As the year winds down and we’re suffused with holiday cheer (and perhaps making donations to our favorite causes), it’s a good time for film fans to take a look at some movies that need help getting made, ones we might not necessarily hear about otherwise.

For many a low-budget indie filmmaker, Kickstarter, Indiegogo and other crowdfunding sites have become the way to get it done – or at least try to get it done. (Actually, some not-so-low budget films, including Zack Braff’s Wish I Was Here and Spike Lee’s Da Sweet Blood of Jesus, were both made with money – $3.1 million and $1.4 million, respectively – raised via Kickstarter, but those are exceptions.) Offering potential backers several donation tiers that pay back perks ranging from a thank-you postcard and link to the finished product to set visits and a night out with the cast and crew, these campaigns are not only a way for films to get made, but for fans to become a part of something cool and exciting.

There are many worthwhile films seeking funds on a variety of crowdsourcing platforms (over 600 film and video projects on Kickstarter alone). Here is just a sampling of interesting-looking projects on Kickstarter and Indiegogo, several of them based right here in New York City, with campaigns that are currently open. The list includes both documentary and narrative films in various stages of production, from pre- to post. They range from fairly sophisticated endeavors with principals who have significant industry experience to scrappy first-time efforts. Check them out and get inspired.

Kickstarter:

Downstream
Written and directed by Brooklyn-based brothers Dylan and Dakota PF, this short SciFi film incorporates themes of climate change, environmental decay and cybernetics to tell the story of a young woman who becomes a cyborg at the hands of a malicious doctor. The brothers’ pitch video is especially entertaining.

A Woman, A Part

A Woman, A Part
Director/writer Elizabeth Subrin’s feature-length drama stars Maggie Siff (Mad Men, Sons of Anarchy) as a successful but stifled actress who breaks down on the set of her LA-based TV series, and returns home to her old Brooklyn apartment to try to regain herself. Also starring the fantastic Cara Seymour (The Knick) and other actor/performer/artist luminaries.

Cancion sin Nombre (Song Without a Name)
Melina León’s first feature film, shot in black and white, concerns child trafficking in 1980s Lima, Peru. It was inspired by a true story about a young mother who loses her newborn and the journalist who investigates the case.

1, 2, 3 You Please
Though primarily known as an actor (The Master, Fargo), Josh Close is also a filmmaker whose directorial feature debut follows a young woman struggling to maintain her life while dealing with OCD. Close, who plays the protagonist’s love interest, was inspired by his own bout with the condition.

Fight Mom
Sean Menard’s documentary shows the life of Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Waterson, a pro mixed martial arts fighter who balances the incredible demands of her sport with those of motherhood, as she pursues membership in the UFC’s newly-formed MMA division for women.

Indiegogo:

Hunky Dory

Hunky Dory
Michael Curtis Johnson’s dramedy stars co-writer Tomas Pais as Sidney, an L.A. rocker/drag queen who suddenly has to raise his young son full-time. (The film will premiere at Slamdance 2016.)

Unmasked: A Bout with Schizophrenia
Michael Dote’s documentary details his battle with schizophrenia and charts his return to the sport of fencing – and rebuilding his life in general – after several traumatic years.

Nomad Meets the City
This documentary, made by a team of activists based in Ulaanbaatar, tells three different stories of Mongolian nomads who leave their rural, millennia-old way of life to pursue opportunities in the city. This ongoing migration is transforming the country’s culture.

A Footnote in Ballet History?
Parisian-based Egyptian director Hisham Abdel Khalek shows us the little-known history of ballet in Egypt in his documentary about Magda Saleh, the celebrated prima ballerina of the Cairo Ballet Company in the 1960s.

Loudmouth

Loudmouth
Steven Reneau and Amman Abbasi’s narrative feature concerns the life of a 12-year-old boy who is initiated into a local Arkansas gang after dealing with personal tragedy. They have completed filming, but seek funding for editing, sound mixing, color correction and soundtrack composition.

Happy Holidays!!

—Marina Zogbi