During a trip to the US in 1993, I found this strange text embedded in a road in Washington D.C. and took a photograph of it:

Having just read the novel ’2001′ with its fantasy of possible next steps in the evolution of mankind and its mind, this was a cryptic, haunting message by an unknown troubled soul. I kept wondering about it over the years.

Others did, too: Googling the message over a decade later found a small documentary film project by a group of hobbyists. It turns out that these Toynbee Tiles had been found in several unexpected locations in and outside the U.S. and the story behind them appears to be a beautiful mystery worth making a film about it. They asked for dates and locations of Toynbee Tile sightings, so four years ago I sent them my 1993 photo and wished them best of luck.

And now, their handcrafted film is finished. It appears to be good: The documentary “Resurrect Dead” has been accepted to the Sundance Film Festival.

But the story doesn’t end here. Here’s an email the filmmakers sent me yesterday:

Hello Everyone in my Contact List,

For decades, hundreds of cryptic tiled messages have been embedded in the roads of cities, towns and highways from New York to Rio, Brazil. The mystery began in Philadelphia in the early 1980′s. The tiles all repeat a variation of the message:

‘TOYNBEE IDEA
IN KUBRICK’S 2001
RESURRECT DEAD
ON PLANET JUPITER’

Half a decade ago, I became involved in a documentary project that investigated the ‘Toynbee Tiles.’ The story was a good one, and a few weeks ago the movie was accepted into the Sundance film festival. This is all great news, but I’m not writing you to brag about it.

Until now, the film has been self-financed by Philadelphia based director, editor, producer, writer, cameraman and score composer Jon Foy. And by self-finance, I mean that he paid for it with what he earned at his day job cleaning houses. His story proves that talent, hard work and perseverance can get a movie into the most prestigious film festival in the world… but that’s about it. Once it’s there you need some real money, real fast to see it through. There’s a final pressing of the film, merchandise, publicist, legal fees and a million other expenses, small and large.

And that’s why I’m writing you. Our 4-person team needs money and has started soliciting private donations via kickstarter.com to help raise it. You can read more about the project and watch a video here:

Resurrect Dead – A Sundance Documentary in Need of Your Help

If you can, please consider donating something to the project. Also, please help spread the word, by forwarding this message to anyone you know who might be willing to help. Any amount is appreciated and if you look at the gifts, you’ll see some incredible deals. For example, if this movie takes off even a little, a limited edition DVD signed by a suddenly famous director would be an instant collectible. Thanks for taking the time to read this solicitation/plea.”

While Jon already reached the original donation goal, he’s still in debt thanks to this movie. So dear readers, why not donate a bit more to get him and his team out of the red?

Update: The film team has set up a blog about their Sundance visit.