DocPitch at DocLands Documentary Film Festival wrapped with its annual awards ceremony with the $45,000 Audience Award going to director Kevin Truong for an intimate tribute to his mother, Mai American.

“The journey of making my film, Mai American, has been the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. It’s been full of many rejections and my fair share of wins but finding out I won the Audience Award at DocPitch–well, in many ways, it felt like I hit an emotional peak,” said audience award recipient Kevin Truong. “Pitching a film for the world to see is a scary thing, especially a personal documentary. But over the past two weeks, I was reminded that an incredible community is showing up for me. A community of friends, family, supporters, filmmakers, funders, old classmates, and even strangers. The entire process was humbling. I am beyond grateful for this amazing opportunity and support–thank you DocPitch at DocLands, presented by the California Film Institute, for giving it to me! Finally, I have absolute love and respect for the other filmmakers: Pallavi, Debra, Paige, Emily, Sara, and Rashaad & Johnny. Thank you for doing the work in telling these stories. It’s an honor to be in the community with you! DocPitch affirmed that there is an audience for my film, and this funding brings me so much closer to getting it done and telling a story that will make my mom and my communities proud!”

The $40,000 Industry Award went to director Pallavi Somusetty for her project Coach Emily; with the remaining three finalists each receive $5,000, with all funds going toward the continued development and production of the films.

“From the moment that we were selected as DocPitch finalists to now hearing that we received the Industry Award, we have felt the power of community big time,” said jury award recipient Pallavi Somusetty. “We have received so many messages of support from our future audience members, and other funders are reaching out too. Community is what roots our story to us and what supports our film’s participants through their journeys. We feel very blessed to be telling Emily’s coaching story and now to be part of the DocLands family. We give thanks to Joni and DocLands for uplifting our film and us as filmmakers.”

“With over 100 worthy submissions this year, the juries had the most difficult task of winnowing that number down to five finalists for the Audience and Jury Awards. I would like to thank and acknowledge all of them. I am grateful to our DocPitch funders who allow us to support these documentary filmmakers with vital funds to put toward any necessary budget line items toward the completion of this wonderfully diverse set of projects that reflect the beauty and challenges of lived experiences and that open unique perspectives to us all,” said DocLands Director of Programming Joni Cooer. “I also feel fortunate to be able to introduce the audience to the decision-making process. After all, it’s they who ultimately hold the economic power collectively, to keep theatre venues open and flourishing. We’re honored to provide a vehicle that in this way helps produce films that enlighten, enrich, and entertain audiences worldwide.”

2023 DocPitch @ DocLands Documentary Film Festival Award Winners

MAI AMERICAN – Audience Award $45,000
Pitching: Director Kevin Truong
A 70-year-old Vietnamese American refugee living in Oregon writes down her life story, indelibly shaped by the War in Vietnam. As she shares what she has written with her filmmaker son, they begin separate but parallel journeys confronting the traumas of their past and the emotional divide in their present.

COACH EMILY – Jury Award $40,000
Pitching: Director k;l Somusetty, Producer Debra A. Wilson
Coach Emily (w.t.) is a feature documentary that follows Emily Taylor, an Oakland-based Black and queer rock climbing coach, as she battles systemic racism in her professional and personal life. Through her Brown Girls Climbing program, Emily trains young girls of color, including her own daughter, as they resist discrimination in the climbing world and work to define themselves in the outdoors.

GET YOUR 10s – Finalist $5,000
Pitching: Directors/Producers Rashaad Newsome and Johnny Symons
A Black queer artist collaborates with global vogue dancers and cutting-edge technologists to transform a historic military building into a space for renewal, innovation, and celebration.

ORQUÍDEA – Finalist $5,000
Pitching: Writer/Director Emily Cohen Ibañez, Producer Sara Dosa
Orquídea is a kaleidoscopic tale of the political and ecological life of orchids in Colombia. The story is told through people who care for orchids in the jungle and the orchid’s perspective itself.

REMAINING NATIVE – Finalist $5,000
Pitching: Director Paige Bethmann
Ku Stevens dreams of becoming an elite runner, but he struggles to balance the sport’s glorified individualism and the values of interconnectedness he was raised with on the reservation. When thousands of Native children’s remains are discovered, Ku reckons with his family’s dark past while running towards his future.

The six previous DocPitch Audience Award winners include Theo Rigby’s Sanctuary Rising (2017), completion scheduled for late 2023; James LeBrecht and Nicole Newnham’s 2020 Independent Spirit Award-winning documentary Crip Camp (2018), which Netflix acquired, and was nominated in the Best Documentary Feature category at the 2020 Academy Awards®; Chris Temple and Zach Ingrasci’s Five Years North (2019), which screened at many film festivals, including DocLands 2020; Dianne Whelan’s 500 Days in the Wild (2020) completion scheduled for 2024; Maren Poitras’ Finding the Money (2021) completion planned for 2023; and Alana Maiello’s Chewed Gum (2022) completion expected for 2023.