Crowd-funding is the new buzzword of indie cinema. Whether it's The Tunnel or Senses of Cinema -- or even the 1,000 pound crowd-funding gorilla that is Iron Sky -- new movie-related projects seeking funding from fans are being unearthed every day.
The latest to have come across my desk is Paramedico, a documentary filmed by Benjamin Gilmour while he was researching and writing a book of the same name.
Gilmour first came on my radar with his excellent drama Son of a Lion, which he secretly filmed in Pakistan's remote tribal region bordering Afghanistan, in a town famous for manufacturing guns and weapons. Now he's returned with Paramedico, which follows paramedics in Mexico, Pakistan, Hawaii and Venice, doing their daily job saving lives.
Paramedico seems to come from the same place of danger and excitement that motivated Gilmour to make Son of a Lion. A working paramedic himself, he decided to use this experience and the access it gave him to make a wild and candid documentary about four compelling paramedics in four very different countries.
It seems that Gilmour is in the last stages of finishing the documentary, for release online and on DVD in early 2012 -- and his crowd-funding efforts are to add the finishing touches to the film. Check out the intense new trailer below.