Kanienkehaka woman seeks to make film on MMIW

Kahnawake Mohawk Kawennahere Devery Jacobs has started a kickstarter campaign online to raise $15,000 for a short film on the story of one of indigenous Canada’s Missing and Murdered Indigneous Women and Girls.

STOLEN will focus on the fictitious story of a 14 year old girl who is a group home runaway named Shayna who becomes one of the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls in Canada. Jacobs is hoping that through the art of storytelling she will be able to shine a light into the dark experience of becoming a statistic among the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.

Jacobs is herself an indigenous woman, a Mohawk from Kahnawake. The Kanienkehaka actress is widely known for her role as Aila in the award winning feature film Rhymes for Young Ghouls; a dark revenge fantasy on the residential school system. Jacobs was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award in 2014 for that role.

On why this issue has prompted her to shoot a short film Jacobs writes, “It has become unavoidable; everywhere you turn, you can’t help but see or hear about more Native girls who are stolen from their families. Almost every reserve in Canada has lost a young woman, mine included. This doesn’t even mention those living in urban areas. You can’t turn on the news or scroll down your newsfeed without hearing about yet another native girl who is missing, ANOTHER girl whose remains has been discovered. With this ever-increasing epidemic, and the Government’s refusal for a National Inquiry; STOLEN has never been more important to tell. It’s also never been more important for Canadians to hear.”

Jacobs will partnering in the project with Director of Photography Michel St-Martin who also worked with her on Rhymes for Young Ghouls.

Funds raise for the film will go toward financing the cast, crew, location, equipment, production design, permits, union fees, festival fees and more.

Turning to crowd funding online is an increasingly popular way for young filmmakers to get their projects made. Here is how it works. Projects are proposed online and you register a pledge.

The campaign organizer sets a financial goal and if they do not meet that goal within thirty days, they do not get the funds and the pledges are not collected.

Jacob’s goal for the STOLEN project is $15,000 by March 31, 2015. To submit a pledge please visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/623017192/stolen-a-short-film and click on the green ‘Back This Project’ button.

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