Cats In Conflict

CAN A SHARED LOVE OF CATS BE USED AS A WEAPON FOR PEACE?

Provocative and potent, CATS IN CONFLICT is a feature documentary that follows filmmaker-turned-Catbassador Slavko Martinov’s attempt to prove that the stories connecting us are more powerful than the stories dividing us. He does this by asking courageous cat rescuers on both sides of The Wall in Israel-Palestine, “If it’s possible to find forever homes in the Holy Land for an animal that’s NOT LIKE US...what else is possible?”

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THE STORY SO FAR

We’ve been immersed in this cat-centric layer cake of conflicts for 7 years. After dodging Covid, we finally started filming between August-October 2022, thanks to the vision of some early investors and credit cards, plus development funding from the NZ Film Commission. With footage from that trip, we then attached international sales company XYZ, who said: 

“To put it simply, we believe CATS IN CONFLICT is something of a unicorn – a unique combination of obvious mass appeal and high-level critical potential. This is a film that can have both critical success and a mass audience and we could not be happier to be involved.”

There is no good way to describe what’s happening in the Holy Land as being “perfect timing” for any film. But here we are, in the rare position of having started filming before the unprecedented chain of events that make any return to the status quo for our feline-loving friends impossible. 

They are defiant, natural storytellers who’ve kept filming even when we couldn’t get back. Now we can but we must move quickly, which is only possible if we remain independent. 

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ALL YOU KNEAD IS LOVE

Before any of that zeitgeisty gold becomes possible though, we’ll need more than love! We need your help.

Without funding to complete filming, we cannot meet the obvious potential of this zeitgeist movie. Our goal is to encourage the animal lover – hell, the LOVER in you, you peace-loving anti-extremist, you – to give us pat pats and catnip in the form of a donation (with a 33% tax rebate) so we can return in October and finish filming.

By using cats as an allegory for humans in places of conflict, we want this film to be a cat-alyst for people to start asking different questions and to counter the divisive narratives that are being fuelled by those who seek to gain from them. 

We want this film to be seen at A-list film festivals, making its impact with audiences globally in order to encourage conversation and understanding.

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LOVE IS ALL YOU KNEAD

But first, know this: when you donate here or share this page, you’ll become an active co-creator with us. No longer in the passenger seat, you will become a disruptor. Zigging when everyone else is zagging. Disobedient, dangerous, furvently preposterous. You’ll be like a cat, won’t you? A nightmare to extremists everywhere. 

We love you already. 

But with the Doomsday Clock at 11:59, you’ll lovingly remind them that the only thing crazier than that right now is doing nothing. 

Donations qualify for a tax credit: NZ income earners qualify for a 33% tax credit on their donations from the IRD with a receipt automatically provided by The Arts Foundation (as The Arts Foundation is a registered charity) for any donation made.

THANK YOU · NGĀ MIHI NUI !!!

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THE FILMMAKERS

SLAVKO MARTINOV (DIRECTOR / PRODUCER)

A cat tragic from Christchurch with a rescuology of furry feline family members dating back to 1973, Slavko decided to become a filmmaker in 2003 because of their deep fascination with propaganda. Focusing on the narrative control of settler-colonial occupations in their debut feature Propaganda (2012), a special interest in Israel and Palestine developed and continues today. So it’s hardly surprising that after HAR (Human Animal Relations) movie Pecking Order (2017) they  started working on Propaganda meets Pecking Order. With cats. “The fingerprints of everything I’ve ever experienced, felt, done and known are ignited by this film. It’s my masterpiece, within paw’s reach.” 

www.slavkomartinov.com

MIKE KELLAND (EDITOR / PRODUCER)

Mike Kelland’s first cat was called Purr-Purr, a chubby tortoiseshell who kept him company on the remote high-country farm he grew up on. He's gone on to a 25 year career in documentary, from features to television series, working as a cinematographer, director, editor and colourist. He’s an award-winning producer (Propaganda Best Film at Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival) and cinematographer (Gold Award NZSC Awards/Documentary for Pecking Order), whose passion and calling is documentary filmmaking.

ALEX REED (PRODUCER)

Alex Reed potentially likes animals more than people. She also makes films with strong social impact (including The Girl on the Bridge, There's No "I" in Threesome, Mister Organ and Ms. Information) and television/digital content (including Te Ara - the Path, Unbreakable, Jessica's Tree, Decades in Colour and The Women of Pike River). She's currently in a heavy pet phase, with several animal-related projects in the works including Cats in Conflict. Possibly because her children are all leaving home.

JILL MACNAB (PRODUCER)

Jill Macnab is the only member of the team with an extreme allergy to cats, so keeps her distance from the sneeze-inducing critters. Originally from Scotland, she began her career working in theatre management at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and, since moving to Aotearoa, has worked in film production and distribution, being involved in many of the most successful Kiwi films of the past decade including Cousins, Born To Dance, Tickled, Pecking Order and this year’s The Moon Is Upside Down and Went up The Hill.