Calamity & Mercy
Logline
Calamity and Mercy is a feature length documentary film detailing the stories of individual Ukrainian refugees submerged in the chaos of battle, fleeing war, and integrating into new cultures, along with the NGOs and efforts in place to help or harm the incoming migrants.
Synopsis
February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine by order of Vladimir Putin, beginning the most significant conflict in Europe since World War II, and sparking the largest refugee crisis in almost a century. Calamity and Mercy are the stories, the voices of people affected by the conflict. A direct counterpoint to Russian propaganda used to justify naked aggression.
Immigration into a new society is complex after fleeing a war zone. Folks deal with the trauma of loss of home, family members, and friends while trying to understand an uncertain future.
Calamity and Mercy examines the individual journeys of Ukrainian refugees in a three-part arc.
Interviewees detail why they left their homes in Ukraine and NGOs and reception centers share how they organized to support the sudden influx of refugees.
2. Fear versus hope: The refugees and NGO staff explain their challenges and individual and collective efforts to overcome them.
3. The film highlights real-world examples of local solutions to alleviate the resource needs of refugees while welcoming them to the community.
Funding
The Editing team includes professionals from Ukraine, Italy, and California. We aim to use $15,000 to $22,000 to complete the edit.
The funds raised will focus on post-production, music, sound-scoring, and editing to make a professional documentary. We also plan to use part of the funds for film festival entry fees to help us gain momentum to stream, distribute, and market the film.
Our stretch goal of $42,000 will be for the production and travel costs already incurred to make the film.
Additional Information
We spent February and March 2022 researching and developing contacts throughout Europe to seek refugees, NGO staff, and shelter families to interview.
Through this outreach, we conducted fifty hours of interviews. The most challenging task was selecting which interviews to include in the film as we cut the film to 10, then 5, then 3 hours, toward our goal of 100 to 120 minutes.
The Nitty-Gritty
Our critical challenge now is managing the funds to complete the film. Another significant issue is how to provide the content from the fifty hours of interviews we did not include in the movie. Distribution and Marketing for streaming or educational release are also critical.
We need help getting the word out. Here are some ways you can support:
- Personally, ask just one or two people in your life to contribute any amount.
- Text the link to our campaign to 5 friends asking them to support by contributing any amount.
- If you're able to, consider making an additional contribution, but only if you're able to; we're already incredibly grateful for your support.
- Share our campaign on your social media.
Thanks again for being part of this journey
https://www.filmindependent.org/programs/fiscal-sponsorship/calamity-and-mercy/
This link is to a work sample that has a teaser, part of one interview, and a montage of kids' artwork about their feelings and the war.
https://vimeo.com/782666643/4c656a915a
Thank You
Our team thanks you for your contribution to Calamity & Mercy. We feel our effort will help sustain and support the Ukrainian people directly affected by the war.
Please spread the word and share this campaign. We believe this film can make a difference for the refugees. We want you to know that every life impacted by this film was because of you. When you support this campaign, you will receive various benefits such as a shout-out on our social media, early screening for our film, and even an associate/executive producer credit..
Best regards, Daniel
COMMUNICATION | DESIGN
Molly (USA) is a storyteller at heart with an artist eye for color and balance. She has years of experience writing across industries in a variety of voice. She is obsessed with grammar, word choice, and policing unnecessary adverb usage. Most recently, Molly has been teaming up with nonprofits and documentary filmmakers to write grant and funding proposals. Her mission is to find out who is making the world better and make that known most effectively.
Valentina (Italy) collaborates closely with Rodolfo at GA TA audiovisual as an experienced professional filmmaker. She assists in co-directing, filming, and editing. She also creates advertising, music, and documentary projects, both for international brands, national foundations, and local companies, as well as creative projects in collaboration with independent filmmakers and performance artists.
Rodolfo Colombara (Italy) is a filmmaking instructor and professional video maker. He directs, shoots and edits mainly in the advertising, music, documentaries for large international brands, national foundations and for local companies in Torino, Italy.
Kay (USA) is a screenwriter, film maker, and screenwriting consultant in Los Angeles, California. She studied Screenwriting at Chapman University, and English at Northern Arizona University. Her latest film is The Miseducation of Bindu.
Alice (Italy) is a critical collaborator on Tahriib, her first documentary experience. She is outstanding in coordinating schedules with both official and unofficial contacts for interviews and travel arrangements in Italy. She also provided the humor, friendly persuasion, and patience to help interviewees feel comfortable and keep all involved in high morale.
Award-winning screenwriter and veteran Daniel W Smith graduated from George Mason University, the Joint Military Intelligence College, and holds an MFA in both Screenwriting and Producing from the New York Film Academy. Previous work includes 50/10 Saul Turteltaub (2016) | Tahriib (Those Who Travel North) | Landfill | Freedom of Movement Festival (2018) and has two more in production.
Best regards, Dan
Your contribution got us over the goal line and down the road!
Foto by Pavy (Pavlina Popovska)
We are almost there! We have 4 days left! We still need a ...miracle
Hello, Calamity & Mercy contributor! Campaign creator Daniel has an update:
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We need a miracle.
And the miracle is you! Here we are. We only have 5 days left on our campaign.
As of today, we have raised over 2,700. That is simply AMAZING. We're blown away by the support. That being said, we must reach at least our minimum goal or we get none of it. That's right, we either reach that minimum goal or we get NOTHING.
Will you help us get there?
If you haven't made a financial contribution, please do so today; any amount makes a big difference.
If you already gave, please consider increasing the amount of your contribution by a few dollars. But only if you're able to. We're already very grateful for your contribution.
Also, please share our page with others. Ask a couple of your friends to make a contribution in any amount.
Thank you so much. We know that with your support we will get there! https://www.supportourstory.com/calamity-and-mercy
We are closing in on reaching our initial goal of $10,000. We have 5 days left. Thanx for helpng kep moving in the right direction.
Patricia, we are going through edits so your help will contribute to finishing the documentary. Thanx! Dan
Resilience is the ability to cope with and recover from setbacks. In Calamity & Mercy you will meet Mom's who personify this characteristic. They make lemonade from tart situations.
C
Jim Worley,, I have been wrestling with this project for over a year and I really appreciate your donation to the film.
Bethena & Billy Best, thank you for supporting the documentary. More momentum to our goal. I appreciate your contribution. Regards, Dan
You guys are a dream team. You helped us keep the momentum going. We appreciate your belief in the project.
Jennifer Fullmer thank you for contributing to the effort for Calamity & Mwrcy. Also, thanx for your work assisting Afghan refugees find new hmes and stability in the US.
Aubrey, Thanx for kicking in support for Calamity and Mercy. You kept us moving in the right direction. Best regards, Dan
Thanks Terry Quist for supporting Calamity & Mercy. Having deployed to many of the conflict areas you fully understand what the Ukrainian refugees are going through.
