Hello, my name is Javier Badillo, a Venezuelan-Canadian filmmaker. For the past twelve years I've been making short films that have played in festivals around the world. About five years ago I embarked on my most ambitious project yet: my first feature film, Roads of Ithriyah , a story about refugee displacement, memory, family, and the ties that bind us to our beliefs .

This labour of love has involved a small  group of passionate and tenacious film artists and technicians , who all have pulled together to make this story a reality - and we are almost done! 

From start to finish we’ve financed our movie out-of-pocket and through crowdfunding campaigns (such as this one!). The competition for Canadian independent film grants is high, even more so for first features. Twice we made it to the top running for major grants, but - as luck would have it - the buck stopped there. We didn’t let that stop us! 

Since 2016, we have raised over $12,000 dollars through crowdfunding, events, and small donations. With those funds, and amazing in-kind support from our community, we have finally finished shooting and editing the whole movie (it's looking fantastic). 

Now we have one more challenge - post-production!

We need to raise $10,000 to get our film festival-ready . The money will go toward professional sound, music, visual effects, and colour grading so that our film is polished and ready to hit the festival circuit.

The good news is that a pledge of $5,000 has already been secured through our amazing executive producers. 

Our challenge will be to match it by raising $5000 before the end of November. 

Come aboard this moving train! Make a donation to our campaign, get thank-you credits , share it with your friends and colleagues , and help us make sure this important story of our times gets finished, and seen! 

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Any donation, whether it’s $5 or $500, is a vote of confidence not only in us and our film, but in grassroots, independent film and media arts in Canada! 

Please visit our website at www.roadsofithriyah.com to watch the teaser, learn about the story, and meet the team that has made it a reality. Or, follow us on instagram: @roads.of.ithriyah and  @javier.in.the.band!

About me:

https://canadianimmigrant.ca/canadas-top-25-immigrants/canadas-top-25-immigrants-2019/javier-badillo