“Looking at it was devastating because I saw what generational trauma looks like and it’s ugly and brutal. I can’t believe it was living inside of me for so long.”
– Kerra Bolton
Inclusive Life Family, we have a goal to reach.
We have 20 days to raise $5,000!
Filmmaker and Inclusive Life friend Kerra Bolton is at a critical juncture in the production of her documentary film called RETURN OF THE BLACK MADONNA. The film involves Kerra’s journey learning how to overcome her fear of the water, to learn how to swim and ultimately map sunken ships used to carry her ancestors across the Middle Passage into enslavement.
If you look at the gorgeous video clip above, you can get a sense of the power of Kerra’s growing relationship with the water and how viscerally and spiritually it connects her to her ancestors. What you don’t see is the ways in which generational trauma is potentially derailing her from telling her story.
Last month, Kerra had to undergo an emergency hysterectomy because of fibroid tumors that had grown and multipled in her uterus. She is slowly recovering, which not only has impeded her filming progress, but drained her financial resources needed for the film. She needs $5,000 by the end of August to complete the edit of the work sample and trailer of the film to submit to grant organizations and private investors.
During her slow and painful recovery, Kerra has applied to six premiere film grants, including Sundance Documentary Film Fund, Pare Lorentz, and Points North: American Stories Documentary Fund. The applications are solid and yet Kerra believes that having a better work sample that reflects her vision and approach to the film will increase chances for future funds.
Kerra plans to include footage she shot of herself in the hospital as part of the new footage to increase awareness about the urgent need for increased health care access and advocacy for Black women when it comes to fibroids. Too many of Black women are losing their wombs and ability to bear children due to inadequate access to health care and medical misogyny.
Can you help?
Let’s break down this effort:
Please join us by leveraging your connections to take this fundraiser over the top and save Kerra the labor of having to do this alone.This FLASH FUNDRAISER is created so that Kerra has the time to heal and to experience some ease and grace to do this intense and powerful project.
You can make a tax-deductible donation through Kerra’s fiscal sponsor The Film Collaborative — https://www.thefilmcollaborative.org/fiscalsponsorship/projects/returnoftheblackmadonna. Or you can donate directly by sending a bank transfer to Kerra via Zelle or PayPal. For Venmo, please send to Kerra or to Kerra’s company, Woodbine Films LLC. Thank you!
The work we do together to support Kerra’s film could help thousands of Black women and children.
LET’S DO THIS.
Film credit: Andrew Quinn
