A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE BEAUTY IN NEURODIVERSITY
Colors of the Spectrum gives us a front-row seat to the incredible experiences of neurodivergent students at Autistry Studios as they work on something truly special: a coloring book that invites us to see the world through the boundless creativity of people on the spectrum. Autistry Studios isn’t just any place—it’s an innovative therapeutic Makerspace where teens and adults get to explore, learn, and create.
The documentary follows these students as they team up with mentors to transform their personal journeys into art, challenging how we see neurodiversity and sparking curiosity along the way. But it’s more than just art: it’s pushing past the edges, defying the template, defying the template and erasing the limits.
At the heart of the documentary is the creation of the coloring book, but what makes it shine are the stories of the people behind it. We’ll follow each student from that first spark of inspiration to their final designs, weaving in interviews and playful animation to give viewers a glimpse into their minds. It’s all about capturing their creative energy, with scenes edited to reflect the lively, often unexpected ways neurodiverse students experience the world. You’ll see dynamic, fast-paced editing, quirky angles, and sound effects that shake up the screen alongside dreamy, slow-paced moments that draw you into their inner lives. In the end, it’s all about sharing their perspectives in a way that’s colorful, layered, and full of life.
The Soul of Muay Thai is an immersive exploration of Muay Thai as more than just a sport—it is a way of life. A sacred practice that refines not only the body, but also the mind and soul. Through intimate portrayals of fighters, trainers, and practitioners, the film delves into the discipline’s deep-rooted rituals—such as the Wai Kru Ram Muay and pre-fight ceremonies—revealing how these traditions cultivate self-discipline, humility, and respect. Muay Thai fosters a sovereign relationship with oneself while forging deep connections with others, building a foundation of trust, camaraderie, and shared values.
In a world often fixated on results, this film shifts the focus to the journey—honoring Muay Thai’s ability to instill peace, resilience, and compassion. It invites audiences to reflect on their own practices, relationships, and values—embracing the virtues that bring both personal and communal transformation.
By donating to this film, you are directly supporting the preservation and storytelling of Muay Thai’s sacred essence—funding the travel, filming, and editing necessary to bring this vision to life. Together, we can ensure that its wisdom continues to inspire and guide future generations.
The Original Model explores the cultural, physical, psychological, and spiritual impacts of Breast Implant Illness (BII) while highlighting the effects of systemic failures and the gaslighting experienced by patients. Through vulnerable testimonials, expert analysis, and insights, the film uncovers the origins of the illness, the lack of medical transparency, and what it takes for women to reclaim their well-being and sovereignty within their body, mind, and spirit.
This film serves as a catalyst for systemic change, advocating for transparency, accountability, and new healthcare laws to protect patient rights, while guiding viewers to develop their well-being by experimenting with formulas that will enhance their experience of self, life, and peace.
The unscripted travel adventures of a Nashville singer/songwriter seeking to understand the world through its music and music traditions.
With Have Guitar Will Travel: World, we travel along with Nashville singer-songwriter Mark Allen to explore how an area’s unique music and music traditions express interconnected histories and cultures. Mark engages with local artists who embody the vitality of their living and often intangible cultural heritage. Through a shared love of music, Mark introduces viewers to the individuals keeping local grassroots music traditions alive and important lesser-known voices who create and support music communities at home and abroad.
Director’s Statement:
Our Series captures the magic that happens when we explore the world through the “musical conversation.” It’s the spontaneous harmony of local, live music –whether at a pub, club, a community hall or festival. It’s the voice of a culture, transcending both borders and language barriers. –Mark Allen
LOCATIONS:
Have Guitar Will Travel: World — Season One travels to the Shetland Islands, the Scottish Highlands, Switzerland, South Yorkshire, North Wales, and Ireland.
Episode 1- The Shetland Sound:
Mark journeys deep into the North Sea to meet the magic behind the elusive Shetland Sound.
Episode 2- Myths & Monsters of the Scottish Highlands
Mark discovers the deep stream of tradition carrying the sounds of Scotland to Nashville.
Episode 3- Sins, Switzerland & the Crossroads of Culture
Mark explores the musical crossroads and charm of a cinematically iconic Swiss village.
Episode 4 – Sheffield, Steel & The People’s Republic of South Yorkshire Short
In the UK’s revolutionary steel town, Mark learns the newest metal is actually the steel guitar.
Episode 5- Wales & the Soul of the Red Dragon
Mark goes on a musical quest in North Wales in search of the soul of the legendary Welsh dragon.
Episode 6 – Ireland & the Sound of Independence
Mark journeys to Dublin Bay, exploring the deeper meaning behind the ballads he’s sung for years.
This short film is a romantic comedy with an edge to it. Though the overall theme is playful, it also features earnest subject matter that is a reality of any interpersonal relationship preparing to take the next step.
Twenty-something single women Lottie and Cleo are in what may colloquially be referred to as a “situationship”. When something happens out of Lottie’s control, she’s forced to have a frank conversation at Cleo’s behest. Through a painfully honest yet intimate conversation, they come to the conclusion that they could never appear “gross” to one another, along with the fact that they have basically been dating for a while (sans the exclusive label). Thus, they agree to make it official, and the film concludes with the start of their burgeoning relationship.
Visual Style / Outlook:
This film will be captured on the full frame Blackmagic PYXIS 6K, using 35mm and 50mm lenses for establishing and conversational shots, while a 75mm lens will capture tight shots between characters. The filmmakers hope to work with Helios, a Russian brand of vintage lenses that were popular in the 1980’s and now have had a resurgence as they produce a unique bokeh texture, giving low depth of field shots a dream-like quality to them, making Helios perfect for Cream & Coffee.
The film will be shot mid-morning through afternoon, with majority key light coming from windows or a sliding glass door. The dewy natural light represents the veil of mystery that most people first see a partner through in the beginning of a relationship. While this veil is inevitably broken, the native light may then become a positive symbol for the couple’s future together.
Comparable Materials: When Harry Met Sally meets Girls.
This film’s funding goal is $9,251.00! All donors will be acknowledged in the official film credits. Cream and Coffee is partnered with Filmmakers Collaborative, a 501(c)(3) organization. This means any donations made to the project are tax deductible.
In 1962, Joan Archibald embarked on a transformative journey, leaving behind her Long Island home and family to embrace a new identity as Kali on the West Coast. Amidst the vibrant scene of Malibu, she found herself mingling with luminaries like Richard Chamberlain before settling into a house once inhabited by Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee. Enrolling at the College of the Desert in Palm Springs, she delved into the art of photography. It was there, against the backdrop of Palm Springs’ desert landscape, that Kali’s creative vision flourished. She pioneered the term “Artography,” crafting haunting portraits and ethereal double-exposed landscapes using film developed in her spacious bathtub. Each piece was meticulously composed by hand utilizing multiple exposures and sandwiching of negatives and positives. She hand-colored each work using a variety of unconventional materials, including dyes, spray paint, and organic elements like dirt and bugs, all within the confines of her swimming pool.
Kali worked in a time when the art world was still dominated by male artists. Although a few pieces found their way into photo magazines, her art remained largely hidden from the public eye, shared only within a select circle. Kali eventually safeguarded her creations, locking them away in suitcases within a secluded shed, where they lay dormant for over four decades. As her daughter Susan Archibald was readying Kali’s homes for sale, she stumbled upon white Samsonite suitcases within locked hallway closets containing Kali’s forgotten works. Photographer Len Prince and Susan’s former partner received a call from her. He quickly surmised that this body of work represented a remarkable find. Among her artistic legacy lay volumes of journals teeming with photographs extracted from closed-circuit TV monitors, each meticulously annotated with diagrams, drawings, and cryptic notes. Delving deeper into her later body of work, it unveiled Kali’s conviction of otherworldly visita-
tions, driving her to document and decode these supposed encounters painstakingly.
Kali’s work belongs to the tradition of alternative photography at a time when documentary photography was dominant. She was a pioneer in the wave of alternative photography that emerged in the following decades. Her inventive process is characterized by layering multiple negatives to create a single image and creating color work from black and white negatives. Her trippy, painterly aesthetic, intense bursts of color, and visually morphing reality. evoke the cultural historic moments of their creation. From our current perspective, it is clear that the works transcend that moment and remain relevant to a contemporary audience.
The unearthing of Kali’s hidden trove captivated the art world. A limited edition four-volume set showcasing her artistry — written by acclaimed author Matt Tyrnauer and featuring essays, portraits, landscapes, Polaroids, and explorations of outer space — was met with resounding acclaim, published by powerHouse Books in the fall of 2021. The books and reviews of Kali’s artwork have received a myriad of articles in major publications such as Vanity Fair and The New Yorker. Links to articles are available upon request. Major exhibitions have been mounted in two important museums: The Columbus Museum of Art and the Palm Springs Art Museum.
This film will delve “deep” into Kali’s fascinating life story, offering insights into the enigmatic artist’s journey. It will seek to un- ravel the mystery behind Kali’s decision to produce her vibrant masterpieces behind closed doors, effectively shutting out the outside world. Through interviews, archival footage, and artistic analysis, the film will endeavor to understand the motivations and inspirations driving Kali’s intensely private creative process. Beyond mere biography, the film will also explore why this extraordinary mysterious body of work is more powerful today than ever and continues to resonate with contemporary art lovers.
A coming-of-age story that follows Lily, a devout young woman raised in a strict Catholic community, as she navigates the complexities of faith, morality, and systemic hypocrisy. When Lily’s worldview is shattered by the tragic death of her best friend, and the corruption she uncovers within the church, she finds new purpose by exacting justice and retribution on the system that has failed her and those she loves. As her true destiny is revealed, will she embrace it or succumb to madness?
THE HOLY GHOST is a bold and emotionally charged thriller from award-winning filmmakers, John C. Lyons & Dorota Swies (UNEARTH), that delves into universal themes of faith, morality, and justice. Its character-driven narrative serves as a reflection on power and the limits of resilience when confronting a society pervasive with hypocrisy, corruption, lack of leadership and accountability.
As the 2nd Trump administration will undoubtedly be infused with Christian Nationalism, our story will resonate with current cultural discourse and has the potential to appeal to both audiences and critics. Last year, genre films exploring similar themes, such as Immaculate and The First Omen, garnered critical acclaim and substantial box office returns.
Our script distinguishes itself through its unique style and biting commentary. Lily, whose internal monologues are delivered in a provocative, unfiltered manner, would find herself at home with American Psycho’s Patrick Bateman and Fight Club’s Narrator.
Producers:
Jacqueline George
John C. Lyons
Ashleigh Snead
Directors:
John C. Lyons
Dorota Swies
Writers:
John C. Lyons
Director of Photography:
Eun-ah Lee
Nayra is a small, independent narrative film shot in the high Andes in Bolivia. A dual language Spanish and Aymara film, Nayra is the story of fathers and sons, indigenous traditions and modernity, the past and the present, and how understanding and communication can bridge the divide between all of those. Exploring themes of identity in a country with deep class, economic and racial divisions, Nayra is a film about both differences and acceptance. The production is based in a national park in a small community of alpaca farmers. The production aims to work primarily with local cast and crew, with respect for and incorporating their experience and traditions.
As the country around them collapses in chaos and violence, a tight-knit family swaps their dreams for survival and profit, but the ambitions of one of them puts the family knot in danger.
CAST
Patrick Wilson, Dagmara Dominczyk, Gracie Lawrence, Emma Kenney, Stephen Lang, Matthew Modine and 37 top New York and Latvian theater actors in supporting roles.
DIRECTOR SIGNE BAUMANE ON THE ORIGINS OF KARMIC KNOT
One overcast morning in the midst of the pandemic, I was looking outside the kitchen window of my Brooklyn studio when a familiar feeling hit me: the world-as-we-know-it was ending. It was not just the first-world problems that made me feel this way – the undelivered or stolen packages, or the impossibility of getting toilet paper. People had become terrible drivers. During each of my late-evening walks someone always nearly ran me over going through their red lights. Traffic rules didn’t matter anymore. Everybody was following their own rules. Never before the pandemic had I seen people smoking in subway cars. Now it seemed to happen every time I took the subway. The social contracts we had with each other were collapsing.
This was familiar to me. In the 1990’s I had lived through the collapse of the Soviet Union. Standing in my kitchen I thought I should revisit what my Latvian family and I experienced as the Soviet Union crumbled, throwing Latvia into social turmoil. Perhaps, I thought, this story might be relevant to some of the issues we are going through today.
It took a long time to write the script of Karmic Knot – partly because it’s an epic story spanning 25 years, and partly because of the challenges of turning a personal story into compelling drama. Also, aside from the five family members, there are 53 other speaking characters in the film, and each comes with their own unique perspective. In the end, I wrote the best script I have written so far.
SYNOPSIS
Karmic Knot tells the epic story of a family trying to survive in occupied Latvia from the 1970s to early 1990s. The family bargains, compromises, and ingeniously builds their own world, insular from the political reality. When the Soviet Union starts to collapse and shatters their world, the family aspires to rebuild it even more insular than before. One family member, however, has ambitions.
Karmic Knot is a mixture of drama, comedy and horror.
CREATIVE TEAM
Signe Baumane – Director, Writer, Animator
Sturgis Warner – Casting Director, Lighting Designer, Head Carpenter.
Kristian Sensini – Composer
ANIMATION
The film is an animated feature for grown-up audiences. Animation is the best medium to tell this complicated story, where each point of view or character’s inner thoughts can be represented in different visual styles. The film will employ a variety of animation techniques including stop motion, traditional animation and CGI 3D.
STATUS
We started production in June 2024. It is a 5-year process. We have co-producing partners and teams in Latvia that received funding for their part of the process, but in the U.S. we need financing for the Brooklyn studio: designing and creating sets, lighting and photographing them, animating characters, shading and scanning the animation drawings.
CHALLENGES
A lot of people ask if it is easier to find funding for Karmic Knot after the success of My Love Affair With Marriage. While My Love Affair With Marriage made the director better known, it is still difficult to find funding for this new project. Like Signe’s other films, Karmic Knot is an independent animated feature that defies commercial formulas and pushes the boundaries of visual storytelling, taking creative risks that commercial productions are not willing to take. Karmic Knot has an individual, unique artistic vision. We are not working with investors, so here’s the challenge: with grant money scarce and the animation process so time and labor consuming how do we keep working without interruption for the next five years and premiere the film in 2029?
YOUR SUPPORT
Your donation will allow Signe to continuously animate, pay the rent on the Brooklyn studio, and make it possible to hire three young artists fulltime. They will be creating sets and props for the film, shading and scanning drawings, writing exposure sheets and much more. After graduating, many talented young artists struggle to find viable ways of establishing themselves in the animation industry. Our studio, along with your support, aims to help a few of them.
Please visit the film’s website: KarmicKnotMovie.com
Follow the film on Facebook: facebook.com/KarmicKnot
Director Tina Spangler discovered an old print at a yard sale. After some research, she learned that it was made by one of the most prolific 19th-century lithographers for the celebrated Currier & Ives. During her time, Palmer’s images adorned more homes, schools, and businesses than that of any other artist, living or dead. Yet, her name was largely erased from history.
Interweaving Tina’s personal story and persistent present-day investigation, we uncover that Fanny Palmer’s story is one of grit and determination. She became a trailblazer for women’s autonomy as an artist whose ground-breaking prints captured the spirit of a burgeoning nation. At the same time, Palmer’s personal challenges and triumphs give greater depth and resilience to her remarkable life
