Film

Brasslands

• Adventure
• Authentic
• Fascinating

WE DID IT! THE CAMPAIGN HAS SUCCESSFULLY ENDED - THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT!

Thank you so much for the outpouring of support in the last few days!  Every penny will be put towards making this collective dream possible.

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AN INTRODUCTION

At a time when the world is fractured, the story of Brasslands proves that we are more alike than we are different. The film provides an intimate, sometimes raucous, and fascinating glimpse into the modern American cultural landscape and its collision with the hills of Serbia -- a politically-charged region with rich, personal stories that will touch and inspire audiences.

Deeply committed to this project, 15 members of the Meerkat Media Collective have been donating our time over the last year and a half to make this film. Having already wrapped shooting, we are now at a critical moment in post-production and editing. This fundraising drive will enable us to finish the film for a 2012 festival premiere.

So if you love Balkan music, or have ever been moved by music -- the power it gives to communities, and the feeling of hope that it brings -- please read on for more about who we are, this project, and how you can help to bring this vision to life to share with the world.

With love and sincere thanks,
Meerkat Media Collective


WHAT’S AT STAKE

STATUS: Principal photography was completed in September of 2010, amounting to roughly 300 hours of raw footage, half shot in Serbia, half in the United States. Post-production has been ongoing since getting back from Serbia, and we’re planning to spend four months editing full-time in summer/fall 2011, in order to have a festival premiere in the spring of 2012.

YOUR PLEDGES:  We are able to create high-quality films with very little outside financial support due to our uniquely collaborative organizational structure. Our committed co-writers, shooters and editors generously donate their time, and sharing the workload allows us to maintain other jobs. However, at critical moments, outside funds are required.

This current $10k goal will get us through the crucial phase of finishing a rough cut -- by far the most challenging and time intensive part of the documentary process.


THE FILM
Brasslands is a character-driven feature documentary about the power of music to inform our identities, unite communities, and reach across political borders. Set against the backdrop of the loud and colorful spectacle of the Guča trumpet festival -- Europe's wildest party and best kept musical secret -- it features an ensemble cast who converge at the festival’s 50th anniversary.

At the center is Zlatne Uste, the band at the forefront of the Balkan music scene in the U.S. For 27 years, this band, and the quirky community that has sprung up around it, has been central to the lives of its members, none of whom are professional musicians or have Balkan heritage. In 1987, they made front page news in Yugoslavia for being the first Americans to ever play at Guča and the only band to feature a woman. Now, they are staging their return to Serbia to represent the U.S. in Guča's first international competition, nearly a decade after NATO bombed Belgrade.

Across the ocean, the tiny town of Guča prepares for the arrival of half a million devoted fans with national pride and nervous energy. Zoran Ivanovic, a lumberjack, hosts travelers at a make-shift hostel, and like many of his neighbors, will make most of his yearly income during the festival. 25-year-old Dejan Petrovic, the youngest “master trumpeter” in Serbian history, and reigning Guča champion, returns to defend his title, and Demiran Ćerimović, a world-class Roma trumpeter, struggles against deeply ingrained racism for the opportunity to make money for his family.

At the heart of this historic convergence is the music itself. Songs with a multiplicity of meanings, whose melodies and driving rhythms have survived war and cultural globalization, provide evidence that in the midst of the world’s fractured politics, there is a universal human need for an expression of identity and belonging.


THE MAKERS
Meerkat Media Collective is a self-organized community of media makers committed to creating innovative and thought-provoking films through consensus process and shared authorship. Since 2005, we have produced and distributed over twenty short films and two features. Our first feature documentary, Stages, won Best Documentary and Audience Award when it premiered at the HBO New York International Latino Film Festival. Brasslands will be our second feature documentary.


THE MUSIC
Balkan brass music plays a lead role in Brasslands, from hip marching bands recorded live throughout New York City, virtuosic Roma bands who had previously never been recorded, to fiery Serbian trumpeters that echo from mountaintops. Featured American bands include: Zlatne Uste, Slavic Soul Party!, Veveritse Brass Band, and Raya Brass Band. Featured Serbian bands include: Dejan Petrovic, Marko Markovic, Goran Bregovic, and Demiran Ćerimović.


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