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Update #10: Inspiring progress! Last chance to support JFMS this holiday season!
Happy Holidays to all my dear Kickstarter Backers!
I returned from Guatemala to Los Angeles a little over a week ago feeling overwhelmingly satisfied with our dating/domestic violence prevention campaign throughout 60 communities: we reached over 2300 audience members in Guatemala! Justice for my Sister resonated with all different types of audiences, from UN representatives to youth, to indigenous communities and religious women, to feminists, and foreigners. The protagonist Rebeca attended several screenings and it was very emotional for audiences to meet her. "We must all be Rebecas!" one audience member in Escuintla passionately shouted after a screening. The film is inspiring audience members of all walks of life to break the culture of victim-blaming and impunity.
During our community screenings, we were also able to launch and promote our text-message-based hotline Mensajes de Paz (Texting Peace). It's a way for our advocacy team to both send blast text messages to our audience members (with advice, inspirational quotes, and tips on how to prevent gender-based vionece) and to answer specific questions that our audiences have for us. We can give references for services and council women who are considering to leave abusive relationships or who have experienced sexual assault. The cases we receive are visualized on our interactive map of anonymous reports. To see it, please see: http://www.justiciaparamihermana.com/mapa_de_denuncias/
The film's advocacy team Colectivo Justicia para mi Hermana and I were even able to meet with the Directors of the National Civilian Police and the Public Prosecutors to plan how we can collaborate on Mensajes de Paz. It's been so inspiring meeting individuals within the state institutions that are eager to work with us to combat violence against women.
Upon return to LA, I recorded our final narration with television/film actress and Ambassador for the Mexican Commission on Human Rights Kate del Castillo. I'm now fundraising to film some public service announcements (PSAs) with Kate to educate viewers about what men can do to prevent violence against women.
We received funding from Latino Public Broadcasting to help us launch our text-message hotline in the United States and to hold community screenings here, but we still have a ways to go! If you are interested in supporting us to keep our SMS helpline going in Guatemala, to film the PSAs, or to submit to film festivals, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through Women Make Movies here. Please make an End of the Year contribution to give an extra boost to our campaign and to fight gender-based violence. Donations of all sizes are welcome.
If you received a new phone for Christmas, recycle your old one at www.Phones4Freedom.org. Your old phone can help our operators in Guatemala continue to combat human trafficking utilizing innovative mobile technology. Best part is, shipping is FREE!!! Just go to the site and download a label. Please let me know if you send in phones, so I can let them know that the donations should go to our project specifically. Spread the word!
On behalf of Colectivo Justicia para mi Hermana and the characters of the film, Merry Christmas! And SINCERE THANKS for your continued support.
Best wishes for 2012!!!
Kimberly
Update #9: JFMS is in Guatemala!
My mini-tour to univerisites in the Los Angeles area was a complete confirmation for me that we've accomplished our goal with the film. Many students came up to me after the film was over, offering to help me as interns, and asking how else they could get involved. Others came up to me crying, sharing their own experiences with violence in their homes and personal lives.
It feels unreal to be able to bring this film to over 60 communities in Guatemala with the help of the outreach team we've built here. I've been giving workshops to prep the outreach team for the past week. In addition to the film, we will be bringing dating/domestic violence prevention presentations to the communities, connecting audiences to services that can hep me denounce violence, and introducing them to our Mensajes de Paz (Texting Peace) project.
Aashika Damodar from Survivor's Connect has launched similar services in India, Vietnam, Haiti, and Cambodia. The amazing thing is we will be able to track the reports of domestic abuse, street harrassment, threats, and sexual assault, and femicide on an interactive map to identify where these crimes are happening. And the beautiful part about it is our focus is also violence prevention, and we will be able to stay in contact with our audiences long after we leave the communities by sending mass messages containing advice on how to prevent violence in their communities and intimate relationships. Also, we are emphasizing network building, and we hope to leave communities with the tools they need to take ownership of their communities and denounce violence without fear of persecution.
We're looking forward to launching the texting service on November 25, International Day of Non-Violence Against Women. We will hold a special preview screening of the film in the National Palace, with about 250 audience members and Rebeca Eunice Pérez, our main character, as our guest of honor. I will be posting photos of the event and links to media coverage on Facebook, so don't forget to LIKE us there.
Lastly, before I sign off, I want to encourage everyone to check out my friend and cinematographer/colorist Juan Mejia's film The Battle for Land, now here on Kickstarter. It looks at how "green" energy and transnational corporations are ruining the lives of countless Afro-Colombians in the name of "progress." http://kck.st/qKdoEp He only has six days to reach his goal! He made Justice for my Sister beautiful with his awesome work and vision, now let's make his film a reality! Every little bit helps, so please pitch in what you can and spread the word.
Thanks, dear friends. Can't wait to share more updates with you.
Viva la Mujer!
Kimberly Bautista, Director/Producer, Justice for my Sister
www.justiceformysister.com *** www.artevistafilms.com www.facebook.com/JusticeForMySister
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Grace Garner on November 1, 2011
I am so happy things are working out well. I will keep a look out for any connections to Latino celebrities.
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Update #8: new trailer, new website, expanded campaign!
Dear Beloved Backers of Justice for my Sister,
The JFMS Team continues to ride the wave of momentum that picked up in May when I went to New York City with editor Michael Flores to work with story consultant Fernanda Rossi on our film's structure. Our trip was made possible by NALIP's support with the Latino Artists Mentorship Program.
Since then, we have expanded our team. Quetzal Flores and Martha Gonzalez from the band Quetzal, deemed "one of the most important bands in Los Angeles" by the LA Times have come onboard to compose the score. We have other exciting musical collaborations in store... stay tuned!
We're nearing the finish line with the feedback and guidance of our talented filmmaker friends and mentors, including Juan Mandelbaum, Pamela Yates, Kate Amend, and John Valadez.
We are building a comprehensive campaign that includes a text-message service to encourage subscribers (particularly youth) to hone healthy relationships, both in the United States and Guatemala. Another important element of our help-line will be our evidence-collection tool. We will push for marginalized women, particularly indigenous women in Guatemala and undocumented women in the States, to get comfortable with the idea of reporting abusive partners and/or employers. They can forward us text messages, photos, or videos that we will store in our private database in the case that they wish to report threats or abuse in the future, so that they can establish a history of violence when they are ready to take that step.
We have several other initiatives in our outreach campaign plan. All can be seen at our NEW website: www.justiceformysister.com
More good news: I was accepted into Working Films' Reel Change training to shape up our audience engagement plan! I'll be heading up to San Francisco in late September for the workshop, to be held at the Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC). From there, I will launch a mini-tour of the film at college campuses in the Los Angeles area during October, which is Domestic Violence Awareness month. IF YOU KNOW OF ANY PROFESSORS that might be interested in holding a preview screening of our fine cut, please let me know! My team and I are also offering dating violence prevention workshops at the colleges. We hope to meet student leaders on our campus tour that can bring the film to their community service sites, particularly high schools and prisons.
Here is our NEW extended 7-minute trailer, for your viewing pleasure: http://www.vimeo.com/25518946
If you have not yet liked our Facebook fan page, please take two seconds to do so at www.facebook.com/JusticeForMySister. And please spread the word to your friends!
Lastly, I encourage you to check out my friend Regan Brasher's documentary about emerging human enhancement technologies told through personal stories of disability. She's already met her goal on Kickstater, but every little bit helps her various initiatives, only 3 days to go! http://kck.st/fixedthemovie LIKE her page and follow her film, as well!
THANK YOU for your continued support.
Viva la Mujer!
Kimberly Bautista, Director/Producer, Justice for my Sister
www.justiceformysister.com *** www.artevistafilms.com www.facebook.com/JusticeForMySister
Update #7: The new footage has made all the difference!
My dear Backers,
I wanted to send a quick update to THANK YOU AGAIN from the bottom of my heart for your support and enthusiasm. The latest rough cut feels SO COMPLETE and all because each and every one of you made an effort to make our last shoot a reality. Our team has expanded greatly. Juan Mejia DID AN AMAZING JOB with the cinematography. (I'll definitely hire him again in the future!) Editor Mike Flores and I are getting ready to go to New York to work on the rough cut with story consultant Fernanda Rossi (thanks to our grant from NALIP!). I'm now mobilizing a group of community organizers to prep for our community engagement campaign once the film is finished. We'll be touring college campuses with the film, giving leadership, domestic violence prevention, and feminist workshops. The goal of the campaign is to incite other viewers to join our grassroots campaign and to organize screenings and discussions at their own churches, community spaces, maybe even some police academies... I'm also developing an intervention hotline in Guatemala for women who face threats and abuse. More on all this to come!
NOW I WANTED TO PRESENT YOU WITH ANOTHER CALL TO ARMS...
My dear friend, colleague, and mentor AURORA GUERRERO is gearing up to shoot her important FICTION film MOSQUITA Y MARI - and it's also on Kickstarter! It's a coming of age love story between two young Chicana best friends who struggle to come to grips with their intense feelings for each other. HOW MANY FILMS have you seen about young Chicana lesbians that were WRITTEN AND DIRECTED by a Chicana, indigenous, feminist lesbian filmmaker? WE MUST SEE TO IT that this film is produced. We need to foster voices that have not been heard before. I URGE YOU to donate what you can to this important film. As you're familiar with Kickstarter, you know that if Aurora does not reach her goal by her deadline, SHE WILL LOSE all the money she has raised. SHE NEEDS TO RAISE $64,058 in the next 18 days, or $3558.78 a day. CAN WE AS BACKERS of JUSTICE FOR MY SISTER help Aurora meet her goal? If EACH of YOU donated $25, we would cover one of her 18 days! I DONATED $50 to Aurora's film and I'm willing to double my donation if I get 20 of my backers to MATCH MY DONATION to MOSQUITA AND MARI! Please see the film here! http://kck.st/hrzvIK
And please give me a head's up to let me know that you donated, so I can keep tabs of the 20 who donate $50 and in turn, double my donation. I know we can do it! We made my shoot possible: now it's time to make another Latina filmmaker's first feature-length film possible. She is paving the way for many others! And you can be instrumental in making it happen! EVERY LITTLE BIT HELPS and the closer she is to her goal, the more likely it is that other people will donate to it. PLEDGE TODAY to inspire others, and you won't get billed until May 26.
THANK YOU for your support and your belief in alternative media that makes a difference!
Viva la mujer!
Kimberly Bautista
Update #6: Undying Gratitude
For backers only,
Posted on October 17, 2010
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Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on October 12, 2010.
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You will be invited to fundraising parties, and receive exclusive updates about the film and screenings, in addition to my undying gratitude.
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All the above, plus you will receive a signed limited edition movie postcard, signed by the crew during our next shoot in Guatemala.
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All of the above, plus a limited, exclusive look at select scenes from the film BEFORE it's released via a private online screening room.
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All of the above, plus your very own digital download of the film once it's released.
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LIMITED BONUS DVD ROUND #1: You receive the $30 range package, plus a DVD of award-winning filmmaker Anayansi Prado's documentary about the Latinas who clean your homes and help raise your children, MAID IN AMERICA*. (*Item only available at this pledge level and $650 level.)
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LIMITED MAYAN LIBRO PACKAGE: You will receive the package for the $30 range, plus a copy of EL LIBRO DEL DESTINO,* a limited-print text published in Guatemala that explores the Mayan calendar and "horoscopes," known as nawales. Only available in Spanish. (*Item only available at this and $140 pledge level.)
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LIMITED BOOK OFFER: You will receive the $30 range package, plus a copy of the anthology TERRORIZING WOMEN: FEMINICIDE IN THE AMERICAS, autographed by the editors, Rosa-Linda Fregoso and Cynthia Bejarano. (*Item only available at $45, $160, and $650 pledge level.)
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LIMITED BONUS DVD ROUND #2: You will receive the $30 range package, plus an autographed DVD of award-winning filmmaker Pamela Yate's film about attempts to enforce international laws against war crimes and genocide, THE RECKONING: THE BATTLE FOR THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT*. (*Item only available at this pledge level and $650 level.)
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All of the above, plus an autographed DVD of JUSTICE FOR MY SISTER once it's released.
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All the above, plus a unique necklace from Guatemala with a small glass pendant that contains a grain of rice with the word JUSTICIA on it.
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All of the above, plus an autographed limited edition JUSTICE FOR MY SISTER movie poster.
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All the above, plus a limited edition JUSTICE FOR MY SISTER "Paz en cada paso" tee shirt.
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LIMITED BONUS DVD ROUND #3: You will receive the $100 range package, plus an autographed DVD of award-winning filmmaker Pamela Yate's 1983 classic documentary film about war and social revolution in Guatemala, WHEN THE MOUNTAINS TREMBLE*. (*Item only available at this pledge level and $650 level.)
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LIMITED BONUS DVD ROUND #4: You will receive the $100 range package, plus an autographed DVD of the Emmy-award winning documentary by Almudena Carracedo, MADE IN LA,* about three Latina immigrants working in Los Angeles garment sweatshops that embark on a three-year odyssey to win basic labor protections from a trendy clothing retailer. (*Item only available at this pledge level and $650 level.)
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All the above, plus a coin purse hand-made from used huipils from Todos Santos, Guatemala.
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LIMITED JUSTICE LIBRO PACKAGE #1: You will receive the $125 range package, plus the limited-print text book "Rompiendo el Silencio: Justicia para las mujeres víctimas de violencia sexual durante el conflicto armado en Guatemala."* Only available in Spanish. (*Item only available at this and $600 pledge level.)
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LIMITED JUSTICE LIBRO PACKAGE #2: You will receive the $125 range package, plus the limited-print text book "Por ser mujer" by Kristen Svendsen,* about the causes of violence against women in Guatemala. Only available in Spanish. (*Item only available at this and $600 pledge level.)
Pledge $140 or more Pledge $140 or more
EXCLUSIVE MAYAN LIBRO PACKAGE: You will receive the package for the $125 range, plus a copy of EL LIBRO DEL DESTINO,* a limited-print text published in Guatemala that explores the Mayan calendar and "horoscopes," known as nawales. Only available in Spanish. (*Item only available at this pledge level.)
Pledge $160 or more Pledge $160 or more
SPECIAL BOOK OFFER: You will receive the $125 range package, plus a copy of the anthology TERRORIZING WOMEN: FEMINICIDE IN THE AMERICAS, autographed by the editors, Rosa-Linda Fregoso and Cynthia Bejarano. (*Item only available at $45, $160, and $750 pledge level.)
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SPA PACKAGE: You will receive the $125 range package, plus an exclusive spa gift package from our friends at Lather in Pasadena, at an estimated $50 value. (Yummy, one-of-a-kind organic soaps and creams.)
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EXCLUSIVE DINING: You will receive the $125 range package, plus dinner for two at Malbec, an exquisite Argentine restaurant in Pasadena ($60 gift certificate).
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You will receive the basic premium package ($125 range), plus you will receive a limited-edition autographed CD of our soundtrack once it is complied and composed and a limited-print issue of the Guatemalan underground feminist publication "La Cuerda."
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VIP PACKAGE: You will receive the $200 range package, plus your name will be in the rolling credits of the film and you will receive Guatemalan chocolate, Guatemalan coffee, and an exclusive Mayan glyph-calendar mug, all in a hand woven purse from Guatemala.
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LIMITED JUSTICE LIBRO PACKAGE PLUS: You will receive the VIP package ($500 range), plus the limited-print text books "Rompiendo el Silencio,"* plus "Por ser mujer" by Kristen Svendsen,* PLUS the latest Boletines from Grupo Guatemalteco de Mujeres AND 4 extra issues of the Guatemalan underground feminist publication "La Cuerda." Only available in Spanish. (*Items only available at this and $135 pledge level.)
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EXCLUSIVE BONUS DVD AND BOOK PACKAGE: You will receive the VIP package ($500 range), plus one of each of the four bonus DVDs listed above: Pamela Yate's WHEN THE MOUNTAIN TREMBLES and THE RECKONING: THE BATTLE FOR THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT, Anayansi Prado's MAID IN AMERICA and Almudena Carracedo’s MADE IN LA., PLUS the anthology TERRORIZING WOMEN: FEMINICIDE IN THE AMERICAS, autographed by the editors, Rosa-Linda Fregoso and Cynthia Bejarano.
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VIP BONUS PACKAGE: You will receive the VIP package ($500 range), plus a framed customized drawing from one of the children in the film, 6 solid-color Guatemalan handcrafted scarves (perfect for gifts), and a 6-piece set of Guatemalan handcrafted table mats and a table runner.
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LIMITED TO ONE BID: You will receive the VIP Bonus package ($1000 range), plus a handcrafted cream-color Guatemalan crochet hammock.
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You will receive the VIP Bonus package ($1000 range), plus a catered dinner and screening with the filmmaker at your home or other venue of your choice.
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You will receive the VIP Bonus package ($1000 range), plus two tickets to the premiere of the film and dinner with the director at the festival (travel not included).
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LIMITED TO KICKSTARTER: You will receive the $2000 range package, plus an associate producer title for JUSTICE FOR MY SISTER.
Project By
Connected as Kimberly Nuvem Bautista (1424 friends)
I am a Los Angeles-based Colombian-Irish-American feminist filmmaker. I am committed to making social change films with compelling, character-driven stories that open a space for transnational coalition-building and solidarity.
Congratulations, Kimberly! And best wishes for your further success!
Thank you, Amy!