How many times have you felt inadequate as you looked at a perfectly airbrushed model in a magazine or on television?
In her documentary “The Illusionists,” Italian filmmaker Elena Rossini promises to reveal the way “mass media, advertising, and several industries manipulate people’s insecurities about their bodies for profit,” according to the project’s Twitter page.
According to the July 5 press release for the movie, “‘The Illusionists’ will include information and testimonies from sociologists, historians, advertising executives, magazine editors, scientists and authors” and “will trace the evolution of beauty ideals through the centuries and will examine the economic motives behind the marketing of unattainable beauty.”
While the film is not slotted to begin filming until September, “The Illusionists” is already an ongoing project with a large presence on Facebook and Twitter as well as a popular blog.
The immense support “Illusionists” is already receiving is apparent in the film’s fundraising efforts. “Illusionists” will be funded using Kickstarter, a website that sets a timeframe to meet a fundraising goal and allows anyone who finds the project to donate $10 or more. The Illusionists has raised more than half of its $33,000 fundraising goal in only 15 days, and hopes to meet that goal by August 5.
Rossini is funding the film independently “So that I can be in control and make sure that the film’s message won’t be diluted or dumbed down,” she said in a blog post.
Rossini, the film’s writer, director and co-producer, has made several other films. She also started the website No Country For Young Women, a multimedia project that shares the stories of successful career women.
“I find it preposterous that in 2011 women are still considered a minority, despite the fact that we are half the world’s population,” Rossini told the blog Already Gorgeous.
The film will not focus only on women, however. Rossini cites body anxiety in men and boys as one of the reasons she is making the film.
The ultimate goal of “The Illusionists,” according to the press release, is “for the documentary to become an educational tool, making viewers empowered consumers of media.”
Think this is a project worth supporting? Learn more at the “Illusionists” website. Then, follow “The Illusionists” on Twitter, like “The Illusionists” on Facebook, or contribute to the film’s fundraising goals on Kickstarter!
