Welcome To Yanayo
Funds Needed for Completion: $ 16,000.00
Estimated Completion Date: 01/11/2010
Synopsis
Follow Engineers Without Borders to the remote Andes of Bolivia.
Using indigenous music and all new documentary footage, "Welcome To Yanayo” will take its audience to the remote mountains of Bolivia, where villages face epidemics of disease and starvation. Through interviews, the Bolivian people, and Engineers Without Borders volunteers, will tell their own stories as they work together to alleviate suffering in the region.
San Francisco director Cecil B. Feeder and a small crew will give the
audience a close-up look at a culture struggling to survive, and the people working to help them.
The challenge they face is awesome. Bolivia is politically unstable, and access to safe food, water and medicine is limited. An Engineers Without Borders assessment team will visit the Bolivian Andes this month to determine what is needed to build a sustainable infrastructure of schools, water systems, medical facilities, agriculture, and housing. Work begins in July, 2008.
Budget:
$ 16,000.00
Project's Financial Needs
Your donations will go towards the travel costs, shooting, editing, DVD authoring and other production expenses. The proceeds of this project will go back to the Engineers Without Borders organization to help fund future projects in all corners of the globe.
Current stage of production
Production
Estimated Completion Date
01/11/2010
Timeline
re-production:
September-December 2007
• Cecil B. Feeders was approached by members of the EWB.
• He began research on the organization and Bolivia
• Contacted potential crew
January-Febuary 2008
• Research on funding and distribution
March 2008
• Fundraising begins
April-May 2008
• Travel arrangements secured
• Final pre-production assessment
Production:
July-August 2008 and 2009
• Production in Bolivia
Post-production:
September–November 2009
• Editing
• Mastering
• DVD artwork
• DVD authoring
December 2009
• Reproduction and Distribution
Jan 2010
• Broadcast nationally
Treatment
The Engineers Without Borders (EWB) chapter in Washington asked Feeder to direct the film after seeing his acclaimed musical documentary “Our Lady of Tamale,” an inspiring piece about the life of a Mexican immigrant who found love selling tamales in the Mission District of San Francisco.
While the new film will spotlight the EWB’s project in Bolivia, the filmmakers will focus heavily on the stories of the impoverished residents of Yanayo. Using solar power to charge their cameras, the crew will hike through the Andes to Yanayo, where there is no electricity and minimal running water.
The trials of shooting in this environment down to the difficulty of making a cup of coffee will be documented. The crew will film each day’s work and conduct individual interviews with residents and volunteers to capture their histories, motivations, goals, and reactions to one another. The crew will also visit local musicians and record their songs and stories to bring to light the history and culture of the region.
This music will become the film’s soundtrack. Yanayo is comprised of roughly 23 households, approximately 100 people and has a high incidence of Chagas disease and Tuberculosis. For the past five hundred years this community has relied on traditional (rain-fed) farming for their existence. For the past 15 years, the village has seen a drought diminish its crops and thus, its food supply and livelihood. Disease incidence is aggravated by poor nutrition non-potable water, poor sanitation, thatch roofed housing, and smoke filled kitchens.
The main objective of Engineers Without Borders is to work with disadvantaged communities worldwide to improve their quality of life. The central tenet of the organization is "to build a better world, one community at a time." They work to interrupt the cycle of poverty using methods designed to ensure long-term effectiveness. Through local contribution, collective ownership and time, EWB strives to ensure a more equitable and sustainable world.
Target Audience
College students and professors will be a target demographic, and the film will be a fresh resource to people across the academic spectrum. Those who study anthropology, civil engineering, journalism, sociology, social welfare, international relations, architecture, social activism, film, or music will all find something that pertains to their field of interest.
Welcome to Yanayo will also succeed with audiences in dramatic terms with the help of first-person interviews, unflinching photography, and the use of music to drive the story.
Production Personnel
Director/Producer
Cecil B. Feeder is a director and producer in San Francisco, known for his film "Our Lady of Tamale", a heartfelt documentary about a Mexican immigrant who found love selling Tamales in the bars of San Francisco. He received a Cirtificate of Honor from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2006 for his contribution to the local film and music community. His films have been shown in many festivals around the world including The Arivist Festival in LA, Film Arts Foundation Festival in SF, Full Moon Horror Festival in Little Rock, Filmclub Xenix in Zurich, as well as Germany, Czech Republic, Croacia, and Holland.
Assistant Director
Mike Sloat is a Director from Santa Rosa who shoots and directs music videos for major label bands from Machine Head to Stellakowalsky to Sabrina Stewart. His gifted eye for light and color in combination with his artistic puppetry makes him a highly sought after director.
Director of Photography
Jason Petri is a director and producer and owner of Roaring Mouse Productions, based in Cotati CA. He has won many awards and honors during his 20 years of video production experience. He is currently working for Wadsworth Enterprises and public television stations filming training videos and coverage of local sports events.
Still Photograpy
Brad Corman is a photographer, artist and art professor at the University of Las Vegas, NV. Corman is an experienced still and video photographer. He has traveled the globe documenting third world traditions from sacrifices and whaling to giant catfish extinction in Thailand.
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