Congratulations to all our partners who have successfully completed your projects — we are honored to have been part of your journey!
We look forward to adding to this list!
Acting Like Women: Performance Art and the Woman’s Building by Cheri Galke
Directed by Cheri Gaulke this documentary revisits the California feminist art movement of the 1970s and 1980s. In 1970, women artists flocked to California, heading west from all over the country like pioneers of another era. What they discovered – at Fresno State, then CalArts, then downtown Los Angeles – was a place where women were valued. At the time women’s art was rarely exhibited in galleries and museums. Artists from diverse communities organized, creating spaces of their own. The Woman’s Building, a transformed warehouse in downtown Los Angeles, declared itself a “public center for women’s culture.” There women created community, made art from their own experience and in doing so, gave birth to a new kind of art. The Woman’s Building was an incubator for new art forms and practices – feminist performance art, ritual, collaboration, social engagement and media interventions. Feminist performance art redefined form and content, brought art out of the rarified gallery and museum scene into the streets, diverse communities, and directly into people’s lives.
Inside the Beauty Bubble by Cheryl Bookout and Cheri Gaulke
Inside the Beauty Bubble is a short documentary film that follows beauty salon and museum founder, Jeff Hafler, through the seasons leading up to an exciting culminating event at the San Francisco International Airport’s new Harvey Milk Terminal – with an anticipated audience of people from all over the world! Our story shares the life and times of Hafler and his Beauty Bubble salon and museum situated in Joshua Tree, California.
Filmmakers Cheryl Bookout and Cheri Gaulke were driving through Central California on their way home from the 2019 Nevada City Film Festival. Their short documentary film, Gloria’s Call, directed by Gaulke and produced by Bookout, had just won the Audience Award at the festival. Bookout and Gaulke were talking about all the film projects they each wanted to make and Inside the Beauty Bubble was on the top of their list!
FURSTWURLD
An organization dedicated to working in partnership with community and like-minded organizations to strengthen awareness, accessibility and deeper appreciation of art, ideas and cultures.
Photo of Ondi Timoner by Svetlana Cvetko.
The Chimaera Project was pleased to act as a fiscal sponsor for Furstwurld located in Joshua Tree, CA as they await their official nonprofit status. An example of one of their cinema programs: Furstwurld Cinema hosted the regional premiere of Ondi Timoner’s MAPPLETHORPE, a narrative biopic of the transgressive ’70s photographer and cultural icon who died of complications from HIV/AIDS in 1989 at the age of 42. Starring Matt Smith as Robert Mapplethorpe and Marianne Rendón as partner and muse Patti Smith, the film remains largely unseen in its original form. Ondi Timoner is an American filmmaker and the founder and CEO of Interloper Films, a full-service production company located in Pasadena, California. More about Furstwurld here.
F-Word: The Little Big Film That Could by Heidi Schnappauf
Mike Gallagher is just an average, All-American guy. Engaged to the love of his life and teaching middle school English, his life is as happy as can be. Mike has everything going for him, but he could lose it all when his secret is exposed. What starts out as just another Sunday matinee performance at his local theatre sets his world spinning. When a picture of Mike gets plastered all over the school, he quickly learns that not all of the parents at Woodward West Middle School appreciate his talent for dressing up in women’s clothes. Now, with his job on the line, Mike learns his fiancé is going to have a baby, and of all of the F-words he’s been called, “father” is the one that scares him most. “F-Word” is a story about love, acceptance, understanding and support. Accepting that everyone is different — whether we like it or not, understanding that we don’t have to understand why, and loving and supporting the people we care about most with all the quirks that make them special and unique. “F-Word” helps us find and celebrate the extraordinary in everyone, including ourselves. Find your inner sparkle with “F-Word” and Mike, an average, All-American guy — who likes to sing and strut in heels. Support this project through their Kickstarter campaign here!
Shevolution by Minerva Vier
Shevolution is a dramedy that takes an unfiltered look at the life of a domestic abuse survivor who struggles with PTSD as she attempts to live a happy life.
Director’s Statement
Making this film has been a dream of mine since I realized that my artistic passion and talents lie in creating art that advocate for social justice. As an actress-screenwriter-producer, I work on projects that deal with volatile issues that need to be brought to light such as domestic violence and mental illness (two of the main themes in Shevolution). Support Shevolution through their Seed & Spark campaign here.
About the Director
Originally from Cebu, Philippines, Minerva Vier is a multiracial actor, scriptwriter-producer, voiceover artist, dancer and sketch comedienne. She received her BFA in Film Studies from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and an MFA in Theater Arts at The Actors Studio Drama School in New York. As an actor, Minerva has appeared on TV (DICE, NEW GIRL, YOUNG & THE RESTLESS, GENERAL HOSPITAL), in live theaters (CENTER THEATRE GROUP, CASA 0101, PLAYWRIGHTS’ ARENA, LATINO THEATER COMPANY). As a writer, Minerva has penned the TV pilot script SHEVOLUTION (Winner at The Screenplay Festival 2018), has written and produced plays (STATESIDE GIRLS, UTERINE, LUCKY: AN AMERICAN BURLESQUE TRAGEDY), as well as short films (THE SPECIALS, HER MAN) and the award-winning web series, WINGIN’ IT. Occasionally, you can also see her &/or hear her unique voice on TV commercials.
La Ruta by Star Victoria
A USC MFA narrative thesis film following a mother & daughter to U.S. border as they try to survive Mexico’s infamous Route of Death.
Director’s Statement
Guatemala, the second most populated country in Central America has a long history of devastating violence, political instability, and poverty that has led to a mass exodus of its people starting from the late 1970’s. Sixty percent of the nation lives in destitution, and the expanding criminal activity, along with the political turmoil, demonstrate a society where violence, rape, murder, and extortion overwhelm numerous lives. These people face issues that are too ridiculous for us to comprehend. They are so helpless and desperate to escape these horrifying conditions that they willfully travel 2,653 miles on foot, or by whatever means necessary, into Mexico’s extremely dangerous terrain to try and reach the U.S. border. Read more here.
About the Director
Star Victoria graduated Cum Laude from Georgia State University. She was awarded the prestigious Mary Pickford scholarship to attend USC to obtain her MFA in Film and Television Production. Star was the only incoming student to direct three short films in her 1st semester. Star is currently a Director mentee in the Ryan Murphy Half Initiative Director Diversity Program where she shadowed veteran director Loni Peristere on an episode of Fox’s Scream Queens. Star is also an invaluable 1st Assistant Director and recently worked on a Doha Institute, Sundance backed Feature Film, Marjoun and The Flying Headscarf. Star is also a Director Mentee of Executive Producer and Director Mike Listo, and Directors John Singleton & Robert Townsend.
