Postgraduate screenings: Born of Hope Event

Fan-culture and crowd-funding. Strengths and limits of the prequel to The Lord of the Rings.

Based on a short paragraph written by Tolkien in the appendices of The Lord of the Ring, Born of Hope follows the royal house of Dunedain during their perils in the late Third Age. Focusing on Aragorn's parents, Arathorn and Gilraen, from their first encounter to the attack of the orcs to their village, we discover the daily life of the north rangers' communities as Suaron's power is increasing. Reaching almost 1 million hits in video streaming channels online, Born of Hope is one of the most successful low-budget British film of the last years. Started with an initial budget of £8,000 it managed to secure verisimilar orc costumes, weapons and to reconstruct a whole village in a forest, thanks to the contributions of individual fans and small sponsors. Elena Caoduro's initial presentation will focus on participatory culture and fans 2.0, paying particular attention to the new co-opportunity offered by crowd-funding.