We are raising funds to complete our latest short film, ‘175’. We would love for you to join our campaign, support us and be part of an incredible filmmaking journey.

‘175’ is a 22-minute live action film, shot in Kent, England in spring 2023. The film is currently in the post-production phase. We aim to finish this film with the highest production standards possible. We consider ourselves lucky to have some of the most talented crew in our team. We are so close to the finish line and your contribution can make that happen.

We have put a short animation together to showcase the story and our ambitions for this film.

175 – The story:

‘175’ is the number of British MPs who voted against same-sex marriage in March 1st, 2013.

The film focuses on the life of a couple, Juliet and Ruth who are in their late 50s. They are waiting for the British Parliament to pass a bill to legalise same-sex marriage, so they can get married. But they are racing against time as Juliet suffers from a terminal illness and doesn't have long to live.

‘175’ is a dramatisation inspired by true events. All the characters portrayed in the film are played by actors except where archival footage is used. The names and people in the archival footage are real, but the scenes, characters and dialogues have been created for dramatic impact.

Why is this film worth making?

2013 is a historic year in the right of LGBT community in the UK. England and Wales joined a small number of countries that had already legalised same-sex marriage.

Whilst ‘175’ is not a political film, it is important that we recognise the political will and many years of campaigning that made this dream a reality. That is why it is important that we recognise the importance of equal rights of the LGBT community in the UK and celebrate, promote, and protect it.

By the time this film gets made and edited, it will be 10 years since the bill was passed by the parliament. So the timing couldn’t be better to get together, pick up a camera and get this film made.

With a real historical backdrop, ‘175’ aims to tell an important story. It portrays the importance of the LGBT right movements, not just in the UK but also around the world and reminds us that the battle to equal rights is far from finished in many countries.

175 is a film about love and mortality. It is intimate, personal, and poignant.

Who are we?

We are a group of experienced filmmakers with an established track record in the film industry. The core crew members have won several film awards. We are a diverse team from different backgrounds; we value our diversity, and we believe that is our key strength.

The Cast

Lizzy McInnerny - Ruth

Lizzy will be playing the lead role in '175'. She is best known for her roles in The Crown, London Spy, Peaky Blinders, The White Queen and Peterloo.

Suzanna Hamilton

Suzanna played the role of Julia in the 1984 film adaptation of George Orwell's classic novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four. Her other film roles include Tess, Brimstone and Treacle, Wetherby, and Out of Africa.

Francesca Zoutewelle - Christina

Francesca trained at RADA and won the Laurence Olivier Bursary 2012. Her screen credits include Mike Leigh’s Mr Turner, and Agatha Raisin (Sky1).

Kasra Karimi – writer and director

An Iranian-British and London based multi award-winning filmmaker and artist, Kasra studied film directing at Bristol University in 2010. Since then, he has collaborated with several award-winning film and television production houses across the UK and US. In 2012, he joined BBC and ever since he has been working on many critically acclaimed films that have reached millions of audiences across the globe.

In 2016, Kasra founded Stranger Than Paradise Production, an independent film company dedicated to art house cinema and indie filmmaking.

Kasra previously directed The 8th Person (2009), The Time Machine (2011), Trials of An Impure Heart (2011), Far From Any Home (2014) and A Pinprick of Light (2018).

Kasra’s latest film A Pinprick of Light has won 16 awards in international film festivals and was part of Cannes Film Festival, Short Film Corner in 2018 and an official selection at the Bafta and Oscar qualifying festival, LA Shorts. The film is currently available on Amazon Prime Video for streaming. Find out more about Kasra here: www.KasraKarimi.co.uk

Arushi Chugh - Director of Photography

Arushi is a director of photography from India, currently based in the UK. A recent graduate from Cinematography program from the National Film and Television School, she has shot on film (16mm and 35mm) and digital mediums across short films, commercials, tv pilots and documentaries.

Narratives that look at the layered relationships of characters on the periphery of society at a moment of transition are of particular interest to Arushi. Imagery that depicts the intricacies of mood, emotion and relationships through a symbolic approach to framing and lighting excites her.

Some of the projects she has worked on have had a tremendous response at film festivals. 'Dragged Up'  was shortlisted for Best British Film at Iris Prize, broadcast on Film4 and available on All4 for a year. It has also received an honorable mention at  Outshine Film Festival, selected for Encounters Film Festival among others. 'Do Not Feed The Pigeons' won the BAFTA for Best Animation. 'Flavours Without Borders' was nominated for the Royal Television Society Award, New Voices Award at Edinburgh TV Festival and shortlisted at Series Fest.

Alan Snelling – Composer

With more than 4 decades of experience in the film industry, Alan has worked on some of the most iconic films in the history of cinema. He has worked on films such as Silence of the Lambs, Naked Lunch and BBC’s Sherlock. He previously collaborated on A Pinprick of Light with Kasra and received two nominations for best music.

Find out more about Alan here:

http://www.up4loud.com/

Simon Ekrelius - Costume Designer

Simon is a Swedish costume designer based in London. 

Simon has designed for BBC, Channel 4 and svereal successful films including Sound of Fear, The Power of one Coin. 

You can find out about Simon here.

Jane Frisby – Casting Director

Jane has been a freelance Casting Director for over 30 years, initially casting TV commercials for Directors including Graham Rose, Daniel Barber, Steve Lowe, Steve Reeves, and Ronnie West. She is still extremely passionate about Casting, and visits the Theatre extremely frequently searching for new Talent.

Lee Viesnik – Sound Recordist

Lee has been a production sound recordist for over five years and has worked on many short films, eleven feature films and several documentaries. His ultimate mission is to capture great production sound and ensure no ADR has to be recorded later.

This is his second collaboration with Kasra. They previously worked on A Pinprick of Light, a short film that heavily relied on sound. 

Stranger Than Paradise Productions

Stranger Than Paradise Productions is a boutique production company based in west London that will produce ‘175’.

Founded by Kasra in 2016, Stranger Than Paradise has collaborated with some of the most famous broadcasters in the UK including BBC and Channel 4.

The company also produced the multi award winning film A Pinprick of Light back in 2018.

Find out more about Stranger Than Paradise Productions here: https://www.stppros.com/

What will ‘175’ look like?

How do you portray a sense of despair? What does a race against time look like? How does one picture a gradual sense of loss?

These are the motifs that we explored in A Pinprick of Light and this time we are digging deeper. Greatly inspired by the work of cinematography masters such as Christopher Doyle, Darius Khondji and Emmanuel Lubezki who all have portrayed sense of longing, nostalgia, and the burden of memory in collaboration with visionary directors like Terrence Malick, Gus Van Sant and Wong Kar-Wai, we are determined to tell a cinematically accomplished story.

Unconventional framing to imply that the characters are trapped in circumstances beyond their control, subtle yet provoking camera movements and saturated lighting with different hues across the frame are some of the techniques that we like to employ to tell the story of ‘175’.

Where will your contributions go?

We are committed to produce a film to high standards. So, it is crucial that every penny of the funds is spent efficiently. Your contributions will go towards:

• Post-Production
• Music composing by the legendry Alan Snelling
• Camera and light equipment rental.
• Casting.
• Production (Set design and decoration, props, crew, transport and catering).
• Locations.
• Crowdfunding and banking fees, plus the production and delivery of rewards

What you get,

In return for your generous contribution, we want to offer something that is exciting, relevant, and popular. We wanted to pick perks that make you feel like a part of this production family.

So simply head to the right-hand side of this page, choose a reward, click it and you’re nearly there!

Other ways you can help

We hope we’ve convinced you that this is a project worth supporting. If you don’t feel able to contribute financially but you’d still like to help us, the best way to do so is to spread the word.

• Talk about this project to friends, family, colleagues.
• Use social media and Greenlit’s share tools to help spread the word.
• Mention our campaign to businesses that might know someone who can support and sponsor us.
• If you can provide in-kind products or services such as food and drink, transport, props, location or even donating extra perks for this campaign, we would love to hear from you.

If you have any questions, please drop Kasra a line and he’ll get back to you right away: Kasra@STPPros.com

FAQs

When will the film be made and published?

'175' was filmed in March and April 2023 and is currently in the post-production phase. We hope to finish the film by the end of summer 2023 when it will be ready to be submitted to film festivals.

What will you do with the film once it gets made?

With short films it comes the challenge of promoting and commercialising. The film will be submitted to world’s top film festivals. Once the film festival circuit is over, we will publish the film on Amazon Prime Video. That is guaranteed as Stranger Than Paradise Productions is an official Amazon Prime’s partner and content creator.

If I contribute to the funding of the film, will I be able to come to the production set?

While a visit to the film set is only guaranteed for Executive Producer perk, we encourage you to contact us after your contribution and we will do our best to accommodate having you on the set, however that is not guaranteed.

What will you do with any extra funds raised?

We would very much welcome that. Any extra funds will help us to make the film look super professional, to a point that no one would notice that this is a micro-budget film. Any extra funds will help to hire more professionals on the set, hire better equipment, have a dedicated steadicam operator, make the film look and sound even better and promote the film more widely. We would love to have a casting director too if the budget allows.

Is this the only crowdfunding campaign for this film?

No, we are aiming to run a separate campaign for the post-productions. The funds raised in the second campaign will go towards editing, colour grading, sound editing and mixing, composing original music and promotion.

How can I promote the film crowdfunding campaign?

Share the love, spread the work and post online. Tell your family and friends about our film. Tweet or Facebook about our film and share a link tour crowdfunding page and don’t forget to include #175shortfilm