We're making an independent Oscar run with our documentary film Granito to reach millions with its message of social justice. Join us! Read more
We're making an independent Oscar run with our documentary film Granito to reach millions with its message of social justice. Join us!
About this project
Join Us on an Indie Run to the Oscars With "Granito"!
"Granito" is a unique story of destinies joined by Guatemala’s past, about how a documentary film intertwined with a nation’s turbulent history emerges as an active player in the present. In 1982, Pamela Yates went to Guatemala to direct her first documentary "When the Mountains Tremble" in the middle of an ongoing genocide during the regime of General Efraín Ríos Montt. A quarter century later, film outtakes from "When the Mountains Tremble," as well as secret military documents and skeletal remains unearthed by courageous human rights defenders, are all being used in a genocide case to prosecute the military dictators that ordered the genocide of the Maya people, resulting in 200,000 killed.
"Granito" means "tiny grain of sand," and is a Maya concept of collective change, about how all of us persevering together over time can cause change and bring justice to society. "Granito" the film illustrates this concept and received a sustained standing ovation at the Sundance Film Festival. Now we want this message of positive change to reach the tens of millions of people that will tune in to the Oscars next year without selling our souls, political independence and control of our film to the big theatrical distributors. We don't have anything against the theatrical distributors, we simply have different priorities. Distributors want to fill theaters, and if they don't, they put your film on a shelf and it's forgotten. For over 25 years we've been going way beyond that, making our films available far and wide by streaming them online, implementing campaigns to mobilize people around social justice causes. In the case of "Granito," we will launch a campaign in Guatemala, in partnership with the Forensic Anthropology team featured in the film, to restore the collective memory of the genocide and make it available in an online public archive.
In order to make an independent Oscar run we need to fulfill the Academy rules, which are:
1. A one-week run in both a New York and a Los Angeles theater, with advertising. This means we have to rent a theater in both cities for one week and buy advertising ($8,000). 2. A 35-millimeter print of the film for projection in the theaters. This means we have to convert "Granito", which was shot on HD video, into 35mm, a very expensive process ($27,000). It may seem crazy that in this day and age they won't accept HD video projection for Oscar qualification, but those are the rules.
So become a granito and join us as we bypass the big distributors so that we can qualify for an Oscar nomination on our own terms! Then we'll all get together with mass audiences on Oscar Night 2012 to celebrate the launch of "Granito" into the big wide world with the message that we can all do our part, add our granito, in the pursuit of justice for the victims of genocidal dictators.
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Rewards
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Pledge $10 or more
39 backers
A heartfelt and personalized “Thank you for your granito" shout out to you on the "Granito" Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/granitofilm) announcing your new status as a member of the "Granito" run to the Oscars! Be a granito!
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Pledge $20 or more
52 backers
An online exclusive pre-DVD release viewing of “Granito” plus we'll send you our beautiful haunting poster by master designer Takaaki Okada, signed by the filmmakers. Be a granito!
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Pledge $25 or more
49 backers
DVD of “When the Mountains Tremble," the prequel to “Granito."
Signed by the filmmakers. Be a granito! -
Pledge $40 or more
74 backers
A Director's Cut DVD of "Granito: How to Nail a Dictator" upon its release after the Oscar qualification runs in New York and Los Angeles. Signed by the filmmakers. Be a granito!
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Pledge $60 or more
31 backers Limited (69 left of 100)
Invitation to attend an exclusive screening for "Granito" backers during the week-long Oscar qualification run in New York OR Los Angeles, followed by a cash bar party with the filmmakers. Be a granito!
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Pledge $75 or more
12 backers Limited (188 left of 200)
Own a piece of the evidence! We'll send you an original 16mm film strip of the outtake from "When the Mountains Tremble" that was entered into evidence in the case accusing General Efraín Ríos Montt of committing genocide against the Maya people. Be a granito, own a piece of "Granito"!
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Pledge $100 or more
20 backers All gone!
Two tickets to the New York premiere of “Granito” at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival (June 17-30, 2011 - exact date of premiere screening TBD), followed by a reception with the filmmakers. Be a granito!
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Pledge $100 or more
6 backers Limited (14 left of 20)
Two tickets to the London UK premiere of "Granito" at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival on March 25, 2011, followed by a couple of pints with the filmmakers after the film. Be a granito!
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Pledge $750 or more
0 backers Limited (4 left of 4)
You host a private screening with the filmmakers and your friends at your home (does not include transportation and lodging expenses for the filmmakers, which must be provided if location is outside New York City). Also, if "Granito" is nominated, this reward includes an invitation to our Oscar Nomination Party in New York. Be a granito!
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Pledge $1,000 or more
3 backers Limited (22 left of 25)
An 11 x 14 limited edition production still photo of Antonio Caba Caba and his family in the village of Ilom in the Guatemalan highlands, signed and numbered by world renowned Dutch photographer Dana Lixenberg. Antonio is the Maya activist featured in “Granito” in his fight to bring General Ríos Montt to justice for perpetrating the genocide.
Also, if "Granito" is nominated, this reward includes an invitation to our Oscar celebration party in Los Angeles, after the Academy Awards ceremony. Be a granito! -
Pledge $8,000 or more
0 backers Limited (2 left of 2)
One ticket to the 2012 Academy Awards ceremony with the filmmakers, or in lieu of an Oscar nomination, an invitation for you + 1 to accompany the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Team (featured in "Granito") on one of their missions into the Maya highlands of Guatemala. This invitation does not include travel and lodging expenses. Be a granito!
Featured
Funding period
- (30 days)
