About this project

THE PROJECT

Katrell Christie is a thoroughly modern do-gooder. She was an Atlanta Rollergirl—skate name: Takillya Sunrise and she runs a funky teashop in Atlanta that sells 50 cent books for a cause. She’s a woman who loves life and who believes in community.

In the summer of 2009 Katrell went to India looking for tea. What she found in Darjeeling is the darker side of the region: a hub for trafficking girls into forced labor and child prostitution. Non-Governmental Organizations in the area estimate that between 7-10,000 girls are tracked annually to Indian brothels from Nepal which borders Darjeeling. Girls—some as young as 6 and 7— are frequently forced into prostitution. Not wanting to be consumer profiteer, Katrell came up with a plan: The Learning Tea.

Through the sale of Darjeeling tea from a Fair Trade tea plantation Katrell hopes to create a sustainable system that supports jobs in the community and funds higher education for girls. The question is—can this simple plan work?

Unblinking Eye Films--producer Phoebe Brown-- will document Katrell's return to India and introduce you to the young woman Katrell is sponsoring from orphanage to university. These girls—many of Nepalese origin—age out of a Buddhist run orphanage at 16 and face the grim realities for young women lacking opportunity and education: a life of forced prostitution, hard labor or servitude--too often under brutal conditions. The sexual enslavement of women is one of the most pressing issues of our time and the world's eyes need to be opened to the possibility and importance of change.

THE LEARNING TEA NEEDS SIPPERS! YOUR MONEY

All of the funds for the documentary are being raised by by the filmmaker. Katrell has been very successful in her fundraising campaign for the girls and help keeps pouring in from new and exciting sources. She has the funds currently to launch and get the first eligible girls ready for university. We did not want to attach in any way to her fundraising campaign because every dime belong to those girls and the ones that will follow.

The film has found a sponsor for our equipment needs so that dramatically reduces our budget. We have raised $1200 towards our production and travel budget--this will cover roughly one round trip ticket. We need an $1200 to cover the DP's airfare, an additional $1400 for travel, food and lodging costs during our 4 week shoot in India, $400 to cover equipment insurance.

This is the bare minimum needed to get this film rolling. If we can get our initial footage shot we will be in a much better position to seek out grants and other funding. But with your help we can get our feet on the ground in India. Any additional funds raised will go toward the following:

$200 rigging some cheap highly portable light "kit"
$225 Carbon Offset for Flights
$500 Additional Sound Equipment Needs
$1000 One Week of Post-Production Editing
$4000 DP Stipend

Project location: Darjeeling, India

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Project By

Phoebe Brown

Atlanta, GA

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Born and raised in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, Phoebe, a filmmaker, has lived in New York City, Washington, D.C, New Orleans and currently reside in Atlanta, GA. After a number of years and jobs, I have collected a diverse set of skills from the ability to place an IV catheter in a cat to the proper way to propagate and grow English heather, but filmmaking has always been her lifelong dream.

In 2007 She made "99 to 1: Ovarian Cancer and Me" a documentary chronicling her 2005 diagnosis of ovarian cancer. The film has played in festivals worldwide and won the Jury Prize for Short Film at the 2009 Ippokratis Health Film Festival in Greece.

Her latest film "The Culinary Browns" traces a family history that starts in a cookbook. Phoebe's great-grandparents wrote cookbooks but her family didn't have any of them. This film looks at why.
It will be making the festival rounds in 2010.

1. unblinkingeyefilms.com
2. ovariancancerandme.com
3. culinarybrowns.com