Last chance to back fantastic Hear Art film campaign
There is just a week left to support one of City PM’s favourite arts initiatives, Hear Art, in its crowdfunding campaign to raise £15,000 to help fund films made by deaf filmmakers.
Hear Art is a non-profit platform founded by Cindy Sasha (photographer/activist) and Rachel Shenton (actress/writer/activist) to help address the lack of opportunities for talented deaf creatives. It provides a space in which people can showcase their work to both niche and mainstream industry executives to develop their career and make the cross over into mainstream media.
The fundraising campaign, which is currently at almost £11,000 out of a target of £15,000, will help to fund a series of short films that allow deaf creatives to tell their stories or explore their imagination through film, giving a unique insight and perspective into filmmaking.
Hear Art has partnered with The Royal Association for Deaf people (RAD) and Slick Films, which saw a huge amount of success raising awareness of sign language when it won an Oscar for short film The Silent Child.
Hear Art has already raised an additional £15,000 through a partnership with the RAD.
“Hear Art came about from a long conversation between myself and co-founder Rachel Shenton,” says co-founder Cindy Sasha. “We saw the incredible deaf talent that was amongst the UK deaf community but few were commissioned to work on specific hearing film projects.
“Following this chat, Hear Art was born. We set up a platform to fund and showcase three films made by deaf directors with a commitment of having cast and crew that are 50 per cent deaf and 50 per cent hearing to challenge the conversation around communication in front of and behind the lens.
“Our aim is to not only create great inclusive content but to also start dialogue about employment and inclusion within the Arts and Media.
“We’re super excited about this project, especially bringing deaf and hearing creatives together to work in an inclusive creative space and we hope this will be a milestone within the film industry.”
One of the producers involved in the project also spoke of the potential to shift perceptions of deaf creatives by helping them show their vision to industry professionals.
“One of the main driving forces for me is to be able to use film to help awaken change and share stories and experiences from all walks of life,” says Abigale Borsberry, producer of short film Hair Uncovered. “After all, film is one of the greatest tools we have to create, share and learn.
“Coming from a background in the media industry where communication was king, I knew instinctively I wanted to be a part of the Hear Art’s project, which at its core aims to bring the deaf and hearing communities together, driving awareness, collaboration and helping to shine a spotlight on the a wealth of talent from deaf writers, directors and the wider film industry.
“Hear Arts will not only help to create unity and opportunity within the industry but will impact a much wider audience helping to break down the barriers. I’m under no illusions of the challenges that lay ahead but challenges are there to be overcome”
For more information on Hear Arts and the creatives it is backing, visit the crowdfunding campaign page here.