Dear Friend,
Mahalo for your interest in our documentary film, A PARADISE LOST.
First, here is a little bit about the story:
A PARADISE LOST is a feature documentary about a rare Hawaiian bird who tells their story as the first animal to sue the US government to save its kind from extinction, a hybrid-animated tale of struggle and hope in the heart of the Extinction Capital of the World.
In 1979, a stuffed Palila stood at the plaintiff’s table in court for Palila v. Hawaiʻi, to remove feral sheep and goats from eating its forest home. Palila and their allies won, becoming a landmark environmental case. A current day storyline centers Kala Lindsey-Asing, a Hawaiian conservationist restoring Palila’s Maunakea forests degraded by human impact, and worsened by climate change, a multi-faceted portrait of Hawaiian science, culture, people and land.
Today, the Palila struggles aren’t over; only 200 birds remain. So far we have raised $480,000 but we need $100,000 for post production costs; sound, color and final mix and finishing costs; distribution, marketing and promotions.
Laurie’s deeply engaged environmental art practice lends her gifts in animation to tell a story from an endangered bird’s POV in an artistic, innovative way. She was selected for the prestigious Firelight Documentary Lab, for underrepresented BIPOC artists working on their first or second feature-length documentary film. We have secured US distribution on PBS through Pacific Islanders in Communications, and plans for theatrical and international television broadcast.
We are funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which has brought you films such as DOLORES, KU KANAKA/STAND TALL and AMERICAN MASTERS: MAYA ANGELOU. Laurie was also selected as a 2020 Women in Film/Sundance Institute Fellow, a program for emerging female-identifying filmmakers, and inaugural Jackson Wild Multicultural Alliance Fellow, a program providing minority nature filmmakers with support from prominent leaders in the natural history documentary world.
Donations through our fiscal sponsor are 100% TAX-DEDUCTIBLE via check, wire or bank transfer. Checks can be mailed to UnionDocs 352 Onderdonk Ave., Ridgewood NY, 11385. Please make it clear it’s for A PARADISE LOST.
To donate directly to our production company, click the link below.
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