Sayon Soeun's official transit photo taken during the Khmer Rouge regime.

Feeling like a philanthropic cinephile? If so, just give yourself a few hours to peruse Kickstarter and IndieGoGo, today’s hot crowd-funding sites. We’ve enjoyed investing a few dollars here and there on some amazing, diverse film projects, including our latest find, The Bicycle City. However, we’re quite excited to announce that the Lowell-centric documentary Child Soldier: Sayon’s Story has received FULL funding on Kickstarter and we have all of YOU to thank! So many of you have helped raise awareness for this film and its funding initiatives on your personal social networks and through word-of-mouth. We’re certain the filmmaking team — Director/Producer Janet Gardner of The Gardner Documentary Group and Co-Producer/Lowell resident Sopheap Theam — is ecstatic and ready to continue full steam ahead with this very anticipated project.

Though Child Soldier has reached its $15,000 goal, it still has just over 20 days to go until it receives funding on August 18. This means there’s still time to donate and give the filmmakers that little extra boost above and beyond their original ask. As any filmmaker will tell you, projects NEVER stay within budget — extra dollars means extra piece of mind. We’ll be right there with you as we plan on making our own pledge this week.

Here is the official synopsis of Child Soldier: Sayon’s Story, direct from its Kickstarter pledge page:

Sayon Soeun today: Cambodian activist, community supporter and Lowell resident.

There are an estimated 300,000 child soldiers worldwide. This film shows how one of them came to grips with his childhood experiences, what he witnessed, and carried with him as he came of age. Child Soldier: Sayon’s Story tells the story of a former child-soldier under Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge. Abducted at the age of six, he is now a community activist in Lowell, Massachusetts. Sayon Soeun appears to be living the Khmer-American dream alongside his wife, her extended family, and a thriving Khmer community. However, painful questions persist concerning the years he spent under the brutal authority of the Khmer Rouge. After 35 years of absence, he recently made contact with three brothers and a sister he had assumed were dead. Sayon will follow up when he returns to Cambodia where he will search for the truth about a family he barely remembers and come to terms with his own experiences as a witness to genocidal crimes. He will be able to appreciate his cultural heritage, looted by the Khmer Rouge – the magnificent temples of Angkor.

We are great admirers of our dear friend Sayon, as are so many people here in the City of Lowell, which boasts the second highest Cambodian population right behind Long Beach, California. Supporting independent film is one of THE most rewarding things any motion picture fan can do — we hope you’ll be inspired to learn more about this admirable project, AND be inspired to contribute. Our sincerest thanks, and stay tuned for further updates as production continues!

As its September 25 release date draws near (despite what’s on the poster above), the excitement for The Invention of Lying continues to build. Word has it that the first theater-based trailers ran with Bruno, but since that film went down like a lead weight, it’s likely that the volume of potential viewers wasn’t as large as expected.

Nevertheless, there is now a poster and a web site for the film, and YouTube has about 85 different user-uploaded versions of the trailer (all the same…why does YouTube allow that????). The world premiere of The Invention of Lying will be September 14 at the Toronto International Film Festival , and we here at the LFC are going to continue hoping that the city of Lowell will get some sort of special premiere…especially given that our town is the backdrop of the film.

We’ll do our best to keep you posted as we hear more.

If so, it appears we will all have to wait until the fall to see Lowell splashed across US cinema screens. In the meantime, perhaps we will see more talent scouts in town – as the weather warms, Lowell’s undeniable beauty reveals itself.

This Side of the Truth (TSOT) official release date:   
FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2009

Check it, folks. These links don’t lie: 

Boxofficeprophets.com  
Comingsoon.net   
Themovieinsider.com

In case you don’t know why this news is extraordinary, This Side of the Truth created all the buzz this past spring when Brit director and the film’s chief funny man Ricky Gervais chose to shoot his film right in the heart of DTL (with some shots in Andover and Boston). 

Here is an on-the-scene report that took place with filming began, courtesy of WCVB Channel 5 (as seen on YouTube):
This Side of the Truth/Channel 5 Report 

The Lowell Film Collaborative was there during shooting, of course, and rumor has it that LFC co-founder Brett Cromwell was selected as an official extra for the film. (Hey! The rumor is true, my friends!) 

If anyone reading this knows of any official trailers out there for TSOT, please let us know! We’re hoping Mr. C made it into some key scenes.

For now, visit Ricky Gervais’ official blog site for TSOT. Check in with it regularly if you don’t already: http://www.rickygervais.com/thissideofthetruth.php

The following photos were taken by the LFC during filming. Exciting stuff!

TSOT film crew sets up for media interviews in DTL

TSOT director/star Ricky Gervais sits in this car waiting for "action"

TSOT film crew sets up to shoot inside The Dubliner

TSOT cast & crew used Leo G. Roy garage for parking during filming

TSOT transforms DTL bank building