A call for help, round 2

Many of you have already made donations for Trevor's thesis film. Thank you SO much. We're serious when we say that every little bit helps, and we appreciate your generosity.

But, as it stands, he and his team are still nearly $6,000 short and they have a little more than a week to raise it. To remind you, a $20 donation will get you a free copy of the DVD and a VIP premiere invite. To make a donation, visit http://sandbagsfilm.com/donateform.php.

Anyway, several of you have asked to know more about the film, so here is what it's about, courtesy of Trevor:

Our main character was essentially the Alan Greenspan of Lebanon during the Lebanese civil war, which lasted from 1975-1990. He controlled interest rates, currency production, and allocation of funds during the war. This man, Edmond Naim, was close family friends with our screenwriter. He was the only governmental official who continued to function during the war. Every other official had either been disbanded or assassinated. Today he is seen as a hero in Lebanon.

Because of the violence and death threats during the war, the only way that Naim could even travel from the bank to his home every day was via the Prime Minister's helicopter. We come to the story when the Prime Minister is assassinated. The assassins placed bombs on his helicopter which, true to life, exploded just before picking up Naim on his way home for the day.

We follow Naim through his day to his decision—to the detriment of his personal and family life—to stay in the bank and continue his work. Naim, who is a devout Christian, chose to stay neutral and fund both the Christian and Muslim governments for the duration of the war. Naim could not leave his office for four years.

This timely story is, for us, about the nature of war, the nature of religious conflict. It is about economy, economic breakdown, and what role that ultimately plays in our lives. What happens when the economy fails? How can we be heroes in the face of economic devastation? We of course feel that all of these issues and themes have something to say about what is going on in the world right now. We believe deeply in the project and in our team's ability to bring it to life.

And just fyi, here are a few notable people who have come out of AFI.

Some notable AFI Directing Alumni:

Terrence Malick (Badlands, Days of Heaven, Thin Red Line, The New World, The Tree of Life)

David Lynch (Eraserhead, Dune, The Elephant Man, Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, Disney's The Straight Story, Wild at Heart, Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, Inland Empire)

Darren Aronofsky (Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler)

Todd Field (In the Bedroom, Little Children)

Cinematographers:

Janusz Kaminski (Schindler's list, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, all Spielberg's films after Schinldler's list)

Caleb Deschanel (The Black Stallion, Fly Away Home, National Treasure, The Passion of the Christ)

Fredrick Elmes (Blue Velvet, The Hulk, Moonwalker, Broken Flowers, Synecdoche, New York, The Saint of Fort Washington)

Wally Pfister (Memento, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Laurel Canyon, all of Chris Nolan's films)

Again, here are the links to the film's website (if you want to see an especially regal-looking picture of Trevor) and Facebook page if you want more information:

www.sandbagsfilm.com

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