Our Story

I am the director/producer/writer of the short film PAPER WORDS. This is a project that was inspired by a dream almost two decades ago when images of sparkling dresses swaying in the branches of a large tree appeared one night, thus illuminating a dark sky. There was such a strong sense of awe when I saw these images that I vowed to paint a picture of it someday. I came back to that image in 2003 when I felt an urge to create a story and I wanted to incorporate those images from the dream so long ago. It took seven years for the idea to transform from a script to a picture onscreen. Along the way, it's been an amazing journey sprinkled with technically challenging glitches. As the film finished in the latter half of 2010, I now find myself trying to begin the next phase: distribution. I am seeking funding to get 500 dvds made from replication with closed captioning, to get some startup funds to do a mailout, to get a Joomla consultant to help with creating a functioning PAPER WORDS website, and to get a group of education specialists: a professor of interdisciplinary studies, a disabled poet/activist/Speak Out lecturer, a school district language translator, and myself to a statewide teachers conference where we have been invited to present a workshop on PAPER WORDS to teachers.  

The story: five-year-old Mei spends much of her time at school frozen to the corner of her classroom. She wont talk, she wont play, and she never looks the teacher in the eye. Her teacher knows that something is amiss, but what? Mei spends much of her time in her garden, examining the tiny world of insects or talking to her doll Peipei. But Meis mother is very concerned by a parent-teacher conference revealing her daughters anti-social behavior. She must somehow engineer a clever way to expose the real Mei to the rest of the world.   

This short film is dear to my heart because of the themes presented in the story. Having been around children who are English learners and dealing with immigration issues in the past, the themes presented in this story are very relevant today as the number of multicultural and multilingual student population grows. Parents and educators need resources and training to successfully work with diverse demographics.

Getting the film out into the world is the next challenge I face. As anyone who has made a film knows, once you finish a production, you then have to get folks interested in the film. I am trying to grab the attention of universities, schools, and libraries. Having a functioning website, having actual dvds, and getting the film before teachers would greatly help my endeavors.

The Impact

PAPER WORDS delves into issues familiar to anyone who has immigrated to another country or knows someone from another country. Education, immigration, cultural assimilation, language, and immersion are just some of the topics this short film looks at. This film also gives children a context for understanding other kids who are different from themselves, whether that difference is language related or even just shyness. People have often come up to me with the words this is the story of my life after a screening or when I share the storyline with them. For these reasons, I, along with a professor of interdisciplinary studies, a disabled poet/activist/Speak Out lecturer, and a school district language translator have been invited to screen the film and present a workshop to teachers at the California Bilingual Education Association in Long Beach, California to have a dialogue on these issues. 

Many legal immigrants and ESL students (English as a second language) dont necessarily have the financial means nor resources to be their own advocates, especially in homogeneous communities. At the same time, public schools in the United States are generally monolingual, unlike other countries where a second language is mandatory in the classroom. This mixture of a curricular monoculture within a burgeoning melting pot is potentially troublesome in the classroom. In the end, students lose out, whether it is the student that has trouble assimilating or the student that loses the opportunity to be exposed to other cultures. Getting PAPER WORDS out to schools, to teachers, to students, and to parents will help bridge the cultural gaps. Not getting this short film out means missing an opportunity to dialogue, to gain greater understanding of the issues involved, and understanding that alternative solutions exist if we think outside the box.

What We Need & What You Get

We had a much longer than anticipated production period, so funds for production from ITVS and Center for Asian American Media were used up with nothing to spare. In order to get to the next stage, the steps outlined are what I need to do. Raising the funds ensures that this project gets out there in a timely manner. 

Total costs: $3,087.00 ($1,120 to pay for the replication of the minimum order of 500 DVDs, $680 for the cost of  library email distribution lists, $592 roundtrip airfare for 4 of us ($148/per person RT), $260 for one night at a hotel for 4 of us sharing a room, $85 for a car rental, and $350 for 10 hours at $35/hr for a Joomla expert to help finish the more complicated tasks of the website.

Any money raised is going to offset these expenses. We have committed to the conference so we are definitely planning to go. Getting funded would help us tremendously to get there.

 

Other Ways You Can Help

There are other ways to help if you are unable to make a donation. Please let folks you know who might be interested in the film to see this campaign. Please also share this on your social networking sites such as Facebook and also on newsletters and bulletins with a link to this URL.