Kickstarter

** All donations are TAX-DEDUCTIBLE through Truth Aid and will be MATCHED DOLLAR-FOR-DOLLAR by our partner organization, Be'chol Lashon.**

We need to raise at least $14,000 to cover one month of editing, but our goal is to raise $20,000 through this campaign which with the match which will allow us to cover all our costs for the rest of 2011 and ensure that we will be ready to premiere at festivals in 2012! Every dollar helps! If you make a pledge and we do not meet our goal of $14,000.00 your pledge returns to you.  In fact, your credit card is only deducted if we meet our goal.

THE FILM: Outside the Box tells Lacey Schwartz’s story of growing up in a typical upper-middle-class Jewish household in Woodstock, NY, with loving parents and a strong sense of her Jewish identity – despite open questioning from those around her about how a white girl could have such dark skin. She believes her family’s explanation, that her dark skin was inherited from her dark-skinned Sicilian grandfather. But when her parents abruptly split, her gut starts to tell her something different and she begins to question her identity.

At the age of eighteen, she finally confronts her mother and learns the truth: her biological father was not the man who raised her, but a black man named Rodney that her mother had an affair with. Afraid to lose her relationship with her parents after finding out the truth behind her identity Lacey keeps her black identity hidden from her white family - until her biological father dies shortly before her 30th birthday and she is forced to acknowledge her blackness in front of her white Jewish family. Following the funeral, Lacey begins a quest to reconcile the hidden pieces of her life and heal her relationship with the only father she has ever known in order to move past the legacy of betrayal and family secrets that have defined her life and relationships for so long. 

Outside the Box has received support from The Independent Television Service Diversity Development Fund, The Foundation of Jewish Culture, Andrea and Charles Bronfman Foundation, Netflix, Tribeca Film Festival and many amazing individuals like you.

WHAT WE'VE DONE SO FAR: We are very excited to announce that after 5 years of hard work we have a rough cut of the film and have begun submitting to film festivals to premiere in 2012.  In late 2010 we raised enough money to begin editing with the editor of our choice, Toby Shimin, whose most recent editing for the film Buck has won the accolades from the New York Times and Sundance Audience Choice Awards. Together, we have been working tirelessly for the past ten months to create a film that captures the difficulty of reconciliation and healing after having occupied a false identity for eighteen years. 

WHAT WE NEED TO DO NEXT: We are so close! But in order to finish the project and premiere at a festival, we need your help. All of the work that Toby and I are doing cannot be completed until we raise enough money for the last phase of editing and post-production. We believe we can finish the editing process by December of this year, as long as we can raise enough money to keep the process going. After finishing editing, we will send the film to a post-production house for color correction, audio mixing, and recording of the film’s narration and then premiere at festivals and beyond. 

The film is an important one for anyone that has struggled with questions about identity or finding and speaking truth. Please help us finish this unique coming-of-age film that will be funny, sad, shocking, and – above all – surprising. 

ABOUT TRUTH AID: Truth Aid is an educational empowerment platform that uses media and technology to bring you stories, latest news and analysis about the social barriers to well-being that vulnerable populations face.

ABOUT BE'CHOL LASHON: Be'chol Lashon (In Every Tongue) grows and strengthens the Jewish people through ethnic, cultural, and racial inclusiveness. Be'chol Lashon works towards a more expansive Judaism that particularly engages younger and unaffiliated Jews who want Judaism to reflect the global community in which they live.