Short Dance Film 'Repercussions' Enters Production With Final Fundraising Push On GoFundMe

Director's Letter:

I was adopted.

25 years later I am now beginning the process of understanding what my adoption means to me.

One of the hardest parts has been trying to understand my birth mother’s decision to put me up for adoption. All I know is that my birth father left before I was born and that my mother walked into a Ukrainian hospital pregnant and left empty-handed.

The physical act of being let go is something I can’t remember, but I feel completely. It led me to resent my biological and adopted family because I believed I wasn’t enough.

Gradually, I have found it easier to name, nurture and accept all the parts of me that feel abandoned yet fear attachment, favor distance over commitment and fight when they long to love. I’m letting my inner child know he is worthy of the space he holds, the family he chooses and the love he receives.

These raw feelings are unique to every adoptee and birth parent alike. I share my story as a way to connect with others who, like me, have never talked openly about the emotional traumas we carry.

It’s taken me a long time to accept that my birth mother’s greatest act of love was to let me go and I hope to give voice to the question so many carry quietly: “Why wasn’t I good enough?”

I am a Los Angeles-based filmmaker who uses dance and film as my primary storytelling languages.

I am in the final stretch of fundraising for REPERCUSSIONS, a short dance film about forgiveness, healing and the power of art to transform lives. This story is rooted in my own adoption experience but expands far beyond me. It gives voice to what many adoptees and birth parents go through while inviting anyone grappling with difficult choices or the need for forgiveness to connect with its story.

Art like this doesn’t wait — it heals, it connects and it must be made now.

This film dramatizes the relationship between a middle-aged woman and her past self. After witnessing a mother embrace her newborn she is reminded of her own decision to place her child for adoption and struggles to forgive herself. Through a shared dance, the younger and older selves confront their choice, turning movement into the film’s emotional center. 

Georgina Elizabeth Okon (SAG-AFTRA) plays the older Evelyn. With a background in taekwondo, Okon’s movements carry both grace and depth as she transforms into Evelyn. Choreography explores heaviness to represent her grief and repetitive motion to personify the shame of not knowing if she made the right choice. Eventually she relaxes physical tension and releases her breath as her younger self teaches her that she did her best with what she had. 

Tyona Bowman (actress and dancer) embodies the younger Evelyn. With training in ballet and acrobatics she explores the complexity of Evelyn as a young mother navigating life after placing her child for adoption. Jagged and collapsed movements juxtapose the flexible and delicate release she experiences knowing her choice was made from love. 

Their dance is the film’s heartbeat — the essential language through which the story lives and breathes.

Nina Simone said,  “an artist’s duty, as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times.” This mindset is needed now more than ever. Art has always been a guiding light in times of change and independent artists need support to continue their work. This film's creative team is made up of teachers, friends, creatives and  industry professionals who all want to take risks, innovate and inspire change. 

Now is the moment and this is how we reflect the world. 

With just $5,000 left to raise we are in our final push. These funds will cover essentials — equipment, rentals, editing, color correction and sound — and ensure the film fulfills its purpose: to move hearts and begin important conversations. I know I’m not alone in feeling a longing for connection, and stories like this help us find it.

If you are in support of art that makes change, I hope you will join us now.

Right now, we need just five $1,000 gifts to cross the finish line and move into production with confidence. Your donation does more than fund production: it uplifts every independent artist on this project. It strengthens the quality of the film and empowers our creative team to share their talents. The real gift isn’t the magic we make on set—it’s the feelings and inspiration we awaken in audiences when that magic comes to life. 

$1,000+ – Solo Executive Producer Credit, plus access to set, screening rights and premiere invitation. Name and/or Company information + logo put on movie poster + all promotional/press materials.

If you feel moved to give, here are a few ways to contribute: 

Zelle: (773) 571-6440 

Checks: 736 Bernard St. apt 202 Los Angeles, CA 90012

repercussionsmusicvideo.com

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I would be happy to share more about the project or show a dance film I directed last year. Your support at this moment will help REPERCUSSIONS come fully to life and reach audiences who need to see this story.

With gratitude, Alexander King - Director

repercussionsmusicvideo.com

@repercussions_shortdancefilm on instagram (https://www.instagram.com/repercussions_shortdancefilm/)