A new curated series featuring short documentary films funded in part through Kickstarter will, over the coming months, be shown on NYTimes.com on a new “Made With Kickstarter” channel in Times Video.
This launch reflects the collaboration between The New York Times with Kickstarter, and is dedicated to shining a light on innovative short-form documentary filmmaking. Over the coming months, The Times will be hosting great short-form documentaries, all made with Kickstarter, with a new film taking a turn in the spotlight each week.
These stories span a wide range of filmmaking talent thriving on Kickstarter — and they’ve been hand-picked by The New York Times to enrich and inform their audience. Six terrific stories, each running a compact ten to thirty minutes, are ready to watch right now:
MINKA: A FARMHOUSE IN JAPAN
A film about place and memory, a farmhouse in Japan, and the lives of the people who called it home.
Filmmaker: Davina Pardo
THE LAST ICE MERCHANT
For more than 50 years, Baltazar Ushca has harvested the glacial ice of Ecuador’s Mount Chimborazo. His brothers, both raised as ice merchants, have long since retired. El Último Hielero — “The Last Ice Merchant” — is a story of cultural change and how three brothers have adapted to it.
Filmmaker: Sandy Patch
THE JOURNEY OF A 9/11 TREE
It was the last living thing rescued from the ruins of 9/11. A dozen years later, one mythical pear tree is finally home, and branching out from Ground Zero in mystical ways.
Filmmaker: Scott Elliott
THE GREATEST BOWLING STORY EVER TOLD
One ordinary night, things start changing for underdog bowler Bill Fong, as he begins to get strike after strike. Will he attain the ‘perfect series,’ the pinnacle achievement in bowling, or buckle under the pressure?
Filmmaker: Joey Daoud
TALES FROM THE WORLD’S LONGEST YARD SALE
Travel down US Highway 127 from Michigan to Alabama and meet the people at the world’s longest yard sale — an annual, four-day, 690-mile exchange of not only goods, but also stories.
Filmmaker: Riley Hooper
A HARLEM MOTHER
In 2001, 26-year-old LaTraun Parker was murdered in Harlem. Weaving footage from LaTraun’s own documentary, shot in 1998, with scenes from his mother Jean’s life today, “A Harlem Mother” tells a tragic and inspirational story from the dual perspective of mother and son.
Filmmaker: Ivana Todorovic
Documentary filmmaking has always thrived on Kickstarter, and the people responsible for the crowdfunding platform state that “we couldn’t be prouder of all the incredible work that’s gathered funding on the site.”
These documentaries — ranging from 10 to 30 minutes in length, and all originally funded by Kickstarter backers, should be a sign to all those cinematographers looking for funding for their projects. Although being on Kickstarter does not guarantee that a project will be funded, it is alays worth trying it, if you believe in what you’re doing. Those cinematographers did!
Visit the NYTimes channel Times Video to see the documentaries Made With Kickstarter.