Introducing “LIGHT” a new film in progress
Dear Supporter,
On behalf of production partners Lenora Lee Dance, Innocent Eyes and Lenses Films, and Asian Improv aRts, I invite your participation in the creation of a new film by celebrated film director Tatsu Aoki and me entitled “Light”. Inspired by the life of Bessie M. Lee (–b. 1894), who, after migrating to New York City, spent two years in indentured servitude, “Light” is a film in which dance, memory, music and poetry collide in a visual and aural landscape; a meditation on women being propelled into the unknown by courage and faith to risk their lives and everything they have for freedom.
In “Light”, Aoki and I will weave together this powerful and evocative story highlighting the lives of women, including Bessie M. Lee and Miriam Chou Jean, who were at the forefront of the early New York Chinatown community, who through the resilience and triumph over unimaginable experiences, were grounding forces in the creation of this community in the early 1900s. We would be honored if you would consider a contribution to the realization of this important project.
At the $1,000 donor level, you will help cover the costs of:
– artist fees for the dancers and martial artists performing in the upcoming film shoots
At the $2,500 donor level, you will help cover the costs of:
– the three cinematographers fees for the upcoming film shoots
– the producer’s fee to organize
At the $5,000 donor level, you will help cover the costs of:
– the director’s fee to design and direct the film shoots, work with cinematographers and editing personnel
At the $10,000 donor level, you will help cover the costs of:
– post-production editing of the film
– a color and sound correction specialist
– graphic design for the packaging of the DVD and Soundtrack
– costs of compression to DVD and Blu-ray
– production of 100 film and soundtrack packages
You will receive credit in the film, verbal recognition at the screenings, and an advance copy of the DVD. Those donating at $5,000 and above will be named “Associate Producer” in the film credits.
You are contributing to a film that has impact on the arts, Asian American and human rights communities, pushing the relevance of this socially conscious work as a catalyst for generations to come. We look forward to your participation and are deeply grateful for your support! – Lenora
“History matters in the work we do,” says Cindy Liou, staff attorney and coordinator of the Human Trafficking Project at Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach. “The narratives of people who are marginalized and exploited are important, and these issues are here and present. To have someone visually display with dance what people are going through is very powerful. Lee’s work lets people identify with what these women have had to go through, the psychological oppression and manipulation involved in trafficking as well as the physical.”
“Lee’s kaleidoscopic dance views can be visually arresting.”- Mary Ellen Hunt, San Francisco Chronicle 2012
“I can’t think of any choreographer who has taken an approach as simultaneously intimate and large scale as Lenora Lee. In her work, the personal and the political intertwine inextricably.”- Rita Felciano, San Francisco Bay Guardian 2012
Lenora Lee Dance is sponsored by Asian Improv aRts, a non-profit tax-exempt organization – EIN: 91-2063104. All donations are fully deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Contributions can be made by credit card here or by check. Please mail your check (payable to Asian Improv aRts), noting on the memo line “for Lenora Lee Dance/Light” sending with it this completed card to:
Lenora Lee, P.O. Box 22542, San Francisco, CA 94122
If you have questions or would like further information feel free to email LenoraLeeDance@gmail.com. Thank you so much for your support!
