Le franais suivra

Dear Friends,

Doggoned is a political film about a South Asian woman who has lost her right to work legally and is trying to make ends meet with odd jobs. It is a dark comedy in the genre of Margot at the Wedding or Trainspotting - except with a South Asian protagonist and quite a bit of hilarious supporting cast. Doggoned highlights the predicament so many young people are in because of immigration laws and legal status issues in Canada. Their only option to either find a spouse or leave the country. Doggoned examines the beautiful life of a complex young woman who fits so well in the landscape, yet the state rejects her.

I need your help to make Doggoned a reality. I have finished shooting on Super 16 film (it is a visually stunning theatrical format- recently BLACK SWAN was shot on it).  The cost however is high. I have just started the online fundraiser drive in order to raise the $10,000 needed for production and post production. I have also applied for a grant from the National Film Board and its looking promising. However, this still leaves me a shortfall of $5000.

We are hosting monthly fundraisers in Montreal. There was a gorgeous night of belly dance, folk and indie rock music and burlesque at Cafe l'Artere on the 13th of August. We will keep you posted about more opportunities here:

Montreal Fundraiser

I am using this short film as the model to produce and crowd fund my feature film project FAULTLINE which is currently in development. Please spread the word and let your friends know that independent, political cinema is alive and well in Canada and that artists are busy trying to make good work despite massive government cutbacks.

Our Story

Our team hails from Montreal, Toronto, Halifax, Vancouver and Ottawa. Our team is comprised of diverse and multi-ethnic filmmakers.

We have created a stunning mise-en-scene and a high resolution cinematic experience using Super 16 film gauge. We will be shooting all over the Plateau/ Mile End/ Park Extension neighborhoods of Montreal. 

We would like to realize Doggoned to completion by the end of the summer and ideally meet the Sundance film festival deadline in September!

About Us

Writer/ Director/ / Editor/ Producer Arshad Khan has made THREADBARE, ZIDDI LARKI, CAN and ROAD TO SHANGRILA. He has produced  a music videos for Montreal musician Sikh Knowledge.  He is preparing his feature film script and has recently made the short film BROWNIE which is currently in the festival circuit.

Khan wants to make films that change mainstream media bias which often under-represents or misrepresents the lives and lived realities of peoples of color.

Director of Photography Oliver Millar has several short films, videos and feature length films to his credit.

Music Composer/ Mixer With years of experience and great musical scores to his credit, Mike Snow is an up and coming force in the Montreal film scene.
Sound Designer Gordon Neil Allen is a musician and professional sound designer and mixer.
Assistant Director Jordan Kaufman is a screenwriter and a Masters student in film studies at Concordia.

Fundraiser Ethan Chang is the fundraising coordinator and the second AD. Ethan has recently returned from working on Ang Lee's film LIFE OF PI that was shot in Asia.

The Impact

DOGGONED addresses the issues faced by student visa holders and international students and immigrants stuck in limbo due to the exclusionary policies of many Western states.

What We Need & What You Get

The film has cost $10,000 so far and the post-production costs are still to be accounted for. Monies have gone towards production ($7000) and  post-production ($5000).

In exchange for your generosity we will be offering you credits in our film, DVDs, gift certificates to local businesses, personal dinner packages and copies of the finished film.

Other Ways You Can Help

Please help spread the word! Your friends just have to LIKE our project. At the most they can give $2 if they want to support us financially. Tell your friends about our exciting little film and how they can look forward to beautiful film works by young Canadian artists in the near future.

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Chers amis,

 

Depuis que jai fait mon documentaire politique Threadbare, plusieurs dentre vous vouliez voir dautres de mes films. Jai dcid de retourner lcole tudier le cinma. Je travaille en ce moment sur des courts-mtrages de fiction et sur un projet de long-mtrage.

 

Mon projet le plus rcent sappelle Doggoned. Cest lhistoire dune jeune tudiante asiatique qui essaie de se trouver un emploi lorsque son permis de travail est refus. Cest une comdie dhumour noir qui traite dun enjeu social important au Canada.

 

Jai besoin de votre aide pour raliser Doggoned. Je vais tourner en format super 16 (un format visuellement blouissant, qui a rcemment t utilis pour le film Black Swan). Le cot est toutefois lev. Je viens de lancer la leve de fonds en ligne dans le but damasser les 5000$ ncessaires cette production.

 

Si vous tes Montral, nous tiendrons une soire bnfice le 13 aot 2011.

 

Soire bnfice de Montral

 

Je me servirai de ce court-mtrage comme modle pour produire et financer mon long-mtrage Faultline, qui est prsentement en dveloppement. Veuillez passer le mot et dites vos amis que le cinma politique indpendant est bien vivant au Canada et que des artistes saffairent faire du bon travail malgr les compressions gouvernementales.

 

Notre histoire

 

Doggoned est inspir du cinma proltaire qui dpeint la ralit quotidienne des travailleurs faible revenu en milieu urbain. Cest un court-mtrage tir dune lgende urbaine. Maria est une tudiante internationale dont le permis de travail a t refus et qui cherche dsesprment du travail. Cest une comdie dont la fin est surprenante. Le scnario est comique et engageant.

 

Notre quipe provient de Montral, de Toronto, dHalifax, de Halifax, de Vancouver et Ottawa. Elle est forme de cinastes multi-ethniques.

 

Nous voulons crer une mise en scne splendide et une exprience cinmatographique haute rsolution au moyen dune pellicule super 16. Nous tournerons sur le Plateau, dans Mile-End et dans Parc Extension.

 

Nous aimerions avoir termin Doggoned la fin de lt et idalement avant la date de tombe du festival du film de Sundance en septembre !