MENSTRUAL - An AAPI Sci-Fi Drama
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Sci-Fi, LGBTQ
Alone in grieving the disappearance of her daughter 4 years prior, Venus makes an impromptu trip to see her estranged father after hearing him on public radio discussing a wormhole being studied in the Pacific Ocean.
MENSTRUAL - An AAPI Sci-Fi Drama
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Sci-Fi, LGBTQ
2 Campaigns |
Green Light
This campaign raised $4,000 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
42 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
Alone in grieving the disappearance of her daughter 4 years prior, Venus makes an impromptu trip to see her estranged father after hearing him on public radio discussing a wormhole being studied in the Pacific Ocean.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
.jpg)
The Story.
Our team is a collective of queer, PoC artists, emerging filmmakers, and early-career professionals, several tackling prominent crew positions for the first time. It's been a rewarding process to see as we work to create more opportunities for visibility onscreen and behind the camera while we tell a unique, but universal story to help create social dialogue surrounding patriarchal stigmas of menstruation, mental health, and lingering colonial narratives.
Our film centers on a young mother, Venus, still grieving the loss of her daughter 4 years prior. Dealing with mysterious abdominal pains and unable to let go of the past, life seems to be moving on without her. When she hears her estranged father on public radio discussing a wormhole being studied in the Pacific Ocean, she decides to take an impromptu trip to visit him as the past, present, and future ethereally converge.
Follow our journey @etawashere and watch our teaser trailer here.
Themes.
Menstrual is a sci-fi, road trip drama, but at its root, it's a sincere, intergenerational story about grief, identity, and ancestral connection. Our film is inspired by Asian New Wave cinema as well as films such as Minari, Lost in Translation, and Arrival.
Why Support This Project?
The Story: Lingering modalities of colonialism, and by extension, industrialism and patriarchy, still exist in insidious ways, impacting marginalized individuals and communities. This intimate, intergenerational story of a young Vietnamese-American mother speaks to brown, queer, and immigrant experiences alike while offering a fresh, genre-bending spin that we hope can help raise environmental and mental health awareness.
The Representation: We not only have a team fully comprised of talented LGBTQIA+ and PoC creatives onscreen and behind the camera, but a film with AAPI leads and a diverse cast that approach sociopolitical taboos and topics with grounded, thoughtful performances, as well as a score and soundtrack featuring songs by various Asian diaspora musical artists.
The Art: We're creating something ambitious in scale and scope and vastly unique. But, we need your help to see it to the finish line. Independent art and diverse voices are vital in making this world a more equitable place. Support this film so that more independent art and emerging black and brown voices can be amplified!
Why Me (ETA): From founding the collective, moonroom, which organized dozens of arts and music showcases throughout California to highlight queer, independent artists during AAPI Heritage Month and now serves to provide resources for emerging black and brown filmmakers, to my award-winning gentrification horror short, White Gaze, and Oscar-qualifying documentary short, Confluence: A Meditation in Documentary Form, my passion has always been guided by a desire to address systemic inequities, amplify marginalized individuals and communities in authentic ways, and to create spaces for black and brown creatives to learn and succeed. This project is no different!
.jpg)
Funding and Support.
Consider contributing to our campaign and supporting brown, queer, independent, inclusive cinema. Please choose a level of support you’re comfortable with. If nothing else, share with family, friends, and your extended networks, and click the blue heart to stay updated or follow our journey on Instagram. This increases visibility to the project and helps us gain momentum toward reaching our goal!
Self-financed with savings from my day job as an educator at a K-8 school (approximately 1/4 of my annual income), and the graciousness of the cast and crew to be financially flexible, any fiscal support would be invaluable to help make this a more equitable production and set the project up for success. The primary goal for this campaign is to provide our talented cast and crew additional financial assistance for their work on the project!
Stretch Goals.
If we're fortunate enough to reach and surpass our funding goal, it would not only help us with the finishing funds for the film such as postproduction costs (i.e. color correction, sound design, and visual effects), but pave the way for film festival submissions and a strategic festival run, which enables more opportunities for the cast, crew, and film itself to gain exposure.
.jpg)
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Equitable Cast & Crew Pay
Costs $2,000
Though all cast and crew will be compensated, we hope to provide additional financial support to accomodate a living wage.
Postproduction Costs
Costs $1,250
We hope to garner financial support for the color grading, sound design, and modest visual effects needed for the final product.
Additional Filming Day
Costs $500
Common practice, we need an additional day of filming to pick up scenes and shots we weren't able to do during our tight production schedule
Film Festival Submissions
Costs $250
You may not know this, but submitting to film festivals generally cost between $25-50 each. Though we plan to be selective, it adds up fast.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Our Team.
We are a collective of queer, PoC artists, emerging filmmakers, and early-career professionals, several tackling prominent crew positions for the first time. It's been a rewarding process to see as we work to create more opportunities for visibility onscreen and behind the camera while we tell a unique, but universal story to help create social dialogue surrounding patriarchal stigmas of menstruation, mental health, and lingering colonial narratives.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
The Story.
Our team is a collective of queer, PoC artists, emerging filmmakers, and early-career professionals, several tackling prominent crew positions for the first time. It's been a rewarding process to see as we work to create more opportunities for visibility onscreen and behind the camera while we tell a unique, but universal story to help create social dialogue surrounding patriarchal stigmas of menstruation, mental health, and lingering colonial narratives.
Our film centers on a young mother, Venus, still grieving the loss of her daughter 4 years prior. Dealing with mysterious abdominal pains and unable to let go of the past, life seems to be moving on without her. When she hears her estranged father on public radio discussing a wormhole being studied in the Pacific Ocean, she decides to take an impromptu trip to visit him as the past, present, and future ethereally converge.
Follow our journey @etawashere and watch our teaser trailer here.
Themes.
Menstrual is a sci-fi, road trip drama, but at its root, it's a sincere, intergenerational story about grief, identity, and ancestral connection. Our film is inspired by Asian New Wave cinema as well as films such as Minari, Lost in Translation, and Arrival.
Why Support This Project?
The Story: Lingering modalities of colonialism, and by extension, industrialism and patriarchy, still exist in insidious ways, impacting marginalized individuals and communities. This intimate, intergenerational story of a young Vietnamese-American mother speaks to brown, queer, and immigrant experiences alike while offering a fresh, genre-bending spin that we hope can help raise environmental and mental health awareness.
The Representation: We not only have a team fully comprised of talented LGBTQIA+ and PoC creatives onscreen and behind the camera, but a film with AAPI leads and a diverse cast that approach sociopolitical taboos and topics with grounded, thoughtful performances, as well as a score and soundtrack featuring songs by various Asian diaspora musical artists.
The Art: We're creating something ambitious in scale and scope and vastly unique. But, we need your help to see it to the finish line. Independent art and diverse voices are vital in making this world a more equitable place. Support this film so that more independent art and emerging black and brown voices can be amplified!
Why Me (ETA): From founding the collective, moonroom, which organized dozens of arts and music showcases throughout California to highlight queer, independent artists during AAPI Heritage Month and now serves to provide resources for emerging black and brown filmmakers, to my award-winning gentrification horror short, White Gaze, and Oscar-qualifying documentary short, Confluence: A Meditation in Documentary Form, my passion has always been guided by a desire to address systemic inequities, amplify marginalized individuals and communities in authentic ways, and to create spaces for black and brown creatives to learn and succeed. This project is no different!
Funding and Support.
Consider contributing to our campaign and supporting brown, queer, independent, inclusive cinema. Please choose a level of support you’re comfortable with. If nothing else, share with family, friends, and your extended networks, and click the blue heart to stay updated or follow our journey on Instagram. This increases visibility to the project and helps us gain momentum toward reaching our goal!
Self-financed with savings from my day job as an educator at a K-8 school (approximately 1/4 of my annual income), and the graciousness of the cast and crew to be financially flexible, any fiscal support would be invaluable to help make this a more equitable production and set the project up for success. The primary goal for this campaign is to provide our talented cast and crew additional financial assistance for their work on the project!
Stretch Goals.
If we're fortunate enough to reach and surpass our funding goal, it would not only help us with the finishing funds for the film such as postproduction costs (i.e. color correction, sound design, and visual effects), but pave the way for film festival submissions and a strategic festival run, which enables more opportunities for the cast, crew, and film itself to gain exposure.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Equitable Cast & Crew Pay
Costs $2,000
Though all cast and crew will be compensated, we hope to provide additional financial support to accomodate a living wage.
Postproduction Costs
Costs $1,250
We hope to garner financial support for the color grading, sound design, and modest visual effects needed for the final product.
Additional Filming Day
Costs $500
Common practice, we need an additional day of filming to pick up scenes and shots we weren't able to do during our tight production schedule
Film Festival Submissions
Costs $250
You may not know this, but submitting to film festivals generally cost between $25-50 each. Though we plan to be selective, it adds up fast.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Our Team.
We are a collective of queer, PoC artists, emerging filmmakers, and early-career professionals, several tackling prominent crew positions for the first time. It's been a rewarding process to see as we work to create more opportunities for visibility onscreen and behind the camera while we tell a unique, but universal story to help create social dialogue surrounding patriarchal stigmas of menstruation, mental health, and lingering colonial narratives.