The Golem
New York City, New York | Film Short
History, Horror
This film is a folkloric horror film within the under-explored setting of a Jewish village in 1840s Poland. It's an exploration of one woman, ahead of her time, with desires that do not conform to tradition. It's unlike anything you've ever seen before! -- Filming begins this October.
The Golem
New York City, New York | Film Short
History, Horror
1 Campaigns | New York, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $10,429 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
81 supporters | followers
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This film is a folkloric horror film within the under-explored setting of a Jewish village in 1840s Poland. It's an exploration of one woman, ahead of her time, with desires that do not conform to tradition. It's unlike anything you've ever seen before! -- Filming begins this October.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
On the outskirts of a village in 1840s Poland, Beulah, a Jewish woman, fights for a divorce, while caring for the town Leper… her mother-in-law. As Beulah strives for self-determination in spite of her circumstances, she pursues every avenue toward freedom, including using clay from her garden to build a Golem—a folkloric creature of protection.
The Golem, which starts shooting this October, is an exploration of a complicated woman, ahead of her time, simultaneously loving and being ostracized from her community because her desires do not conform to tradition. Her difficult choices are driven by her desire for independence and her tragic surety that she deserves the life she wants.
As a Jewish woman myself, I am working to de-assimilate and reconnect with aspects of my heritage that were lost to me across generations because of displacement, pogroms, the Holocaust and the antisemitism my family experienced. Jewish people have always had a culture of storytelling, passed down from generation to generation. In discovering them, I found that I recognized their echoes in my community and family.
I’ve lived with these characters for so long and they’ve gone through many iterations, but this is a story that lives in my bones and I am desperate to tell it.
Am Isro’el, the Hebrew name of the Jewish people, means “the people who wrestle with G-d”. What is more Jewish than telling a story in which I contend with the complexities of my culture and my feelings?
-Sierra
“Building the world” is the foundational element of any film. Our Jewish village of 19th century Poland, poses its own challenges in terms of locations, costumes, props, etc. While we have some support from Columbia University in the form of two grants and most of our equipment, it is only enough to partially cover the cost of a film of this ambition and scope. Your contribution will go towards creating that reality.
We are delighted to have accomplished a collaboration with historical sites in New Jersey for establishing our period—still, we will need significant resources to be able to follow preservation protocols. Additionally, we will need to build the set of the isolated, dilapidated leper shack. Getting our cast and crew to and from these locations, housed, and fed will be one of the largest portions of our budget. We want to be able to provide the most comfortable conditions possible considering our team is working for significantly reduced rates (or free) in order to support our vision. Once filming is complete, post-production commences: Visual effects, editing, sound design, and music composition are only some of the costly processes of this phase.
With your generous support, we're hoping to raise a minimum of $12,000 through Seed&Spark for the production and post-production of the film, while continuing to find investments outside for a total budget of $30,000. If we reach our initial goal through Seed&Spark, we'll continue the campaign via Stretch Goals in hopes to fund the film entirely through this platform!
Preproduction has been underway for several months and will continue up to the days of our film shoot which is scheduled for mid October. Post production will take place from November through March. By which point we would be overwhelmed with excitement to share our film with the world: we will submit to major international and domestic film festivals. We are planning to target prestigious international film festivals like Sundance, TIFF and The Berlinale. We’ll also be submitting to global Jewish film festivals like the Jewish International Film Festival, the UK Jewish Film Festival and the Jerusalem Film Festival. Lastly, my favorite film festival is in my hometown, Montreal: Fantasia Film Festival, one of the biggest genre film festivals in the world. We’ll be applying to several other genre-specialized festivals like Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia, Fantastic Fest (Austin, TX) and Beyond Fest (Los Angeles, CA).
This story takes place on the outskirts of a Shtetl in 1840s Poland. Shtetls were small, poor communities where Ashkenazi Jews lived in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust destroyed that way of life. It was a way of life marked by Jewish self-administration and, often, traditional piety.
This film is inspired by Jewish folklore, Shtetl fables like the work of Isaac Beshevis Singer, and Female Gothic Romanticism, like Jane Eyre. The Golem explores female social desires through a haunting lens—by deconstructing the monstrous: desires that might be shameful, horrific and upsetting and conflict with one's position, community or family.
Historically, the horror genre has been a source of many antisemitic tropes, such as blood libel with vampires or the coding of evil witches as Jews. However, Jewish culture has a long tradition of folklore that delves into horror with an empathetic lean, aligning Jewish people with otherness. Our goal is to continue that tradition and reclaim it, creating something completely new.
We've secured period accurate locations that will allow us to give the effect of shtetl life.
CONTRIBUTE with a pledge!
We have to collect 80% of our crowdfunding goal to keep our funds.
You can choose an incentive, a specific wishlist item, or fit your pledge to your specific budget.
No pledge is too small. Every dollar makes a difference in making our film possible.
Contributions to our campaign are amazing and so appreciated, but if you're able to support us in other ways, here's how you can!
FOLLOW our campaign. You'll get updates on everything we're up to but ALSO Seed & Spark rewards us for building our audience. The more followers we get, the more prizes we unlock for our film - products, services, and festival fee waivers, courtesy of Seed&Spark! Our first benchmark is 250 followers!
LEND OR DONATE GEAR, PROPS, FOOD, or LOCATIONS
SHARE our project with your network. SPREAD THE WORD WITH YOUR COMMUNITY!
The only way we will reach our crowdfunding goal is if we reach beyond our networks. Please share our campaign via your social media, email, group chats, however you want! We can't do this without you!
Here's an example:
Help filmmakers Sierra Nutkevitch and Nicole Pagonis by supporting their Jewish Folklore Short Film "THE GOLEM" about a woman who builds a Golem and fights for her freedom. Join them on @seedandspark: https://seedandspark.com/fund/the-golem
OR
I'm so excited to see the MFA thesis film THE GOLEM by Columbia University students and director/writer @Sierranutkevitch! Support them on @seedandspark: https://seedandspark.com/fund/the-golem
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
The Leper's Shack
Costs $800
We're looking for a field, within view of trees, preferably with some kind of access to power nearby! This is the location for the shack.
Building Materials
Costs $700
We're building our Leper's Shack from scratch! And we need lumber to do it.
Camera Gear
Costs $1,000
We get access to most gear through the university, but we'd love to use some specialized equipment to achieve shots that will thrill!
Fire VFX
Costs $2,000
The pivotal scene in our film is when the Leper's Shack gets lit on fire. While we'd love to really set it ablaze, VFX is definitely safer!
Cast and Crew
Costs $7,500
Our cast and crew are the backbone of this film. Many are donating their services or taking a reduced rate.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
We're a team of emerging filmmakers and graduate students, with tons of experience making amazing films that take chances and explore worlds beyond the expected. We're so proud to have assembled this amazing group of people who believe so strongly in the vision behind this story.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
On the outskirts of a village in 1840s Poland, Beulah, a Jewish woman, fights for a divorce, while caring for the town Leper… her mother-in-law. As Beulah strives for self-determination in spite of her circumstances, she pursues every avenue toward freedom, including using clay from her garden to build a Golem—a folkloric creature of protection.
The Golem, which starts shooting this October, is an exploration of a complicated woman, ahead of her time, simultaneously loving and being ostracized from her community because her desires do not conform to tradition. Her difficult choices are driven by her desire for independence and her tragic surety that she deserves the life she wants.
As a Jewish woman myself, I am working to de-assimilate and reconnect with aspects of my heritage that were lost to me across generations because of displacement, pogroms, the Holocaust and the antisemitism my family experienced. Jewish people have always had a culture of storytelling, passed down from generation to generation. In discovering them, I found that I recognized their echoes in my community and family.
I’ve lived with these characters for so long and they’ve gone through many iterations, but this is a story that lives in my bones and I am desperate to tell it.
Am Isro’el, the Hebrew name of the Jewish people, means “the people who wrestle with G-d”. What is more Jewish than telling a story in which I contend with the complexities of my culture and my feelings?
-Sierra
“Building the world” is the foundational element of any film. Our Jewish village of 19th century Poland, poses its own challenges in terms of locations, costumes, props, etc. While we have some support from Columbia University in the form of two grants and most of our equipment, it is only enough to partially cover the cost of a film of this ambition and scope. Your contribution will go towards creating that reality.
We are delighted to have accomplished a collaboration with historical sites in New Jersey for establishing our period—still, we will need significant resources to be able to follow preservation protocols. Additionally, we will need to build the set of the isolated, dilapidated leper shack. Getting our cast and crew to and from these locations, housed, and fed will be one of the largest portions of our budget. We want to be able to provide the most comfortable conditions possible considering our team is working for significantly reduced rates (or free) in order to support our vision. Once filming is complete, post-production commences: Visual effects, editing, sound design, and music composition are only some of the costly processes of this phase.
With your generous support, we're hoping to raise a minimum of $12,000 through Seed&Spark for the production and post-production of the film, while continuing to find investments outside for a total budget of $30,000. If we reach our initial goal through Seed&Spark, we'll continue the campaign via Stretch Goals in hopes to fund the film entirely through this platform!
Preproduction has been underway for several months and will continue up to the days of our film shoot which is scheduled for mid October. Post production will take place from November through March. By which point we would be overwhelmed with excitement to share our film with the world: we will submit to major international and domestic film festivals. We are planning to target prestigious international film festivals like Sundance, TIFF and The Berlinale. We’ll also be submitting to global Jewish film festivals like the Jewish International Film Festival, the UK Jewish Film Festival and the Jerusalem Film Festival. Lastly, my favorite film festival is in my hometown, Montreal: Fantasia Film Festival, one of the biggest genre film festivals in the world. We’ll be applying to several other genre-specialized festivals like Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia, Fantastic Fest (Austin, TX) and Beyond Fest (Los Angeles, CA).
This story takes place on the outskirts of a Shtetl in 1840s Poland. Shtetls were small, poor communities where Ashkenazi Jews lived in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust destroyed that way of life. It was a way of life marked by Jewish self-administration and, often, traditional piety.
This film is inspired by Jewish folklore, Shtetl fables like the work of Isaac Beshevis Singer, and Female Gothic Romanticism, like Jane Eyre. The Golem explores female social desires through a haunting lens—by deconstructing the monstrous: desires that might be shameful, horrific and upsetting and conflict with one's position, community or family.
Historically, the horror genre has been a source of many antisemitic tropes, such as blood libel with vampires or the coding of evil witches as Jews. However, Jewish culture has a long tradition of folklore that delves into horror with an empathetic lean, aligning Jewish people with otherness. Our goal is to continue that tradition and reclaim it, creating something completely new.
We've secured period accurate locations that will allow us to give the effect of shtetl life.
CONTRIBUTE with a pledge!
We have to collect 80% of our crowdfunding goal to keep our funds.
You can choose an incentive, a specific wishlist item, or fit your pledge to your specific budget.
No pledge is too small. Every dollar makes a difference in making our film possible.
Contributions to our campaign are amazing and so appreciated, but if you're able to support us in other ways, here's how you can!
FOLLOW our campaign. You'll get updates on everything we're up to but ALSO Seed & Spark rewards us for building our audience. The more followers we get, the more prizes we unlock for our film - products, services, and festival fee waivers, courtesy of Seed&Spark! Our first benchmark is 250 followers!
LEND OR DONATE GEAR, PROPS, FOOD, or LOCATIONS
SHARE our project with your network. SPREAD THE WORD WITH YOUR COMMUNITY!
The only way we will reach our crowdfunding goal is if we reach beyond our networks. Please share our campaign via your social media, email, group chats, however you want! We can't do this without you!
Here's an example:
Help filmmakers Sierra Nutkevitch and Nicole Pagonis by supporting their Jewish Folklore Short Film "THE GOLEM" about a woman who builds a Golem and fights for her freedom. Join them on @seedandspark: https://seedandspark.com/fund/the-golem
OR
I'm so excited to see the MFA thesis film THE GOLEM by Columbia University students and director/writer @Sierranutkevitch! Support them on @seedandspark: https://seedandspark.com/fund/the-golem
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
The Leper's Shack
Costs $800
We're looking for a field, within view of trees, preferably with some kind of access to power nearby! This is the location for the shack.
Building Materials
Costs $700
We're building our Leper's Shack from scratch! And we need lumber to do it.
Camera Gear
Costs $1,000
We get access to most gear through the university, but we'd love to use some specialized equipment to achieve shots that will thrill!
Fire VFX
Costs $2,000
The pivotal scene in our film is when the Leper's Shack gets lit on fire. While we'd love to really set it ablaze, VFX is definitely safer!
Cast and Crew
Costs $7,500
Our cast and crew are the backbone of this film. Many are donating their services or taking a reduced rate.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
We're a team of emerging filmmakers and graduate students, with tons of experience making amazing films that take chances and explore worlds beyond the expected. We're so proud to have assembled this amazing group of people who believe so strongly in the vision behind this story.