Zipporah Films seeks funding for Frederick Wiseman's 40th documentary, about the diverse neighborhood of Jackson Heights.
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– Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City is one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse communities in the United States. 167 languages are spoken in this neighborhood inhabited by people from Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, India, China, and many other countries. The people who live in Jackson Heights are representative of the new wave of immigrants to America. Zipporah Films, the production and distribution company of filmmaker Frederick Wiseman, is looking to Kickstarter’s own diverse community to help us tell the story of Jackson Heights.
“I’ve funded my films with the help of generous friends and colleagues as well as the active use of my American Express card. I’ve received some grants that cover part of the costs, but with a limited number of organizations and countless competitors, I’m turning to Kickstarter for help. Kickstarter is a wonderful resource that is its own melting pot of creators and patrons and I'm excited to be a part of it. Together, we can bring even more communities to Jackson Heights.”
Fred chose to make a film about Jackson Heights because this community is an example of America as a "melting pot" settled, developed, and made strong by successive waves of immigrants.
"My films are about institutions, which I define as a place that has existed for a while and that has fixed geographical boundaries. The institution serves the same purpose as the lines and net do on a tennis court, i.e. providing boundaries. Whatever takes place inside the boundaries is a candidate for inclusion in the film. In the case of IN JACKSON HEIGHTS, I filmed primarily from 72nd Street to 92nd Street, and between Roosevelt Avenue and Northern Boulevard."
“I do very little research before filming. Usually, I only visit a day or two before I start. I try to get a sense of the space, make preliminary inquiries, and research the daily routines. I am always afraid that something really interesting will happen while I’m researching and that if I'm not prepared to shoot it, I'll miss it. The filming is the research.”
“In the movies I am trying to present a broad, complex and diffuse portrait of contemporary life. I choose all kinds of different subjects – poor people, rich people, middle class people, in different situations and in a variety of locations. In one sense I'm making one long, thematically connected movie that is now 100 hours long."
IN JACKSON HEIGHTS will be Fred's 40th film and 9th filmed in New York. Check out this rough cut sneak peek:
IN JACKSON HEIGHTS was filmed over the course of eight weeks in the summer of 2014. Fred is currently editing the final film from 120 hours of rushes. The film will be completed for festival and theatrical release by the fall of 2015.
Fred and Zipporah Films need your help and support to finish production and to release this film!
A distinctive aspect of Fred's filmmaking style is the lack of interviews, narration, and added music or lighting. The film is found over the course of an intense editing process that lasts eight months to a year.
"I had a great time making this film. The shooting was, as always, a great adventure. I met people from many different cultures whose life experiences were very different than mine. I have no idea what the themes and point of view of the film are going to be before I start. The sequences shot are found through a combination of chance, judgment and luck. Decisions about what to shoot have to be made quickly. Often crucial information about an event is exchanged in the first 30 seconds. All aspects of making a documentary are fascinating for me but I particularly like the editing. I discover the film in the editing. There is an old joke about the sculptor who finds his statue under the stone. I find the film by selecting, studying, condensing and ordering sequences from the rushes. Once I get started, the editing becomes compulsive and I often work at it seven days a week.
"My job as editor is to make the film as best I can from the rushes. What I think about the subject matter is what you see in the final film. At least 50% of editing has nothing to do with technique. I ask myself what it is I am seeing and hearing in the rushes. I have to at least delude myself into thinking that I understand what is going on in each of the sequences in order to (1) decide which sequences to use, (2) how to edit them into a usable form and (3) create a narrative, dramatic structure in which each segment has its proper place. This process often takes a year. A month or two before I finish I usually start thinking about what I want to do next. This is my way of avoiding a postpartum depression.”
"Wiseman's work is preoccupied with what one could call spirit. With an intensity usually found only in fiction, Wiseman examines the moral and spiritual life of an institution."
–David Denby, The New Yorker
All of the films have aired on PBS to national audiences and are screened at major international film festivals including Cannes, Venice, Toronto, London, and New York. All of Fred's films are produced and distributed with the support of his distribution company, Zipporah Films.
“Some people assume that because I’ve made a lot of films and they’ve been well received that it’s easy for me to get the money. That is not the case. For me, the cycle remains the same every time I start a project; I have to do what everyone else does and sing for my supper.”
IN JACKSON HEIGHTS has secured some funding but we need help to finish production and to release the film. Join us in bringing Fred's work to longtime fans and new audiences, and celebrate the community of Jackson Heights, by supporting this project. The film will be released in the fall of 2015, followed by the DVD and PBS broadcast in 2016.
Here are some highlights of our great rewards!
Besides contributing to our campaign, there are other ways to help us spread the word!
IN JACKSON HEIGHTS has received some funding--however, it's not enough to finish the film. Fred and Zipporah Films need your help to finish IN JACKSON HEIGHTS so that we can release the film.
“There are limited sources for funding. So, like every other documentary filmmaker, I scramble around. I have great difficulties getting funded. It’s as if every movie is my first movie. I don’t like it, but that’s the reality. It's harder now to get the money for my films; the costs of everything have gone up so much.”
Love Fred's films? Back IN JACKSON HEIGHTS today!
Learn about accountability on KickstarterFred is very busy finishing up this film! But if you message us, we’ll make sure your question or comment gets to Fred.
Fred began making documentaries in 1967, with TITICUT FOLLIES. You can get information about and purchase all of his films at www.zipporah.com.
It’s true, crowdfunding is a new avenue for Fred. He gets a lot of support from foundations like PBS, Sundance, ITVS, and Ford – but the costs of shooting, travel, postproduction, and release are always going up. In addition, we thought introducing the film on Kickstarter would be a great way to connect Fred’s work with new audiences.
Email us at info@zipporah.com and we’ll work to coordinate an interview via email or phone.
As Zipporah Films is a very small company, we work with some international distributors to release the film in other countries. Unfortunately that means we can’t offer streaming to everyone who backs the Kickstarter – but it does help us get the film out to audiences worldwide! So every backer helps someone new see a Wiseman film.
For updates on where the film is screening or in DVD release, please visit www.zipporah.com.
We expect the film to open in November. Stay tuned for more details, even after the campaign ends, here and on Facebook and Twitter. (www.facebook.com/INJACKSONHEIGHTS and www.twitter.com/injheights)
IN JACKSON HEIGHTS will be available on DVD after its theatrical release. We don’t have an exact date yet, but it will probably be sometime in March. Streaming is still in the works, but we are working for a spring 2016 release of that, too.
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