An Update After a Long Time...

To the amazing supporters of Paper Crane - what a whirlwind the past 2 1/2 years have been.  I last left off from the Lens for Change film festival in Mexico City, which was an amazing experience.  Our cinematographer and my longtime friend, Alfie Alcantara was able to meet me there - in his hometown!  Paper Crane brought home 1st place!  It was an honor to screen alongside passionate and visionary filmmakers from around the world.  I was grateful for the opportunity to give a seminar about Rape Culture and harassment during the week of the festival.  

Over the following several months back in Chicago, this seminar grew into the workshops for Sexual Harassment, I developed and got to lead for the IATSE Local Studio Mechanics  #476 Union.
Around this time, Paper Crane was selected to screen at the World of Women Film Festival in Dubai - and I booked my ticket to attend the festival.  
Unfortunately, I never made it to Dubai - I was severely injured in a major car accident just weeks before the festival, and now, almost 2 years later, I am still working through that recovery.

Personally, I believe that everything happens for a reason and my experience after the car accident has had a silver lining.  In working through the trauma from the accident, past traumas, such as multiple sexual assaults, and childhood trauma were brought up for me.  In the past almost-2-years, I have delved deep into my own trauma healing journey, as well as the neurological science behind trauma and its effects on the brain and body.  It has been a difficult experience, but a powerful one and an expansive one.  

That brings me to my final announcement here today.  I have decided to create a Resources for Trauma Survivors section here on our website that will include videos of me discussing my favorite resources and my own trauma healing journey, downloadable PDFs with more information, and hotline info for those in crisis.  I will ALSO be releasing the film, Paper Crane publicly online for the first time - here on the website, as well as on our Vimeo and Youtube channels.  I welcome comments and thoughts on the film on both channels as well as on the Paper Crane IMDB profile - I made this film to open up a more honest dialogue about rape and sexual assault, and I hope that inspires all of you to do the same.
Stay tuned for more updates soon.
With love and gratitude,
Christine