USA Projects

**1/3 of Lost Division is already shot. We are seeking funds to finish the film**

10 or so years ago, my next door neighbor, a veteran, told me about going AWOL in Europe to be with a French woman during WWII. This story stuck with me for several years and was revived upon learning that an estimated 20,000 U.S. soldiers did the same thing in Europe towards the end of the war. This was the starting point for Lost Division, and I felt that approaching this subject from a psychological standpoint, specifically through trauma, was the way to go. My work has always, to some degree, dealt with attempting to recreate certain states of mind on screen, so this seemed like the right project for my second feature.

Lost Division is being shot on super-16mm film. Much care has been put into creating the right textures of image and sound to create the necessary psychological tone. The film follows an army chaplain who’s main duty it is to bury bodies. After a series of horrific events culminating in the burial of his own assistant, the chaplain goes AWOL, meeting up with a soldier with head trauma and a shell-shocked 16mm combat cameraman. As with How the Fire Fell, my first feature, the film will be visually driven with little dialog. Through the various forms of trauma experienced by the characters, themes of loss, longing, heartbreak, and escapism will be explored. The story will unfold in a poetic, dream-like post-traumatic haze. The usual clichés of the WWII genre will be avoided, giving us a unique approach to an old subject.

The minimum fundraising goal is just enough to cover production costs such as film stock, processing, transfer, wardrobe, props, sets, catering, housing, transportation, equipment rentals, and insurance. Going over the minimum goal will allow me the possibility to better pay my cast and crew for their hard work, as well as to spend more post-production studio time mastering the sound elements. Going all the way up to the maximum goal will afford me the ability to fully promote the film, getting it out to as wide an audience as possible by Fall of 2013, in time for the big Winter festival submission deadlines. These costs are significant and I have set a modest, realistic maximum amount that will allow me to produce and print promo materials, submit to festivals around the world, and travel to these festivals for further promotions.

Thank you so much for taking time to consider this proposal. I hope you can make a donation of any amount, and to help me get the word out to as many people as possible. Please share this page with as many people as possible. I will not be able to finish this film without your help. It is greatly appreciated and immensely helpful.

-Sincerely,

Edward P. Davee