Female Filmmakers are Born That Way

At insidewink we are all about creativity and expressing yourself. We love to feature artists, musicians, storytellers, heroes – all of us who take a chance and rise up to create or do something special. So we were especially happy to hear that our very own Emma Berdie Donson is raising funds for her second feature film!  Her first film was picked up by a distributor and is headed to market at Cannes next month.  Exciting stuff!

Born That Way is a feature film in development co-written by Michal Sinnott and Mary M. Parr, co-directed by Michal and June Carryl, and produced by Nwaka Onwusa and Emma Berdie Donson.  Yup, it’s a collaborative effort (and all female to boot)!   All 4 woman have very impressive bios. You can read about the team here.

The film is so important right now… and tackles issues of race, gender, sexuality, and mental health. It is truly a film that deserves to be made. You can watch their gorgeous proof of concept here.

They are raising funds for the casting process by hosting a virtual (AKA zoom) gala this Friday– Born That Way’s Fundraiser and Block Party is June 11th at 6pm PT/ 9pm ET!  Tickets range from $5 for entry, up to $1K for an exclusive behind the scenes experience on set, with a multitude of other tantalizing perks in between.  Tickets are purchasable here.  The best part is that besides helping the movie, 5% of the proceeds from the gala will benefit the Orkeeswa School in Tanzania, which is where they filmed the opening of their film with the first $50k they raised.

This Friday’s event is bound to be a blast!  Date night?  A culturally informative evening in with your teens? There will be musical performances and a reading from the script, as well as a signature cocktail you can make at home, etc.  Donson Gallery has donated 2 gorgeous lithographs (a signed Picasso and Toulouse-Lautrec) that will be auctioned off live that night!  You’ll also have the chance to win some delicious cookies and a $250 gift certificate to Purusha People: a plant-based, sustainable, and ethical yoga wear, who by the end of year will have completely offset all production emissions via carbon credits.