Good Fortune

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GF_trailer.mov

Images

Jackson on his flooded farm

Website

http://www.transientpictures.com/

Topics

Economy: Corporations
Environment: Conservation
Health: Disease/treatment, HIV/AIDS
Human Development: Agriculture, Aid, Fisheries, Land, Migration, Poverty, Shelter & Housing
Human Rights: Gender
Information & Media: Culture
Peace and Conflict: Conflict, United Nations
Politics: Activism, Corruption & Transparency, Ethics & Value Systems, Globalization, Governance

Project Geography

International: Africa

Identity Niches

African

Budget

Raised to date: $115,500.00
Estimate to complete: $75,000.00
Total Estimated Budget: $190,500.00
The budget numbers above are accurate as of 12/12/2008

Status

Post Production

Media Type

Video

Project End Use

Theatrical

Key Personnel

Landon Van Soest
Director/Producer
Van Soest is director/producer of the award-winning film WALKING THE LINE, a feature documentary about “vigilantes” along the U.S.-Mexico border. The film has been lauded for excellence in production and advocating human rights, screening at film festivals around the world and receiving national broadcast in six countries. He founded Transient Pictures in 2005 with Jeremy Levine and was contracted by Cactus Three to produce HOUSE OF RATH, an independent television documentary about architecture, design, and land rights in New York City. He is also founder of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective, a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering a vibrant filmmaking community in Brooklyn, New York. Van Soest began his career with Big Mouth Productions on the breakout NBC documentary DEADLINE and later worked in production of their documentaries ELECTION DAY and ARCTIC WALTZ. He gained experience in television documentaries for National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel, and The Learning Channel at Engle Brothers Media, before going on to work as an assistant producer/editor in Original Productions at Sundance Channel. Van Soest holds a Fine Arts degree in Non-Fiction Film Production from Ithaca College and has completed extensive research on economic development in East Africa with the School for International Training. He was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship in the Creative and Performing Arts to begin production of GOOD FORTUNE and has spent over a year and half living in Kenya working closely with the film’s subjects.

Jeremy Levine
Producer/Editor
Levine's work has been screened in dozens of film festivals around the world, broadcast nationally in six countries, and recognized with several awards for production and human rights. He partnered with Van Soest as director/producer of WALKING THE LINE, and recently worked as an editor on EVERYTHING’S COOL, a feature-length documentary that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Levine served as co-director/producer on the independent television documentary HOUSE OF RATH about an eccentric housing developer in New York City. He has also produced and edited interactive outreach DVDs for TWO TOWNS OF JASPER and EVERYTHING’S COOL. In 2006, he volunteered at the Educational Media Agency in Addis Ababa where he produced educational videos for Ethiopian schools. He has also worked closely with Working Films, a non-profit outreach group that links cutting-edge documentary films with activist organizations. Levine received a degree in Documentary Production from the Park School of Communications at Ithaca College, where his work was nominated for a Student Academy Award. He lives in Brooklyn, NY and launched Transient Pictures with Van Soest in the fall of 2005. Levine is currently developing the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective, a non-profit organization that provides support to independent filmmakers in New York City.

Outreach/Engagement Plan(s)

In partnership with Working Films, a non-profit organization wholly dedicated to maximizing the impact of documentary films, GOOD FORTUNE will develop a holistic and multi-tiered outreach campaign, including:

1) Development of a curriculum for educators and development organizations. Curriculum will include supplemental study guides, discussion guides, and an interactive outreach DVD;

2) Arrangement of special screenings for policymakers and NGOs such as the United Nations, World Bank, and corporate donors;

3) Organization of public forums within the affected communities in East Africa, in partnership with organizations like Film Aid International, the Kenya Land Alliance, and Carolina for Kibera;

4) Creation of an integrated website that encourages viewers to take action. Following links from the characters’ stories users will be able to access similar case studies and take direct action to advocate for change;

5) Production of a series of short films on progressive development organizations who are making a positive impact to be featured on the outreach DVD and website.

We have already laid the groundwork for the outreach plan, forming preliminary partnerships with like-minded organizations such as the Center for Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) and the Center for Minority Rights in Kenya.

The film’s outcomes will be evaluated both qualitatively and quantitatively. Quantitative criteria will measure, among other things: the number of non-profits that utilize the film in their ongoing campaigns, the number of development institutions (NGOs, multi-national organizations, government initiatives) that agree to screen the film; the number of communities we reach directly in East Africa; the number of classrooms we reach through our educational distributors; and the scope of our audience through theatrical, broadcast, and DVD distribution. Qualitative results will be judged by direct feedback from development organizations, audience reactions, and through surveys distributed to outreach partners and audience members.

Funders

Name	Amount	Date
Fledgling Fund	$28,500.00	08/14/2008
Producer's Cash	$20,000.00	01/02/2008
Fledgling Fund Award for Socially Conscious Documentary	$10,000.00	11/11/2007
Sundance Documentary Fund	$20,000.00	07/01/2007
Park Foundation	$19,000.00	07/01/2006
Fulbright Program for the Creative and Performing Arts	$28,000.00	01/01/2006

Short Synopsis

Through intimate portraits of three individuals living in the poorest areas of Kenya, GOOD FORTUNE explores how massive, international efforts to alleviate poverty in Africa may be undermining the very communities they aim to benefit.

Description/Treatment

GOOD FORTUNE explores how massive, international efforts to alleviate poverty in Africa may be undermining the very communities they aim to benefit. The film follows three years in the lives of Jackson, Silva, and Okech as they stand up to international development institutions that are threatening to destroy their homes and livelihoods. Through intimate portraits of its characters and the well-intentioned humanitarians determined to improve their lives, GOOD FORTUNE uncovers the real world impact of global aid and explores our role in supporting an equitable future for Africa.

JACKSON AND DOMINION FARMS LTD.

Jackson is grazing his cattle through the lush grasses of Kenya’s largest remaining wetland. As he pushes his herd across a quiet river, Jackson makes a startling discovery: the once fertile wetland has been slashed and burned, leaving only charred papyrus stalks and stagnant pools of water.

Dominion Farms LTD, an Oklahoma-based agricultural corporation, is clearing the wetland to construct a reservoir to irrigate its multi-million dollar rice farm. Dominion CEO Calvin Burgess says the area’s poverty inspired him to invest in the commercial farm to stimulate the local economy, build infrastructure, and create employment.

But for Jackson’s family, and over 500 families like his, the project could destroy everything they have. The proposed reservoir will flood over 1100 acres of grazing land, homes, local markets, schools, and clinics. Jackson’s home, where generations of his family were born and buried, will soon be underwater. “Is this development,” Jackson asks, “or poverty creation?” As the floodwaters approach his doorstep, Jackson refuses to leave his home and vows to fight for his community.

SILVA AND THE UNITED NATIONS

On the outskirts of Nairobi, Silva faces a similar fate. Since migrating from the rural countryside over 15 years ago, Silva has established herself as a popular midwife in Kibera, Africa’s largest squatter community. But Silva’s home and office will soon be demolished due to an experimental 'slum upgrading' project designed by the United Nations and the Kenyan government.

The UN says the program will be monumental in reshaping life in the community; the project aims to replace the residents’ mud shacks and open sewers with block style housing, modern infrastructure, and proper sanitation. UN Habitat project manager Sara Candiracci lauds the project for being a “bottom-up approach” and entirely “community-driven,” but Silva says she had no part in planning the project and fears that it will fall in a long line of empty promises to the people of Kibera.

Silva claims the new housing, with an estimated rent that is over three-times what she currently pays, will be out of reach for the community and she will be forced to find a new home in another slum. “They say we will be able to come back when the project is finished,” she says, “but I think it’s a lie.”

Silva is now helping organize her community to fight for justice in the current upgrading project. The group is demanding more information from the UN, but the majority of the community remains in the dark. Meanwhile bulldozers are continuing to encroach on Kibera, clearing a road that will be built directly over Silva’s home.

OKECH AND THE WORLD BANK

Along the shores of Lake Victoria, Okech is facing a different kind of threat. Years of unchecked commercial exploitation have caused fish stocks to drop to dangerously low levels and the lake is on the verge of a complete ecological disaster. Fishermen like Okech are finding it nearly impossible to provide for their families and have turned to environmentally destructive fishing practices. To confront the problem, the World Bank and the European Union have devoted tens of millions of dollars to preserve the lake’s ecology, providing law enforcement to crack down on illegal fishermen.

Richard Abila, director of the Kenya Fisheries Research Institute, explains that as fish stocks disappear, small-scale fishermen are forced to use destructive nets in order to survive. “We know they are using the nets as a matter of survival,” Abila says, “but at a cost of destroying their entire livelihood.” Abila also points to the irony that the over-fishing is a direct response to the billion-dollar export industry that was developed with funds from the same international aid organizations that are now pushing environmental agendas.

Now, fishermen like Okech are forced to make a dramatic choice: evade the law and continue to degrade the lake’s ecology or stop fishing and allow their families to go hungry. “That’s why we must steal,” Okech says pulling his nets under the cover of darkness, “despite the threat of arrest.” As he fishes along the shores of the village, fisheries officers armed with AK-47s close in.

The primary narrative for GOOD FORTUNE builds out of the day-to-day struggles of its characters as they confront the most tumultuous times of their lives. We see each character before disaster has struck and follow them over several years as they fight to maintain their dignity. Through the unique voices of its characters, GOOD FORTUNE will provide a platform for the beneficiaries of aid to speak directly to Western audiences and generate a dialogue on what we can do to better support a more sustainable and equitable future for Africa.