We Are the Blood (Nous Sommes Le Sang)

Images

Website

http://www.noussommeslesang.org

Topics

Arts & Culture: Blues, Folk, Hip Hop, Jazz, Nonfiction, Rap, World Music
Human Development: Migration, Urban
Human Rights: Race Politics
Information & Media: Communication, Culture, Knowledge, Media
Peace and Conflict: Conflict Resolution, Peace
Politics: Codes of Conduct, Ethics & Value Systems, Globalization

Identity Niches

African, African American, Indigenous

Budget

Raised to date: $41,500.00
Estimate to complete: $528,000.00
Total Estimated Budget: $569,500.00
The budget numbers above are accurate as of 11/20/2009

Status

Research & Development

Media Type

Video

Project End Use

Theatrical

Key Personnel

Charity B. Ellis
Director, Producer, Editor
A student of dance, art, music and languages, Charity Ellis began making films at the age of 12 with an interest to incorporate all of these subjects as investigations into culture and interpersonal communications. In her twenty years of working professionally in film and television, Ms. Ellis has covered nearly all aspects from preproduction to programming; from Hollywood feature to independent documentary. After directing the Atlanta Film & Video Festival, she worked as a writer, producer and director for onepeople, inc. filming interviews with artists throughout Europe, southern Africa and the United States for a web-based documentary project. She has also worked since 1998 as a freelance editor for independent film and cable television. An adept multi-tasker, Charity Ellis continues to 'pr-edit' for national cable television clients and independent films as well as direct, shoot and edit musician interviews for the internet. Member of: MANSA, an international scholarly association of West African Mande culture; West African Research Center (WARC) in Dakar, Senegal; San Francisco Film Society.

Frazer Bradshaw
Director of Photography (North America/Europe Production)
Frazer Bradshaw opened his career with formal training in painting, sculpture, and photography. Applying his talents to the medium of film, he completed over a dozen 16mm films while a student at the San Francisco Art Institute. Working as a director of photography since 1995, Bradshaw has photographed features, shorts, commercials, documentaries, music videos and more in 35mm, 16mm, and professional digital formats. Films Bradshaw has photographed have been exhibited at film festivals internationally, including the Cannes Film Festival, the Sundance Film Festival, the Toronto Film Festival, and the New York Film Festival. Bradshaw’s cinematography resume includes over 200 projects.

Wellington Bowler
Sound
Award-winning, Oakland-based sound recordist who has worked with Pixar Studios and Bela Fleck. Significant films he has worked on include Thirst and Brother Outsider: The Life of Baynard Rustin. Much of Wellington's work in the last two years has been as a field sound recorder for projects shot in various regions of North and West Africa.

Outreach/Engagement Plan(s)

As a document of cultural history in the making, We Are the Blood offers something for us all to identify with and learn from. More than a film about the growing cultural commodification of West African society and its traditions, We Are the Blood is a film offering a rare view into a peaceful and harmonious Africa. By documenting these masters of music and the spoken word, we can learn what role they have played as social motivators in maintaining balance in a region that is an ancient crossroads for culture, religion and trade. In a culture with shifting societal roles and values, we are challenged to see their experiences as a mirror in which to reflect upon both the responsibility of the individual in maintaining social harmony, and of the effects of globalization in our own culture. We Are the Blood will challenge our perceptions of Africa.

Accordingly, We Are the Blood will be of special interest to a variety of communities domestically and internationally. These interest groups include, but are not limited to: African and African-American communities; World Music audiences; and educational institutions. The latter can be further identified on the high school and university level in the areas of Anthropology, Folklore, Music history and Ethnomusicology, Political Science, Women’s studies, African Literature and African studies.

While funding for music programs in public schools is currently at an all time low, film is an available and affordable resource that can lead to or further discussions and lessons in the classroom. For instance, We Are the Blood can be used as a tie in to Black History Month, offering a contemporary and alternative perspective for students studying the African Diaspora.

Because the film has such a wide audience base, we will target several distribution strategies.

Festival Circuit: Entering We Are the Blood first into the festival circuit will heighten the film's visibility. With the previous experience and knowledge of film's director as the director for the Atlanta Film & Video Festival, and programming director for both IMAGE Film & Video Center and MediaHead in Atlanta, we feel that We Are the Blood is ideal festival material with character driven stories, and cultural and music qualities which appeal to an array of diverse communities. It offers a view of Africa not yet seen by most audiences. We will submit the film to both domestic and international festivals that highlight diverse perspectives and original points of view. Examples would include: New York’s African Film Festival, SilverDocs, Toronto International, International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam, Sundance, Pan-African Film Festival.

Television: Television audiences are watching more documentary films and reality programming than ever before. With growing interest in Africa and world music, We Are the Blood will appeal to a wide viewing audience by offering a rare and intimate view of West African life. This vantage point is important as it allows an opportunity to change the way Americans see Africa. Consequently, television is a significant and appropriate medium for this film, and one that will allow We Are the Blood to reach the largest and most diverse audience.

Based upon the producer and director’s previous experience with cable network programming, we know that We Are the Blood is appropriate programming for PBS’ series P.O.V. which focuses on distinctive and engaging personal stories of people, notably those from little known worlds. Interested audiences might also be reached through other cable channels such as the Sundance Channel and Independent Film Channel.

Foreign Television: The interest in We Are the Blood will certainly extend to an international audience as there is a strong following for the verbal art and music of djelis in many European and Asian countries. Our target audiences in Europe will be best reached by StudioCanal or Arte, the leaders in arts and culture and documentary film acquisition and broadcast for European audiences. TV5, which services many francophone audiences around the world, is also a strong candidate.

Educational Distribution: California Newsreel has expressed an interest in distributing We Are the Blood (see attached letter of support). California Newsreel distributes cutting edge, social justice films that inspire, educate and engage audiences. Founded in 1968, Newsreel is the oldest non-profit, social issue documentary film center in the country, and are a leading resource center for the advancement of racial justice and diversity, and the study of African American life and history as well as African culture and politics.

Outreach: How better to spread the film's message about the necessity of peacekeepers than through an outreach program to youth?  This important component of distribution will largely be handled by our distributor, who will likely be California Newsreel. Lawrence Daressa, co-director of California Newsreel, believes that We Are the Blood is a much needed film, and one for which a market already exists. We jointly feel it is important to get this film into the classroom, thereby giving a diverse group of students an opportunity to benefit from the social and cultural knowledge that this film imparts about the history, art, and peacekeeping functions of West African djelis (griots), as well as their cultural impact on American music and storytelling - from slave trade days to modern world music influences.  

The distributor will launch a national promotional campaign aimed at high school and university teachers. Components of the educational outreach will include a website and the development of a classroom study guide. This guide will incorporate many approaches towards integrating the film and its subject matter into lesson plans. Examples of what might be included are: audio recordings, essays and other literary selections from the African Diaspora as they relate to griots and/or Manding culture, and lessons where students assume the role of a griot.

Funders

Location