Baby Bird follows Helen, an American-born Chinese nanny working for a Chinese family, who has recently suffered the loss of her mother. Her life revolves around her young ward, Xiao Shao, a lonely boy and the only bright spot in her life, whose habit of running away from school she enables behind his mother’s back.
One day, Helen finds a collection of old Chinese workbooks in her late mother’s things, showing how Helen had drawn away from learning Mandarin as a child. Helen realizes that the only memento of her that her mother had chosen to keep was the evidence of her failing to be fluent in her mother tongue, leading her to become consumed by the idea that her mother had secretly resented her.
Hurt and confused, Helen begins to lose sight of the person her mother truly was and, in her memories, starts to see her as a colder, crueller—and, eventually, more violent—version of herself. At the same time, her position within the household and in the eyes of Xiao Shao’s mother grows tenuous, putting her relationship with Xiao Shao at risk.
Baby Bird’s central ethos is to explore second-generation immigrant experiences through horror and to break from the expectation that stories about Asian diaspora identity cannot also be genre pieces. It is a film that balks against rationalization and puts us face-to-face with the moments where we spiral and lose control of how we see the people around us. When understood, language creates community and connection; when it’s not, it’s a form of brutal, painful alienation. And what better way to show brutality than through blood and gore?
This documentary is a profoundly moving and relatable exploration of the life journey of Major General Dr. Lakhvinder Singh Vohra (retired), a globally renowned oncologist. Throughout his career, he saved countless lives, yet he was unable to save those dearest to him. His world shatters when his wife is diagnosed with cancer, leading to a personal breakdown. However, he ultimately finds the strength to rebuild his life and embarks on a new path as a singer.
Dr. Vohra’s life story vividly illustrates the unwavering resilience of the human spirit, showcasing its capacity to heal and flourish, even in the most formidable trials. It serves as an inspiration for anyone facing their own challenges, reaffirming the idea that by remaining true to their beliefs, they can discover a path to happiness and fulfillment. “Harmony of Healing” delves deeply into the spirit of “chardi kala.”
Your support can make a world of difference.
- Join our community: Become a vital member of our mission to inspire and uplift. Your presence and engagement help us reach more hearts.
- Spread the Message: Share Dr. Vohra’s inspirational story within your networks and social circles. By amplifying our message, you contribute to spreading positivity and resilience.
- Embrace Your Passion: Just as Dr. Vohra discovered his love for music, explore your passions and support others in finding theirs. Your journey may inspire countless others.
- Donate: Your financial support is essential for bringing this heartwarming story to life. Every contribution, big or small, paves the way for the film’s success.
- Connect with Your Sikh Values: For the Sikh community, this is an opportunity to embrace your beliefs of seva and chardi kala. Join hands with us in sharing these values with the world.
Let’s make “Harmony of Healing” a shared endeavor. Together, we can uplift spirits, encourage resilience, and inspire change. Join us on this journey today, and let’s create a brighter, more harmonious world, one full of healing and happiness.
STORY
Major Event: The film opens with a major event, a music contest specially organized for doctors from around the world. Among the talented participants is Dr. Vohra, who reveals that he is one of the finalists selected from a pool of 7,000 doctors.
Dr. Vohra’s Backstory: Through a series of flashbacks, we delve into Dr. Vohra’s backstory, understanding how he became an Army doctor and chose to specialize in oncology after his mother’s tragic battle with cancer. Despite his efforts, he couldn’t save his father-in-law and his brother from the same illness, further driving his dedication to his profession.
Years of Dedication: The narrative explores the subsequent years where Dr. Vohra devotes himself wholeheartedly to his mission of saving lives, working tirelessly in the medical field. Following his retirement from the army, he joins a Guru Nanak Dev Hospital at Tarn Taran Sahib that provides free cancer treatment to patients and later becomes a professor of surgery, imparting his knowledge to aspiring doctors.
Personal tragedy: Dr. Vohra’s wife falls ill during her visit to their son. A routine checkup reveals an advanced stage of cancer, leaving no hope for treatment. This devastating diagnosis shakes Dr. Vohra to his core, leading him to return to Jalandhar to care for his ailing wife.
A New Chapter: After his wife’s passing, Dr. Vohra honors his commitment to the college but vows to never practice surgery again, avoiding the operating theater and intensive care units. Seeking solace and a fresh start, he discovers his talent and passion for music.
Onstage Transformation: The film culminates in a pivotal moment where Dr. Vohra takes the stage in front of a large audience, participating in the music contest. Though he may not win the competition, his heartfelt performance resonates deeply with the audience, winning their hearts.
Spreading Happiness: Dr. Vohra embraces a new purpose in life, dedicating himself to singing and traveling. While occasionally offering advice to friends and family over the phone, he focuses on spreading the message of happiness through his music, finding fulfillment in touching the lives of others.
Timeline
Research: Completed
First phase of shooting: Completed
Second phase of shooting: Completed
Third phase of shooting: Completed
Round 1 Editing: Completed
Post Production: Oct – March 2025
Release: May 2025
The Curious Incident of Everett Wilder is the story of a lonely boy who encounters a jackalope at his birthday party in 1952. Following this curious incident, Everett becomes obsessed with catching the uncatchable horned rabbit. With the help of the enigmatic Lucy Hayworth, the secret of the jackalope will be revealed.
We’ve already shot the film, but need your support and teamwork to finish the project by financing post production [specifically the creation of the jackalope]. Animation is a complex and time consuming process, and in order for the visual effects to be the best that they can be, we will need your help. Animation for the jackalope will cost $20,000. The primary goal of this effort is to fund the jackalope animation. We have an animatable jackalope model and a company selected to bring these shots to life. We also have a sound mix that is complete (apart from the jackalope sounds), and a colorist who is ready to go once the film is complete.
Budget Breakdown:
Animation: $20,000
Color: $1,500
This film shines a light on the trailblazing role of women war artists, on front lines round the world, championing the female perspective on conflict through art, asking: when it’s life or death, what do women see that men don’t?
Women war artists break the taboo, punching through to create their unique record alongside the daily newsfeed. But in countries where journalism is banned, it’s art that shows us the truth. Where violence against women and rape are used as weapons of war, women are silenced and bear the brunt of displacement, civilians and families pay the price. Multi-award-winning film director Margy Kinmonth shows how war is a catalyst to bring out artists’ most creative work. In the face of destruction they inspire, provoke, imagine, memorialise and heal, seek to disarm – tell the truth to power. Traditionally a male domain, war art by women has been largely invisible. Until now…
Today wars continue to rage globally. In this film, Kinmonth champions contemporary female artists – witnesses and survivors of international conflict, who create art and tell their unique stories. Womens’ war art is also uncovered from attics and archives, revealing an artistic legacy previously hidden from view. An entirely female cast and contributors makes this film a unique undertaking – telling vital truths in traumatic times.
Filmed in the USA, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Sudan, Austria, Belgium and Italy, contributing artists include Shirin Neshat, Dame Rachel Whiteread, Maya Lin, Nina Berman, Marcelle Hanselaar, Cornelia Parker and Lee Miller.
The New Tibet is a Chilean documentary about the movement of the Earth’s energy center from the Himalayas to the Chilean desert.
When reviewing the sacred knowledge of ancient civilizations, we find that, in almost all of them, there is talk of marked periods that divide time into eras of approximately 13,000 thousand years. Each of these eras concludes with the alignment of the equinoxes: which, as we know today, are nothing more than the movements of the axis of our planet.
The beginning of a new era began precisely in 2012, in which it is thought that Kundalini energy, which was previously found in Tibet, has moved from the Himalayas to the Andes Mountains, settling mainly in the Chilean desert.
This is a cultural project, which offers a scientific view based on seismic movements in the Pacific Ring of Fire; but it also presents images and testimonies of communities surrounding the Chilean desert; who recognize that they have experienced a process of energy transformation.
Our project takes a route of the history of Tibet as a spiritual center of humanity and the hypothesis of the displacement of its energy to the Chilean desert.
“The New Tibet” is a documentary that invites us to reflect on our beliefs, the concept we have of spirituality and how it impacts our worldview and consciousness.
For more information, please visit www.thenewtibet.com
THE HARVEST, an NYU Tisch thesis short film written and directed by Macdaleine St.Remy, stars Anissa Felix (SURVIVAL OF THE THICKEST, DETROIT) and Jahmone Duhaney (BLACK CAKE).
The film follows Vea and Lloyd, a Jamaican couple in their late thirties working as migrant laborers at an apple orchard, who confront a surprising fertility diagnosis that tests their relationship and their hopes for a future family.
With this film, I explore the emotional and financial strain that infertility can have on a couple desperate to have a child that is biologically their own.
The project is a recipient of the Cary Fukunaga Production Fund and was filmed in September 2024 in New York. Macdaleine St. Remy who was most recently a Princess Grace Foundation Honorarium recipient in Film and a Gotham Marcie Bloom Fellow. The film is currently in post-production with expected completion by April 2025.
The Ask & What’s Next
We successfully completed filming this fall, and we are now looking to our communities to help us finish the film. We’re looking to raise $10,000 through tax-deductible donations.
A “Special Thanks” credit is available for donations of $500+, a logo in the credits for $2,000+, and Associate Producer credit for donations of $5,000+.
Contributions will help fund:
- Picture editing
- Post-production Sound Design
- Color Grading
- Visual Effects (VFX)
- Title & Credits Graphics
- Original Score Composition
In short, your tax-deductible donation will help remove paywalls that prevent the film from being completed.
Help bring the finished project to screens!
The Team
Macdaleine St.Remy I Writer, Director
Writer and director Macdaleine St. Remy is a first-generation Haitian-American writer and director whose work captures the nuanced, extraordinary experiences of ordinary Black life. Her characters often seek freedom from the systems and structures that confine them. In 2023, Macdaleine was a Princess Grace Foundation Film Honorarium and a Gotham Marcie Bloom Fellow. She was also a 2024 finalist for the NYU Sloan Feature Award. Currently completing her MFA in Film at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Macdaleine holds a Bachelor of Science from MIT and a Master of Science in Energy and Processes from ÉNSPM in France. Before transitioning to filmmaking, she worked as a program manager in hardware engineering at Apple and Square from 2013 to 2020. Her technical background informs the scientific themes that intersect her characters’ lives.
Kai Torres I Producer
Producer Kai Torres is a Puerto Rican-American filmmaker whose work focuses on amplifying underrepresented voices and celebrating resilience. An MFA graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts and recipient of the Willard T.C. Johnson Fellowship, Torres holds a Bachelor’s in Media Studies from the University of Virginia. After her MFA, she worked as an associate producer on the documentary Who’s Next, directed by Emmy Award-winner Nancy Charney, which further fueled her commitment to storytelling as a platform for overlooked narratives. With films like Pancakes (2019), Torres highlights the struggles and determination of those facing challenging circumstances, crafting stories that celebrate persistence and resilience.
Yoko Kohmoto I Producer
Yoko Kohmoto (she/her) is a producer-writer from Okayama, Japan currently based in NYC. Her producing work has been showcased at Tribeca Film Festival, Vimeo Staff Pick, Frameline, American Black Film Festival, and CAAMFest, among others. Her priorities in her work are to build community, ensure safety, and uplift marginalized voices.She holds an MFA from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s from Northwestern University and currently works as an educational consultant for The Gotham Film & Media Institute.
Eat Surf Love is a narrative short film that celebrates the beautiful awkwardness of human encounters. It’s a story about the resiliency we discover after we failed to catch the wave, didn’t get the job, or had zero return on a romantic investment. The film starts and ends with an audio podcast, and we view, in almost documentary fashion, two disparate people stumbling through a first conversation, and how, in revealing their vulnerabilities and aspirations, they change themselves and each other. Set in San Francisco, it’s also a love-hate letter to this paradoxical place, nudged between a bay and an ocean, where hearts have been left, lost, and also found.
WHAT WE NEED
Eat Surf Love is a low budget independent labor of love. We shot our film on our phones! The film is now in post production. We are seeking finishing and marketing funds, to achieve the project’s potential.
FILMMAKERS AND PRODUCTION TEAM
Filmmaker Nada Djordjevich is an award-winning writer and social impact consultant, originally from the Bay Area, with degrees from Harvard and Berkeley. Her first short, California Pie (2022), has screened throughout the US and received multiple awards including two for “best animated film.”
Producer and First Assistant Camera, Mayra Padilla is a creative entrepreneur and communications professional, with proven results in brand management, social marketing, and event planning. A multilingual writer and storyteller, the documentary “To Sandy, from Sri Lanka “ was her first film.
CAST
Laura Yumi Snell is a Japanese-American actress, pianist, singer, and co-founder of SoHo Shakespeare Company. Her works include Murakami Music (Symphony Space and US tour), Avenue Q (international tour), Richard III (SoHo Shakes), and the films “Carsick,” “Quarantine Horror Story”, and “Keiko’s Hands.”
Tyler Ritter was born in Los Angeles and after spending seven years abroad decided to move back to the (sometimes) sunny state. His most notable TV credits include The McCarthy’s, “Arrow,” “NCIS,” “Merry Happy Whatever,” “Homecoming,” and “Painkiller.”
Molly Wood is a longtime journalist and podcaster. She is the founder of Molly Wood Media, where she writes and podcasts about solutions to the climate crisis, advises companies on their climate messaging, and invests in climate tech companies. Eat Surf Love is her first film.
WHY SUPPORT US
- You want to see new films, actors, and ideas on screen.
- You want to be part of the wave of independent filmmaking.
- You want to stay informed about our journey and perhaps get onboard for the next one.
HOW YOUR SUPPORT HELPS
Funding will enable high quality audio, music, sound and color-correction, along with closed-captions and subtitles to increase accessibility to diverse audiences. Funds will support festival entries and marketing materials (a trailer, poster, social media and other graphics) to create and sustain engagement. Your support for the emerging talent associated with this film helps create a foundation for new voices and films. The majority of our cast and crew are from groups underrepresented in films, and, for 30% of our team, this was their very first film.
Eat Surf Love is a micro-budget production, with a SAG-AFTRA agreement generated in November 2022. “Micros” are not subject to the strike, and if this policy changes, we will make any necessary adjustments or agreements. We are an 100% independently financed, independently produced short film with no connection to the AMPTP. Supporting our film indicates your support for the growth of independent film production and studios.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
For full listing of our cast and crew, see our website: eatsurfloveproductions.com
If you’d like merchandise, such as our Eat Surf Love fleece jacket, or mugs, send us an email.
To contact us directly – send an email to eatsurflovefilm@gmail.com
WHY THIS FILM
Stories can transform how we see ourselves and others. ECHOES FROM ELAINE tells a powerful personal story that reflects America’s struggle to reckon with its past. The documentary intimately examines how a long enshrouded event, the Elaine Massacre, still haunts Black and White descendants a century later. When Sheila Walker, a descendant of survivors, befriends the grandson of a Klansman who took part in the killings, she sets out to Elaine, Arkansas. Even now, there is trauma, shame and denial, but Sheila is compelled to shine a light on this largely unknown history and help the community heal.
For more information please visit echoesfromelainefilm.com.
HELP US GET THIS FILM INTO THE WORLD!
Our film is now in post production. Once released, ECHOES FROM ELAINE will contribute to important conversations around racial reckoning and transgenerational trauma through screenings and discussions. But before the film can have an impact, we need your help to finish it, to pay for music, animations and the sound mix. We’re eternally grateful for any (tax-deductable) contribution you can make.
THANK YOU!
The Green Box: The Heart of a Purple Heart is a documentary that tells the story of a World War II bomber pilot Robert Kurtz, whose experiences in the conflict were emblematic but unknown. Unknown that is until his youngest son, who was only two when his father died, set out to learn about the dad he never knew. What Jim Kurtz uncovered about Robert led to a new understanding of the war, and a deep love for his parent. He learned that his father was a hero, and a man who, in his service, took part in legendary events. He learned about the depth of his parents’ relationship, and how that relationship may have saved his father’s life. Jim Kurtz wrote a book, THE GREEN BOX, which recounts his search for his father, and tells the story of his father’s experiences: as a pilot, his crash and capture in Austria, his imprisonment in the most famous World War II prisoner of war camp, Stalag Luft III, his participation in the infamous winter death march across Poland and Germany, and his ultimate liberation by General Patton. The documentary weaves both stories; we follow Jim on his search and recreate Robert’s experiences during the war using both archival and contemporary footage, including re-enactments. And since the book was published, Jim has learned more about his dad, and met others whose lives were woven with his father’s. As the 75th anniversary of World War II approaches, the surviving participants of the conflict are dying; their stories are sliding into the mists of history. This film captures some of those stories, preserving them for future generations. It also reveals that it is never too late: never too late to learn more about our families or our history, and never too late to get to know people we love. The Green Box: The Heart of a Purple Heart will tell that story in its excitement and beauty, and celebrate the lives of the “greatest generation” through the life of one of its ‘ordinary’ heroes.
An Armenian-American photojournalist reckons with the powerful legacy of genocide. When your family’s brutal past is denied, how do you make sense of who you are?
Today, over 100 million refugees flee their home countries in search of safety, echoing the plight of Nubar’s grandparents and thousands of Armenians who escaped the Ottoman Turks’ brutality in the early 20th century.
Raised speaking Armenian and surrounded by the haunting sounds of the oud, he lived and breathed Armenian culture. Yet, no one ever spoke of the persecution that had brought Nubar’s grandparents to the United States, not even his grandmother, who lost her three young daughters on a death march. Nubar felt suffocated by the unspoken suffering and fled as far from his Armenian identity as he could—until the day his daughter Abby, half-Armenian, asked him a simple question: “Dad, will you come to Armenia with me?”
Armed with a map marking his grandmother’s plot of land, Nubar and Abby embark on a guided tour through Eastern Turkey (Historic Armenia), searching for their ancestral homes. The journey becomes a revelation, transforming Nubar’s avoidance into painful recognition and a deeper understanding of his family’s story. Immersing himself in Armenia’s tragic history, he feels compelled to return, driven by a desire not just to reunite but to reclaim—to make his grandmother’s confiscated land Armenian again. Traveling with a small crew, he engages with Turks, both friendly and hostile, exploring the possibilities of radical reclamation. This quest culminates in a dangerous act of reparative rebellion.
Director/Producer: Nubar Alexanian
Editor/Producer: Sabrina Zanella-Foresi
Producer: Laura Wiessen
Writer/Producer: Abby Alexanian
Cinematographers: P.H. O’Brien & Nubar Alexanian
Consulting Producer: Jocelyn Glatzer
Consulting Producer: Jackie Mow
Start Date: October 2011
Release Date: April, 2025
Fiscal Sponsor: Filmmakers Collaborative
Target running time: 65:00
