Director Marie Jamora, who is known for her movie Ang Nawawala and her music video work, was recently selected to be part of the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women, making her the first Filipino in the program.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the filmmaking program offers free film education and the eight participants will be asked to make a short film. Their works will premiere at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theatre in 2020.
For Marie’s project, she’ll be doing a film titled A Song For Myself. In an email, she explained it will be about Maya, an OFW who sings in a cover band at a Las Vegas hotel lounge in 1995. She said it’s going to tackle the problem of “wrestling between becoming a pop-culture photocopy for an unlistening audience and creating her own original music.”
“It’s about the pursuit of dreams at the expense of family, something I can deeply relate to,” she added.
Marie recently set up a crowdfunding page to earn $30,000 to help her get started on the film. According to her post, the money will go to requirements like building a ’90s casino location, funds to find the perfect Maya and fly her to the US, and a sound mix for the music scenes.
As of writing, Marie has reached her production fund goal with $32,246 and counting. She is now aiming for a stretch goal of $40,000 to “level up our film production.” Woohoo!
If you want to support Marie and her upcoming film, you can still have a day left to make a donation. Come on, you know you want to watch A Song For Myself, too.
Good luck on your endeavor, Marie!
Photos courtesy of Marie Jamora
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