Gospel in Rome!

As I mentioned in earlier posts, in December we were invited at a series of Gospel concerts. On the stage during the concerts we made a short presentation of "Punishment Island" and at the end we collected contributions and gave out more info to those interested. It was a great experience, as the Gospel stage really felt like the right place to share the story. I was really moved myself by the music and I could feel better the weight that that kind of music had in the women's life. At all the three concerts we made (two in Rome, one on the hills around Florence), we had a very warm reception, people got interested in the story and supported it generously. So thank you to both choir, and this is a short video of the first concert we did, 16th December at Teatro Vascello in Rome. Taschler Voices Gospel Choir starring Charlie Cunning!

To support us:
http://www.ulule.com/punishmentisland/

New deadline and thanks to our supporters!

Yes, Ulule made us the biggest Xmas present. In a private conversation with the person who is following "Punishment Island" on Ulule, I said: "I don't regret anything about the amount set, because I can't go to Uganda and shoot good material with less, but I regret about not having set a longer fundraising period. It is true that I need to go to Uganda urgently, but especially in this difficult period, it takes time to raise interest about the subject and that kind of money." Next, we received an email with our Xmas present: deadline postponed to the end of January. This is definitely giving us good chances to make it, although we still need your help. It is always an emotion for us when someone supports the story, with any amount they can afford. To express this feeling  our graphic designer made a special digital Xmas card.  All those who support Punishment Island with any amount within the end of the year - three more days - will receive it by email.


People continue to be generous, despite difficult times and despite it is the busiest time of the year. So we are giving a special thank to those who took time to support us even during this holiday season:


Carsten Schumann
Virginie Myalonnier
Enrica Giovannardi & Renzo Gherardelli
Andrea Cini
Margherita Razzanelli
Guido Barlozzetti
Nadia Angilella
Mirella Boscherini
Miki Ambrozy
Gianna Boncompagni
And all those at Punishment Island Xmas Fundraising Party at Caffè Letterario in Florence!


To find out more and/or to support us:
http://www.ulule.com/punishmentisland/

From the Gospel scene!

Soon reporting I will be reporting the great experiences we had presenting "Punishment Island" and crowdfunding at Gospel concerts in Rome and in the hilly outskirts around Florence. In the meanwhile, respectively, a pic from one of the Taschler Gospel concerts in Rome and a video from the Pilgrim Choir Event in Borgo San Lorenzo.

To support us: http://www.ulule.com/punishmentisland/

Thanking our supporters

Late this week, for attending Gospel concerts, we thank our weekly special supporters:

Claus Orso & Roberta Mossetto
Philine Von Duszeln
Elke Koch-Weser
Gianpaolo D'Amico & Michela Manetti
Claudio & Gigliola Verduchi
Yeah Musicadischicaffe
The Pilgrims
Alessandro Varrucciu & Simona Merlino
Lisa Urbano
ACMT - Associazione Culturale Marco Taschler
Marco Casaretti
Andreas Kassab & Shivani Satya
Alessandro Gerebizza
Andrea Mancaniello
Raffaela Arban
Stefania & Daniele Aurigi
All those who came and contributed at Yeah and at the Gospel Concerts!

Thanks!!!

Only 12 more days to support us. We need your help on:
http://www.ulule.com/punishmentisland/

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!

Don't forget that this evening we will be having a fundraising party in Rome. At 730pm we will be presenting the documentary, showing the trailer while having food and drinks. To follow the Aranciotti, a wonderful Roman based duo will play and sing a song from their debut album and after that DJ Set from Prophetic Sound System, a talented couple of friends and party goers! Suggested price for a drink + food + music + support is 10 Euros, but you are welcome to donate more and even not to donate at all. It will be a cool fun evening, and we are hoping it will contribute to our goal: raising 10.000 Euros within the end of the year. If you cannot come, follow us on Ulule whether you can see and read what we are doing and decide if you want to contribute. Soon we are launching a Christmas Special.

Thursday 13th December, 7:30pm
Yeah Musicadischicaffe
Via Giovanni D'Agostini, 45
Pigneto - Rome

More info on:
http://www.ulule.com/punishmentisland/

Thanking our supporters!

We are warmly thanking the people who supported us this week, giving us an extra chance to meet our goal and be able to tell this story! Really, thanks!

Darren Robbie
Timothy Lalonde
Nadia Angilella
Matteo Tortora
Sheila Windridge
Emily Tibbatts
Marì Simonelli
Hugh Purcell
Lisa Zini
Amgrim Ytterhus

To support us and/or to find out more:
http://www.ulule.com/punishmentisland/

Who is Philine?

Philine Von Duszeln is a German young woman, documentarist and director of photography. We met earlier this year in Nairobi, Kenya at the EsoDoc International Workshop where I was developing Punishment Island and she was working on Aysén Profundo. In an exciting multicultural context with five documentarists from Europe, five from Africa and five from Asia, we lived together for over a week supporting each other while our projects got discussed, criticized, torn apart, rewritten, re-edited until the final pitch. Luckily our projects survived. I thought that Philine's work was great and shot really well. And she must have thought the same about Punishment Island as when I asked her to come and be the D.o.P she accepted enthusiastically. 

Philine studied Audiovisual Communication, Lighting and Stage Design in Spain, Switzerland, Germany and Argentina. Since graduating in 2008 she has been working in the photography- and production departments of different international documentary film productions. Carnaval en los Cerros (2009) was her first feature length documentary as a camera woman. Currently she has been working on Aysén Profundo www.aysenprofundo.cl (DoP, Production), an interactive web documentary about trades and traditions in Chilean Patagonia. Trailer can be viewed on https://vimeo.com/53146865

I am really, really happy to share Punishment Island with Philine and to find her again in Africa where I left her.

To find out more and/or support us: http://www.ulule.com/punishmentisland/

Upcoming events!

When the game gets tough, the toughs get dancing!

Party night in support of Punishment Island, Yeah Pigneto, Thursday 13th of December!
Finger food + drink + support 10 Euros
After presentation, dj set by Prophetic Sound System!

When the game gets tough, the toughs keep dancing!

Two great Gospel concerts in Rome which support Punishment Island.

Sunday 16th December, 11:30 am at Teatro Vascello, Rome.

Monday 17th December 9pm at Auditorium della Chiesa di S. Chiara.

On Sunday we will film the concert to show to it to our women of Akampene.

To support us: http://www.ulule.com/punishmentisland/

Who is Cristina?

Cristina Lo Presti is a young woman, "just made of heart" as her mom says, although she says it in Sicilian and it sounds a bit different. Cristina got involved in the project in October when me (Laura) and the other Cristina (yeah, popular name on the team) were about to launch our crowdfunding campaign on Ulule. Cristina got in touch with me as she wanted some experience filming and editing and when she learnt that I was actually fundraising, she wasn't much interested. However she helped us with camera and sound on the pitch video we did for Ulule and my pitch must have been very convincing, as after that she totally committed to the project "willing to be doing anything it takes to get it made". Her mum is probably right!

Officially Cristina is our press agent, but she does all sorts of things, like taking care of screenings during presentations, getting original ideas, contacting people, keeping the enthusiasm high. She made a video for us trying to explain how crowdfunding should work in a real community, a video that makes me and Cristina sob each time. Now she is taking care of a Punishment Island support Xmas Special - looking forward myself to see what she creates.

Although we didn't speak to each other then, me and Cristina graduated together in Human Geography on the same day, me with a thesis on Malawi, her on India. She  then she went on to the Master Degree in Geographic and Anthropological Studies.  Cristina has cooperated as trainee with the Italian Journal of Geography and she recently attended a Direction class at a cinema school in Florence.  She directed the documentaries "As social reading of the Florentine squares" and "Central Market of Plural Vision". She seeks the best way to combine scientific and visual research methods and she  is now writing her thesis about street art and public space. 

Next time, she will be involved in filming and editing, that's my promise to her and it will work magic (literally).

To support us and/or find out more:
http://www.ulule.com/punishmentisland/

Who is Comfort?

Comfort Abemigisha was our translator on the development shoot, but personally for me (Laura, director) was a bit more than that. We were together on an adventure with an extremely difficult task set: finding survivors of Akampene when nobody knew if they were alive nor where they lived. At times, most times, it felt like something really crazy to do, basically no budget, bargaining boats really hard to go up and down the lake as soon as we heard there was a small possibility. Despite storms, false witness and all kind of misadventures, we never lost hope and we generated such a huge amount of energy that at the end it really happened.

Apart from speaking Rukiga and English and generating good positive energy, Comfort is an artist who majored in photography, illustration and painting. He is 23 years old, originating from Kabale (South-Western Uganda) and living in Kampala, capital city. He will be graduating in January 2013 with a BA in Industrial and Fine Art.

Comfort mainly uses pencil for sketch and extreme mood and detail, pen and ink for motion and moment capture and oil and acrylic paints for dream, observation and individualistic recomposition in visual arts. He also loves film and he is involved in video production and post with his baby production company K Concept. He is also involved in the art project "Otariho Tagwegwa Muti Country" (When a tree falls, if you are not around, you won't be hit).

If we manage to complete the film - we have to - Comfort's involvement will carry on in his favorite and real role: he will make the series of drawings that will accompany the women's tales. 

You can see some of his work on https://picasaweb.google.com/Comfort.Uganda/MyPaintings

To support us and/or to find out more about Punishment Island check us out on

http://www.ulule.com/punishmentisland/

Thanking our supporters

Our warm weekly thanks for supporting the documentary to:

Matthias Klaus-Von Dueszeln
Anna Samueli
François Vergne
Filippo Celata
Irina Janke
Angela Meucci
Silvana Ramunni
Lucilla Saccà
Caterina Magri
Rita Brugnara
Maria Grazia Proli

To support us and find out more, check:
http://www.ulule.com/punishmentisland/
Also available in Italian.