Fund This: ‘The Art Thief’ Contemplates Contemporary Painting With A Side Of Wit

Welcome to the Fund This column! Each week, we’ll look at a planned web series or other online video project currently in search of funding on crowdfunding sites. We’ll tell you what the series is all about and explain why it is worth your money. Do you have a project that’s currently being crowdfunded? Contact us to let us know and we may feature it in upcoming installments and check out previous installments right here.

Project Name: The Art Thief

Asking For: $10,000 through Indiegogo

Amount Raised Thus Far (At Time Of Post): $4,115

Days Remaining In Campaign (At Time Of Post): 8

Description: If you want to experience some thrilling entertainment while simultaneously waxing philosophical about the nature of contemporary art, you should check out The Art Thief. From writer and director Rebeca Castilho, it is a short film about a titular burglar whose plans to get his hands on an expensive and beguiling piece of canvas are endangered by an encounter with a bored housewife.

The piece of canvas in question is a small painting that, according to the setup of the film, is worth one million dollars. Barba Negra, the titular thief, wishes to receive a five-finger discount on the work in order to pay off some debts, but a woman named Alba, who seeks adventure outside a dull marriage, threatens his plan when she lusts after him in the gallery where he is performing his business.

As Castilho tells us in an email, the story ultimately amounts to a discussion of what art actually is in our current time. If that intrigues you, a further introduction is available in the pitch video:

Creator Bio: Castilho is a student at Fordham University who hails from Brazil, making this the second week in a row we’ve highlighted a crowdfunding project tied to a college campus.

Best Perk: The $90 perk, titled “The Monet,” is a piece of contemporary art made that is apparently about global warming, though I would think you could make it be about anything you want, if you’re so inclined.

Why You Should Fund It: The pitch video for The Art Thief shows off a dedication to wit, character design, and artistry that makes the project worth a second look. Castilho and her team are poised to provide a piece of entertainment with a little bit of philosophy and thematic resonance behind it, and that’s often hard to come by in the web series world. The film’s main influence — Spanish director Pedro Almodovar — suggests that The Art Thief will be a fun and cheeky piece that will not be afraid to get heady.

Got a crowdfunding campaign you’d like to see featured in Fund This? Be sure to contact us here.