We can all agree that bike culture is a positive development for our urban environments, but we can also agree that it’s a phenomenon that’s been largely monopolized by upper-middle class white folks pushing their way into our traditional neighborhoods. That is, until the Ovarian Psycos came along. Based out of L.A.’s hardscrabble Latino neighborhoods of East L.A. and Boyle heights, Ovarian Psycos is a group of bike-wielding hood feminists who are flipping the script on bike culture and infusing it with some radical, intersectionalist, indigenista feminism.
That’s a lot to take in, but filmmakers Joanna Sokolowski and Kate Trumbull-LaValle have done us all the favor of riding along with the Ovarian Psycos in order to understand what led to the group’s formation and what it means to different members. Aptly entitled Ovarian Psycos (why would you need to call it anything else?), the documentary takes on three subjects: founder Xela de la X, artist and ambitious rider Andi, and newcomer Evie as they take their activism to the streets and struggle with the legacy of the violence they’ve lived in their own lives.
But the film isn’t quite done. As the filmmakers prepare for a prestigious world premiere at the 2016 South By Southwest Film Festival, they also need to tie up some loose production ends, including sound mix, color correction, and all that unglamorous but necessary post-production work. What’s more, they want to bring along the Ovarian Psycos crew to share in a recognition they deserve every bit as much as the filmmakers. And all this costs money. But don’t fret, you still have a few days to contribute to the Ovarian Psycos Kickstarter campaign.
Sokolowski and Trumbull-LaValle are trying to raise $20,000 to cover these final expenses and get the film to the SXSW viewing public with a bow on it. In a time where the narrow reach of “white feminism” has been exposed for all its limitations, these types of films become more and more necessary to redefine what it means to be a feminist for women of color from working class backgrounds. Kickstarter has even gone so far as to highlight the project as a “project we love,” helping fight the good fight for these urgent Latino stories.
“We’re especially proud to be able to help spotlight the story of the “Ovas” and their mission to curb violence in East L.A.” says Liz Cook, Kickstarter’s Documentary Outreach Lead. “From creators such as Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna raising funds for their traveling doc festival Ambulante, Cinema Fantasma’s beautiful crafted stop motion animation project Revoltoso, to stunning documentaries such as Memorias del Fuego and Democrazy, Kickstarter continues to be a platform that celebrates a diversity of voices and Latino subjects.”
Now it’s time for us to do our part to make sure these stories get told.
This project will only be funded if the $20k goal is reached by Thursday, March 3, 2016 at 10:42 a.m. ET.