Crowdfunding for That Lesbian-Vegetarian Film

August 29, 2021

Hector Calma

LET’S COOK SOME VEGGIES! A crowdfunding campaign for the lesbian-vegetarian-themed short film project I Need More Than Tofu and Other Vegetables.

Short Film Project Title: I Need More Than Tofu and Other Vegetables

Logline: Troubled by her terrifying past, a lesbian artist who lives with her girlfriend struggles to survive as a vegetarian.

Background: The project is part of the inaugural Mit Out Sound: International Silent Film Lab, a joint partnership among Film Development Council of the Philippines, Embassy of France to the Philippines, Philippine Italian Association, Goethe-Institut Philippinen, Instituto Cervantes de Manila, and Japan Foundation Manila. It went through an in-depth development process under the mentorship of acclaimed filmmakers; Professor Nick Deocampo, Director John Torres, and Cinematographer Tey Clamor.

Through this crowdfunding campaign, we seek support to make the project realize its full potential. Film shoots during the pandemic are very risky. We want to make sure that the whole team is safe during the whole filming process by providing adequate COVID-19 safety, and health measures.

Director’s Statement: In one way or another, we’ve been through a very hostile moment with a person dear to us. I Need More Than Tofu and Other Vegetables tries to explore these encounters to present genuine emotions of individuals who seek to defy the confinement of personal struggles.

Producer’s Statement: Human emotions and relationships are complex and in a period where most of us are isolated in our own homes and interactions are limited, I Need More Than Tofu and Other Vegetables indulges us in our own vulnerabilities in an attempt to understand our humanity. We plan to make this film with the best possible resources in order to bring about these explorations of our emotions with thrilling imagery.

PRODUCTION TEAM

Hector Barretto CALMA | Director-Writer | He is an alumnus of Talents Tokyo 2020 and Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival – NAFF’s Fantastic Film School 2021. He is a filmmaker, writer, cinematographer, and editor from the Philippines. His body of work covers films that have been selected and competed on various local and international film festivals including the Taiwan International Documentary Festival and the JOGJA-NETPAC Asian Film Festival. In 2017, he founded an artist-run cinema called Cinema Centenario that serves as an alternative venue for films outside the circuit of multiplexes. The cinema shut down in 2020 due to the pandemic and transitioned to online streaming through the virtual cinema called MOOV. At present, he is a member of the National Committee on Cinema of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and a full-time faculty member of iACADEMY in Makati.

Alex POBLETE | Producer | She is a film producer who graduated from the University of the Philippines Film Institute. She has worked on various local and international projects, and produced short films that have been selected at Locarno International Film Festival, Fribourg International Film Festival, and Hamburg International Short Film Festival. She was selected to participate at the ASEAN-ROK: Film Leaders Incubator FLY2014 in Myanmar where she became the production grant recipient of the Busan Bank Scholarship. She participated in ASIADOC Producer’s Training in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 2017, the Venice Summer School Cinema and Human Rights Advocacy 2019 as a scholar, If/Then Southeast Asia 2020, and most recently at Docs By The Sea Accelerator 2021 Creative Producing Lab. She also currently works as Public Engagement Program Director for Active Vista Center, an education center for human rights in the Philippines.

Gio GONZALVEZ | Co-Producer | He is a Filmmaker and Documentary Cinematographer. He wrote, directed, and edited several short films and documentaries under the film production collective called Lakan Media Creatives – under which he is the Creative Director. He has been lensing documentaries for Singapore’s ChannelNews Asia, and Probe Productions. His latest short film, Si Jet at and Dark Lord ng Dol Gurskul, is under Post-Production and will be shown in this year’s Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino.

Cesca LEE | Cinematographer | She is a pioneer member of the Lupon ng Pilipino Sinematograpo. In 2018, she was chosen to be one of the cinematography fellows at the Asian Film Academy (AFA) organized by the Busan International Film Festival, and in 2019, she participated as a cinematographer at the Kyoto Filmmakers Lab. She worked as a cinematographer on various films, both mainstream and independent productions including A Girl and A Boy (2020), Utopia (2019), Ma (2018), Mga Anak ng Kamote (2018), Tale of the Lost Boys (2017), and Purgatoryo (2016).

Kim PEREZ | Production Designer | She is a stylist, art director, and production designer for film, television, and advertising campaigns. Her film practice is rooted in independent cinema, particularly the Philippine New Wave. She started out starring in a documentary commissioned for De la Salle University in 2008 and Siglo ng Pagluluwal in 2011. Other collaborations include Mula sa Kung Ano ang Noon, Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis, Nervous Translation, Tokwifi, Balangiga: Howling Wilderness, and Orphea.

Cha ROQUE | Assistant Director | She is a filmmaker and LGBT advocate. Her films have been showcased at prestigious local and international film festivals including the Queer Asia Film Festival UK, Taiwan International Queer Film Festival, Asterisco Festival Internacional de Cine LGBTIQ Argentina, Hanoi International Queer Film Festival, Mawjoudin Queer Film Festival Tunisia, and the Asian Women Film Festival India among others. Cha is a fellow of the Salzburg Global LGBT Forum, the International Queer and Migrant Film Academy Amsterdam, the Ricky Lee Scriptwriting workshop, and TBA Studios’ Writers’ Room. She was awarded the Art that Matters for Film Award by Amnesty International Philippines in 2018.

Tin VELASCO | Production Manager | She currently works as a freelance producer, assistant director, and production manager in the film and advertising industries. She is one of the pioneer filmmakers of the Kapampangan Cinema Movement, and is a true CineKabalen baby. Her blossoming film career continued when she worked in mainstream and independent films, including award-winning Kapampangan works Ari: My Life with a King (2015), Dayang Asu (Dognation, 2015), Mercury is Mine (2016), 2 Cool 2 Be Forgotten (2016), and Aria (2018). Her contribution as an assistant director to the Cinemalaya Best Film John Denver Trending (2019) rekindled her Visayan heritage, and made her realize the value of working with projects close to her identity.