Elhum Shakerifar, the producer of Sean McAllister’s A Syrian Love Story, which was recently nominated for a BAFTA, is seeking help in a crowdfunding bid for a new documentary film project entitled Even When I Fall.
The documentary tells the story of three young Nepali women, all survivors of human trafficking. They were smuggled across the border and made to work in corrupt big top circuses across India.
Having met as teenagers in a Kathmandu refuge after they had been rescued and it is here that the film begins its story. During the aftermath of a childhood spent in captivity and forced labour they discovered that they were inadvertently left with a secret weapon by their captors – their breathtaking skills as circus performers.
Even When I Fall traces their journey as they work hard with 10 other survivors of human trafficking to build Circus Kathmandu – Nepal’s first and only circus. The film follows their journey as they face the families that sold them and seek acceptance within their own communities.
Nepal’s national report estimates that 12000 women and children are trafficked to India every year. Children are often sold by family members hoping to give their children a better life. Returning from domestic servitude or circuses is highly stigmatized.
The film’s co-director Sky Neal was a professional aerialist herself. She first went to Nepal after hearing about the extent of trafficking and it is there that she met the young people who went on to set up Circus Kathmandu. Other co-director Kate McLarnon joined her soon after, and together they began to film the birth of Circus Kathmandu and followed its story from humble beginnings to international success. Shakerifar is responsible for funding and strategy.
The all-or-nothing crowdfunding campaign seeks to get funding worth £30.000, this money will be used for the editing, the sound and the grading of the film.
We feel this is a project worth funding, we hope you do too. Please take a look at the documentary’s Kickstarter campaign page here.
At the time of writing the campaign managed to draw in over £7k from 103 backers, with 23 days to go until the deadline of 7 April 2016.
