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Barren Grounds

Six young men embark on a Subarctic canoeing expedition that will cost one of them their lives.

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Barren Grounds Documentary Fund Launch

Welcome to the Barren Grounds Documentary Film Launch Fund

 Oakland, CA, US
  • $27,543 raised of $25,000 goal
  • 92 donations
  • -709843 minutes left
This is a Fiscally-Sponsored Project

Fiscally Sponsored by Fractured Atlas

I am the producer, director, and cinematographer of Barren Grounds. For the last twenty years, I have served as the cinematographer on over 50 narrative short and feature-length films. Recent work has been featured on Netflix, HBO Documentary Films, Showtime, theatrically, and in film festivals worldwide.

Currently, I am working as the cinematographer on two documentary features. One is the story of Zona Roberts, the 103 yr old "Grandmother of the Disability Movement", and her son Ed Roberts, recognized as the "father of the independent living movement", and the other, about Silvia Vasquez-Lavado, a Peruvian-American explorer, mountaineer, social entrepreneur, author, and technologist. My most recent short, A Boat for My Brother, just won two Best Documentary Short awards in May.

Barren Grounds will mark my feature-length directorial debut, and this time I will have the backing of an incredibly talented, veteran filmmaking team whose work has been featured at Berlinale, Visions du Réel, SXSW, Hot Docs, CPH:DOX, Sheffield Doc/Fest, as well as on The New York Times Op-Docs, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic, and all of the top networks.

Barren Grounds is a historical, feature-length outdoor-adventure documentary that explores themes of friendship, nature, survival, and death. Incorporating thousands of feet of 16mm film captured throughout the journey in the summer of 1955, the audience will be taken along the same path of the Subarctic canoeing expedition that resulted in the death of the group's leader, Art Moffatt. The film will showcase the unforgiving land of imponderable majesty in this untouched corner of the world; its flora, fauna, and the indigenous peoples of the region, the Cree and the Inuit. Nature and wildlife will play a character alongside the six men whom the story is about. 

We will hear from authors, experts, family members, and the men who were on that fateful trip. The audience will also learn about the geological and hydrological history of the land as they are entertained by a story that takes these men "to the lip of the abyss that separates sanity from insanity and life from death. It is a first-hand exploration of this uncertain edge that provides the profound insights that make this a most powerful and unique narrative."

After its film festival run, we will explore educational sectors and aim to secure a streaming contract with one of the top companies such as Netflix, HBO, National Geographic, and Apple TV to name a few.



Rewards

Film Supporter

Donate $25.00 or more

Amount is fully tax-deductible.

All supporters at this level will receive a THANK YOU with their name in the credits

Film Friend

Donate $50.00 or more

Amount is fully tax-deductible.

All supporters at this level will receive a THANK YOU with their name in the credits and a link to the soundtrack of the film.

Film Lover

Donate $100.00 or more

Amount is fully tax-deductible.

All supporters at this level will receive a THANK YOU with their name in the credits and a link to the soundtrack of the film and a signed post card of the movie poster.

Barren Grounds Explorer

Donate $250.00 or more

Amount is fully tax-deductible.

All supporters at this level will receive a THANK YOU with their name in the credits and a link to the soundtrack of the film and a signed postcard of the movie poster plus an early screener of the movie.

Expedition Leader

Donate $500.00 or more

Amount over $50.00 is tax-deductible.

All supporters at this level will receive a THANK YOU with their name in the credits and a link to the soundtrack of the film and a signed postcard of the movie poster, plus an early screener copy of the movie, and a Barren Grounds water bottle.

Co-Producer

Donate $1,000.00 or more

Amount over $50.00 is tax-deductible.

All supporters at this level will receive a THANK YOU + a CO-PRODUCER  credit, a link to the soundtrack, a signed postcard of the movie poster, an early screener of the movie, and a custom Barren Grounds water bottle.

Producer

Donate $2,500.00 or more

Amount over $100.00 is tax-deductible.

A THANK YOU + a PRODUCER credit, a link to the soundtrack, a signed postcard of the movie poster, an early screener of the movie, a custom Barren Grounds water bottle, and (2) passes to the film festival of your choosing (travel/hotel not included)

Executive Producer

Donate $5,000.00 or more

Amount over $100.00 is tax-deductible.

A THANK YOU + an EXECUTIVE PRODUCER credit, link to the soundtrack, a signed postcard of the movie poster,  early screener of the film, a custom Barren Grounds water bottle, and (2) passes to film festival of your choosing (travel/hotel not included)