Beginning in January 2016, filmmakers Mia-Kim T. Dang and Steven Boone will travel to Ethiopia to shoot footage for their upcoming film, an autobiographical black-and-white romance entitled, "New Flower." For Dang, an African-American of Vietnamese heritage, it marks a return to the place where she worked as a Fulbright researcher in 2011. For several years, she split her time between the United States and Ethiopia, while giving birth to a child who was part-Ethiopian.
"Rather than dismiss my American perspective, we are dramatizing how it became subsumed by the reality of daily life in the country," writes Dang on her film's Indiegogo page. "Reality has become a cheapened, dirty word in our culture; in 'New Flower' we will show its power to awaken compassion, connection and spirit."
The Indiegogo campaign aims to raise $7,000 for equipment rental, transportation, casting, props, meals and contingency expenses during the month of production scheduled in Ethiopia. Nine days are left to fund the project. Click here to visit the film's official Indiegogo page.
Editor's Note: Steven Boone is a RogerEbert.com contributor.
