approached our filmmaking process with values and practices that reflect our community organizing - including decolonization, intersectionality, anti-capitalism, collective decision-making, accessibility justice, and consent. Read more about our filmmaking strategies on our website.

We care about keeping our communities safe, and use current Covid-19 saftey measures on set and during travel - including PPE, limited time indoors, booster shots, and testing. We keep us safe!

 

 

 

Reaching our $20,000 goal will allow us to finishing a few more months of filming and carry us through a majority of our editing for this project.

Our remaining costs include production travel expenses, remaining interviewee stipends, translation review services, costs associated with editing, and a rainy day fund to keep us on the road.

Any money raised over the $20,000 will go toward paying an animator to really bring this series to life. We hope to receive grants or other forms of investment to pay for the bulk of animator costs since it will be quite expensive. But those other forms of financial support are speculative and anything extra improves the quality and quantity of animations.

 

 

We're filming this project on a shoestring and putting all that we've got into it. The bulk of it has been produced out of our own pockets. Before shooting, we saved up our own money to buy equipment and convert a van into a mobile home so we could save money and time while traveling. Before production, we also successfully rasied $3,200 from another crowdfunding campaign, which we earmarked for stipends; its gone to the groups and individuals we've filmed in order to show thanks for their time and energy.

 

 

Watch some of our teasers on YouTube, Instagram, or PeerTube, connect with us on Mastondon, and read behind-the-scenes updates on our blog.

 

 

Your donations can be tax-deductible! The Elements of Mutual Aid is a fiscally sponsored project of the International Documentary Association (IDA), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions in support of The Elements of Mutual Aid are payable to IDA and are tax-deductible, less the value of any goods or services received, as allowed by law. The value of goods and services offered is noted under each donation level. If you would like to deduct the entire donation, decline the reward at checkout.

Wishlist

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

Cash Pledge

Costs $0

Production & Travel Expenses

Costs $6,000

We have a few more months of filming left. Help us fill our tank & shoot our remaining interviews.

Interviewee Stipends

Costs $1,000

Help us compensate a few more groups and individuals that we'll be filming for their time.

Spanish Translation Review

Costs $1,000

We need to pay someone to review our Spanish subtitles for accuracy.

Editing Subscription Services

Costs $1,000

This will cover our subscriptions to various apps needed to edit our series.

Post-Production Editing Services

Costs $8,000

This covers costs associated with time spent editing, color grading, and sound mixing.

Social Impact

Costs $2,000

This covers design, promotional, and media related costs.

Rainy Day Fund

Costs $1,000

Our van is our home and studio. We want to keep it on the road - & replace any film kit as needed.

About This Team

Leah Ayer is a photographer and community organizer who has documented the work of various mutual aid-based projects and organizations, including the development of the Hurricane Harvey relief organization West Street Recovery and the organizing work of the The Popular Indigenous Council of Oaxaca in Oaxaca, Mexico. Through participating in mutual aid-based organizations and supporting emerging groups, they’ve grown an intimate understanding of different ways that efforts struggle and flourish.

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Payton McDonald is a 29-year-old Black anarchist and has worked nationally alongside the Mutual Aid Disaster Relief Network among other anti-fascist groups in Michigan. He’s travelled and facilitated trainings nationwide, working intimately with organizers to brainstorm strategies, build, and fight collectively. Payton studied documentary film at Wayne State University and has spent the last 8 years recording and editing interviews across the country as an amateur videographer. 

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Lya Lim is the Fiscal Sponsorship Program Officer for the International Documentary Assoication (IDA). Fiscal sponsorship allows us access to grants and tax-deductible donations for our documentary, with the oversight, support, and endorsement from one of the most long-standing and trusted charities in the field.

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