Filmmaking

  • 20 Feature Films Selected For 2018 IFP Filmmaker Labs

    [caption id="attachment_29372" align="aligncenter" width="1280"]Lost Bayou by Brian C Miller Richard Lost Bayou by Brian C Miller Richard[/caption] The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) has selected 20 feature films for the IFP Filmmaker Labs, IFP’s year-long fellowship for first-time filmmakers currently in post-production on their debut feature. Combining documentary and narrative features together for the first time, the program begins today, running May 21-25 at the Made in NY Media Center by IFP located in DUMBO, Brooklyn. The Filmmaker Labs continues its dedication to supporting underrepresented voices, with over 60% of this year’s attending Lab Fellows, and over 70% of the directors specifically, being diverse in regards to gender, ethnicity, sexual oreientation, and disability. Furthermore, this year’s Labs projects represent a range of creative visions from all over the world, with films shot around the United States, as well as Brazil, Costa Rica, Ghana, Lebanon, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. “In today’s independent film landscape, with modes of distribution and exhibition in seemingly constant flux, the Filmmaker Labs remain firm in their commitment to supporting the next generation of boundary-pushing filmmakers,” says Joana Vicente, IFP’s Executive Director. “By removing the boundaries between non-fiction and fiction storytelling labs, these ambitious, wildly diverse and highly international Lab projects will receive more opportunities than ever to have their voices heard.”

    2018 IFP DOCUMENTARY LAB FELLOWS

    512 Hours :For 512 hours, hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world flocked to experience the latest exhibition by acclaimed performance artist, Marina Abramović. Her idea was simple: remove the distractions from everyday life and experience something new. What that experience would be, Abramović had no idea. It was an experiment, she recognized, that could succeed or fail. Adina Istrate (Director, Producer), Giannina La Salvia (Director, Producer), Irina Albita (Co-Producer) Bloodthicker :Bloodthicker is the story of Young Juve, T.Y. and Lil’ Soulja Slim, three young rappers and friends whose fathers were three of the most influential Southern rappers. Their journeys to success are fraught with the appeals of excess and the trappings of street culture, immutably influenced by their fathers’ distinct legacies. Zac Manuel (Writer, Director, DP, Editor), Chris Haney (Writer, Producer), Justin Fontenot (Executive Producer). Border South: Under intense U.S. pressure to stem immigration from Central America, Mexico cracks down on the old trails north, forcing migrants into more dangerous territory. Told against the backdrop of the North American migrant trail, Border South weaves together migrant stories from different vantage points. Raúl O. Paz Pastrana (Director, Producer, DP), Ellen Knechel (Editor, Co-Producer). The Burning Field: The Burning Field is a uniquely intimate portrait of life in an environmental wasteland, as seen through the eyes of four Ghanian children who spend their days burning computers and other electronic appliances in the largest unregulated e-waste dump on earth. Justin Weinrich (Writer, Director, Producer, DP, Editor). Charm Circle: Catalyzed by her sister’s upcoming polyamorous wedding, filmmaker Nira Burstein delves into the most significant partnership she’s been witness to—that of her parents, which is in a constant state of chaos. A meditation on love, family, dreams and sacrifice, Charm Circle explores what makes marriage a tie that binds. Nira Burstein (Writer, Director, DP), Jameka Autry (Producer). Chèche Lavi (Looking for Life): A month before the presidential election of 2016, thousands of Haitian refugees appear at the US-Mexico border in Tijuana. Among them are Robens and James, two friends whose American dream unravels in the eye of a complex geopolitical storm. With no way forward and no way back, what comes next for these travelers? Sam Ellison (Director, DP), Abraham Ávila (Producer), Rachel Cantave (Producer). Flood: A filmmaker tries to fix her problems with her evangelical father in a screenplay with a happy ending. When her plan backfires, she quits writing lines, starts to listen, and becomes a character in her own movie. Katy Scoggin (Writer, Director, Producer, DP) The In Between: At the intersection of northern Mexico and Southwest Texas exists a symbiotic community spanning two countries. Through a collection of interweaving vignettes, The In Between explores the border and is a poetic ode to the greater reality of it, offering a nuanced and intimate portrait of a place and its people at the heart of Mexican-American identity. Robie Flores (Director, Producer, DP, Editor), Alejandro Flores (Producer, DP). A Machine to Live In: This sci-fi documentary paints a complex portrait of life and myth in the space-age city of Brasilia, a sixties-era architectural mega-project, and the flourishing landscape of cults, religious movements, and transcendental spaces that have emerged around it. The film is assembled from found documents and texts from key figures who were called to chronicle this monumental social experiment. Yoni Goldstein (Writer, Director), Meredith Zielke (Director, Editor), Sebastian Alvarez (Producer). Socks on Fire — Uncle John and the Copper Headed Water Rattlers :A failed poet takes up cinematic arms when he returns home to Hokes Bluff, Alabama to discover that his aunt has locked his drag-queen uncle out of the family home. Through a series of stylized reenactments and an editorial investigation into family VHS footage, Socks on Fire documents the fluidity of identity, personality, and performance in one particular place, among one particular family. Bo McGuire (Writer, Director), Tatiana Bears (Producer), Max Allman (Editor).

    2018 IFP NARRATIVE LAB FELLOWS

    1982: An 11-year-old boy is determined to tell a girl in his class that he loves her but has trouble finding the courage to do so until the unexpected occurs; an air invasion reaches Beirut and the school is being evacuated. He gets even more determined. Oualid Mouaness (Director, Writer). Aquí y Ahora: Lara’s world takes an unexpected turn when she decides to leave her home country of Costa Rica for the first time to join a dance company in Berlin. Paz León (Director, Writer). Clementine: A heartbroken woman steals away to her estranged lover’s lake house and becomes entangled with a teenage girl. Lara Jean Gallagher (Director, Writer), Aimee Lynn Barneburg (Producer), Alexander Morris (Editor). House of Hummingbird: Seoul, 1994 — In the year the Seongsu bridge collapsed, a teenage girl named Eunhee wanders the city searching for love. Bora Kim (Director, Writer, Producer), Zoe Sua Cho (Producer, Editor). Lost Bayou: After news of her mother’s death, a struggling addict ventures out into the Louisiana swampland to reconnect with her estranged “traiteur” (Cajun faith healer) father, only to discover he is hiding a troubling secret aboard his houseboat. Brian C Miller Richard (Director, Editor), Kenneth Reynolds (Producer), Hunter Burke (Producer, Writer). Nhomlaau: A young South Sudanese woman is staggering away from a past event that contradicts the way she was brought up. Tormented with guilt and condemnation, she tries to discover who she really is and seek liberty. Asantewaa Prempeh (Director, Writer), Natalie Eakin (Producer), Emily Iason (Producer). Noah Land: Omer struggles to fulfill his father’s dying wish to be buried under the “Noah Tree” – a tree his father swears he planted but the surrounding village believes that the tree was planted centuries ago by Noah the prophet. Cenk Ertürk (Director, Writer), Alp Ertürk (Producer). Sanzaru: As dementia engulfs her employer, a fragile home health aide begins to question her own sanity. Xia Magnus (Director, Writer), Alyssa Polk (Producer), Joshua Raymond Lee (Editor). Saul at Night: With an odd worldwide curfew in place, one man’s life of solitude is interrupted when he meets another woman who suffers from the same bizarre affliction that he does. Cory Santilli (Director), Kentucker Audley (Co-producer), Bart Breve (Editor). Siberia and Him: Two men fall into forbidden love in a rundown town of Siberia, Russia. Viatcheslav Kopturevskiy (Director, Writer), Anya Elnikova (Producer), Wayland Bell (Cinematographer).

     2018 Filmmaker Lab Leaders

    Jennifer MacArthur, Producer (Whose Streets?) and Media Strategist (Borderline Media) Heidi Reinberg, Producer (93QUEEN) Shrihari Sathe, Producer (It Felt Like Love; A Woman, A Part) Pierce Varous, Producer (Always Shine, H.); Founder, Nice Dissolve Under the leadership of IFP Deputy Director & Head of Programming, Amy Dotson, Senior Director of Programming, Milton Tabbot, and Senior Program Manager & Producer, Zach Mandinach, the Labs will support the creative teams as they prepare to finish and release their films into the world. Now in its fourteenth year, the IFP Filmmaker Labs support first-time feature filmmakers when they need it most: through the completion, marketing, and distribution of their debut narrative and documentary features. Each year, IFP selects ten narrative feature films and documentary feature films currently in post-production for the Labs. Through their participation, Filmmaker Labs Fellows receive support from IFP Staff and mentorship from leading industry members and filmmakers. Selected Fellows take part in three modules of the Lab: the Time Warner Foundation Completion Lab in May, IFP Week in September, and a Marketing & Distribution Lab in November. Over the course of these first five days of the Lab program, known as the Time Warner Foundation Completion Lab, Lab Fellows will receive knowledge, resources and mentorship in regards to editing, music composing & supervison, sound design, post-production budget, as well as developing marketing materials and festival stratagies, sales & distribution plans, and building a sense of career sustainability as independent artists. Alumni of the IFP Labs recently came off a successful year, on the festival ciricuit and in theatrical release. Recent projects of note include Elan and Jonathan Bogarín’s 306 Hollywood, Christina Choe’s Nancy, Paula Eiselt’s 93QUEEN, Nijla Mu’min’s Jinn, RaMell Ross’ Hale County This Morning, This Evening, Sandi Tan’s Shirkers, Cathy Yan’s Dead Pigs, and more. Past Lab Fellows launching new work this past year include Dee Rees, Chloé Zhao, Alexandre Moors, Matt Ruskin, Nanfu Wang, Laura Checkoway, Penny Lane, and PJ Raval, as well as many others that continue to expand their careers in audio storytelling, new media, and television, with past Lab Fellows writing or directing for shows such as Atlanta, The Girlfriend Experience, Girls, Queen of the South, and Queen Sugar. image credit

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  • 5 Indie Films Win $100,000 in Funding from SFFILM and Westridge Foundation

    SPRING 2018 SFFILM WESTRIDGE GRANT WINNERS Five filmmaking teams will receive a total of $100,000 in funding in the inaugural round of SFFILM Westridge Grants to help support the screenwriting and project development stages of their narrative feature films. SFFILM Westridge Grants, which are awarded twice annually, are designed for US-based filmmakers whose stories take place primarily in the United States and focus on the significant social issues and questions of our time. The next application period is now open. SFFILM Westridge Grants provide film projects support in their critical early stages, safeguarding filmmakers’ creative processes and allowing artists to concentrate on thoughtfully developing their stories while building the right strategy and infrastructure to guide them through financing and production. In addition to cash grants, recipients will benefit from SFFILM’s comprehensive and dynamic artist development program, SFFILM Makers, as well as support and counsel from SFFILM and Westridge Foundation staff and the 2018 FilmHouse Mentor Advisory Board. All grantees will spend one week in the Bay Area attending a retreat geared towards honing their craft, strengthening their scripts, and making connections to other filmmakers and industry professionals. The panelists who reviewed the finalists’ submissions were Noah Cowan, SFFILM Executive Director; Lauren Kushner, SFFILM Senior Manager of Artist Development; Nicole Perlman, screenwriter (Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain Marvel) and 2018 FilmHouse screenwriting mentor; Shelby Rachleff, Westridge Foundation Program Manager; and Caroline von Kühn, SFFILM Director of Artist Development. “The Westridge Foundation is an incredible new ally in empowering US-based filmmakers grounded in Bay Area values,” said Caroline von Kühn, SFFILM Director of Artist Development. “This grant supports artists grappling with important topics in our country’s culture. This group of inaugural winners, through their valuable perspectives and historically underrepresented voices, will shape how we engage in conversations about these topics, collectively and with one another.” “We are proud to provide resources to these filmmakers in the crucial early stages of telling their unique, important stories,” said Shelby Rachleff, Westridge Foundation Program Manager. “Westridge is thrilled to partner with SFFILM both in supporting these five outstanding projects, and in helping to amplify the powerful and nuanced voices of the filmmakers who are bringing them to life.”

    SPRING 2018 SFFILM WESTRIDGE GRANT WINNERS

    Back Seat Lana Wilson, writer/director; Shrihari Sathe, producer – screenwriting – $20,000 An immigrant woman leaves her young son alone in the back seat of a car, setting off a firestorm of controversy in the liberal community where she lives. As the town’s latent xenophobia bubbles to the surface, and the woman’s parenting abilities are scrutinized in increasingly disturbing ways, she fights to prove that she’s a worthy mother — to the town, to her children, and to herself. Mandeville Russell Nichols, writer – screenwriting – $20,000 A traumatized Black boy, whose brother was killed by a cop, volunteers for an experiment that tests his powers of prediction to prevent future murders. Miss Juneteenth Channing Godfrey Peoples, writer/director; Neil Creque Williams, producer – development – $20,000 Turquoise, a former beauty pageant queen turned hardworking single mother, enrolls her rebellious daughter, Kai, in the “Miss Juneteenth” pageant to compete for the grand prize — a college scholarship. Determined to keep Kai from making her same mistakes in life, Turquoise saves her tips from working at a juke joint to buy her daughter the grandest pageant dress of all. However, Kai is more interested in her school’s dance team and chasing her high school crush. Stay Awake Jaime Sisley, writer/director; Kelly Thomas and David Ariniello, producers – development – $20,000 For years, teen brothers Ethan and Derek Reynolds have tried to help their mother, Michelle, overcome her prescription drug addiction with little success. When Michelle goes missing after another binge, Ethan and Derek begin to question whether they should continue trying to find and help Michelle, or move on with their lives at the expanse of saving her. Taliesin Maya Perez, writer – screenwriting – $20,000 Based on actual events, Taliesin tells the story of a young Black couple hired to work at the infamous Taliesin home of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The remote location becomes a pressure cooker, and tensions around race and gender boil over with tragic consequences — the most horrific mass murder in Wisconsin history.

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  • Sundance Institute Awards Over Half a Million Dollars to Groundbreaking Documentary Projects

    [caption id="attachment_29305" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Central Airport THF Central Airport THF[/caption] The Sundance Institute will award $585,000 in targeted grants to twenty-three projects from independent nonfiction storytellers. 57% of the supported projects are helmed by women, and 48% are from outside the U.S.; 34% of grantees are first-time feature filmmakers. “These artists are hard at work on projects that capture the world as it is, as well as imagining it as it could be,”  said Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs, the recently-appointed Director of the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Fund. “The stories here deeply reflect my team’s collaborative vision for this fund and we are thrilled to highlight voices with richly diverse sensibilities and perspectives. In our current cultural and political moment, independent storytelling is vital: to help make meaning and present a layered, complex interpretation of truth.” Sundance Institute has a long history and firm commitment to championing the most distinctive nonfiction films from around the world. Recently-supported films include Hale County This Morning This Evening; I Am Not Your Negro; Last Men in Aleppo; An Insignificant Man;  Casting JonBenet; Strong Island; Hooligan Sparrow; Newtown and Weiner.

    Sundance Institute 2018 Documentary Fund grantees

    DEVELOPMENT

    Body Parts (United States) Director: Kristy Guevara-Flanagan Producer: Helen Hood Scheer Body Parts (working title) is a documentary feature exploring the nude female body in Hollywood media—hyper-sexualized, under attack, exploited on- and off- screen. From a wide range of perspectives, the film examines how actresses protect their bodies, how studios push back, and how unions have fought for better standards. The film also looks at how the female and queer gaze are redefining desire and sexuality. From the first body doubles in the 1920s to the digital enhancements of the internet age, the film asks: when scenes are about sex, to whom are they sexy? By what standards? How do race, age and body type factor in? The Hunt (United States) Directors: Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw Producers: Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw The Hunt is an immersive, cinematic documentary that will explore the mysterious and magical world of Italian truffle hunters and their quest for the world’s rarest and most valuable ingredient. The film will follow an ensemble of spirited old truffle hunters and their prized dogs who lead them through secret Piedmont forests during the yearly “gold rush” when the elusive white Alba truffle is in season. The narrative will capture their struggle to hold onto a centuries-old tradition in the face of globalization, climate change, and their own mortality in a place where mystery and magic still flourish. Mars (Switzerland, France) Director: Dea Gjinovci Producers: Britta Rindelaub, Jasmin Basic and Sophie Faudel Ibadeta and Djeneta Demiri have been in a coma for several years, victims of the “syndrome of resignation”. Traumatized, their bodies mysteriously stopped working. In central Sweden, the whole family is still trying to rebuild a normal life, far from their native Kosovo. But so far, their asylum applications have been refused one after the other. Furkan, 10, is the youngest in the family. He tries to escape this situation by building his own rocket to fulfill his dream: to go live on Mars to save his sisters. The Mole Agent (Chile) Director: Maite Alberdi Producer: Marcela Santibañez Romulo is a private investigator who has been hired to do a study of a retirement home where residents are thought to be victims of abuse. To this end, he trains an 83-year-old man, to live as The Mole Agent inside the home. Once the mole has infiltrated the facility, he struggles to assume his role as he gradually becomes more familiar with the residents and the routine at the home in pursuit of the truth. Untitled Religious Activism Documentary (United States) Director: Penny Lane Producer: Gabriel Sedgwick A wildly entertaining and surprising look at the intersection of faith and activism, that follows one of the most controversial religious movements in modern American history. Third River Film (United States) Director and Producer: Robb Moss The third of a trilogy, the film explores the lives of five friends over forty years, from being young to becoming old–a film about time, friendship, and the mysteries of aging.

    PRODUCTION

    Enemies of the State (United States) Director: Sonia Kennebeck Producer: Ines Hofmann Kanna An average American family becomes entangled in a bizarre web of espionage and corporate secrets when their hacker son is targeted by the U.S. government, making them all Enemies of the State. Mississippi Red (United States) Director: Kelly Duane de la Vega Producer: Jessica Anthony In Mississippi, women have fewer rights or protections than in any other part of the country. Mississippi Red looks at the status of women in the deep South through the lens of race, religion and the political establishment with a constellation of close-to-the-bone stories that revolve around the fight to pass an equal pay law through a resistant male dominated state legislature. Untitled Safe Schools Project (United States) Director: Todd Chandler Producer: Danielle Varga Untitled Safe Schools Project explores the landscape of 21st century school safety in the United States, illuminating the complex ways in which we as a nation struggle to understand and prevent violence, and endeavor to create safer schools.​ Scheme Birds (United Kingdom, Sweden) Directors: Ellen Fiske, Ellinor Hallin Producers: Ruth Reid, Mario Adamson Scheme Birds is the story of Gemma, a teenage troublemaker, growing up in a world of violence and pigeons. From childhood to motherhood, her life unfolds on screen as childish games turn towards serious crime. The Silhouettes (Iran, Philippines) Director: Afsaneh Salari Producers: Jewel Maranan, Afsaneh Salari At the height of the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1982, 1.5 million Afghans took a long journey to the border of Iran to flee war. Taghi, born after that generation and unwilling to inherit the limitations of his parents’ refugee status, navigates outside the protective walls of his family to trace his identity and the doors to his future in the homeland he never knew. As war continues to rage in Afghanistan, what future awaits him in which land? TransFormed (United States) Director: Lisa Leeman Producers: Lisa Leeman, Thomas G. Miller What are the costs of living an authentic life?  Twenty-six years after intimately chronicling artist Gabi P.’s gender transition in the groundbreaking film  Metamorphosis (Sundance’s Filmmakers Trophy; POV), Lisa Leeman reconnects with Gabi.  Now age 65, one year sober, and a devout Christian, Gabi stands at a new and unexpected crossroads. Probing universal themes of aging, faith, and identity, TransFormed is a story of struggle and resiliency- against the backdrop of society’s persistent transphobia. When Claude Got Shot (working title) (United States) Director and Producer: Brad Lichtenstein Three strangers are tragically united and changed forever by a weekend of gun violence in When Claude Got Shot, an intimate and unflinching personal documentary that investigates the problem of gun violence in America’s black communities. Made possible with support from The Kendeda Fund Untitled (United States, Kenya) Director: Daphne Matziaraki Producers: Toni Kamau, Maya Craig This feature documentary explores land use in Africa. It examines the ubiquitously 21st Century question of who controls natural resources, and at what cost?

    POST PRODUCTION

    Caballerango (Mexico, United States) Director: Juan Pablo González Producers: Jamie Gonçalves, Makena Buchanan, Ilana Coleman A family reflects on a young man’s disappearance in a Mexican village under the watchful eyes of the horse who saw him last. Central Airport THF (Germany, France) Director: Karim Aïnouz Producer: Felix von Boehm Co-Producers: Charlotte Uzu, Joana Mariani, Diane Maia Berlin’s historic defunct Tempelhof Airport remains a place of arrivals and departures. Today its massive hangars are used as one of Germany’s largest emergency shelters for asylum seekers, like 18-year-old Syrian student Ibrahim and Iraqi physiotherapist Qutaiba. As they adjust to a transitory daily life of social services interviews, German lessons and medical exams, they try to cope with homesickness and the anxiety of whether or not they will gain residency or be deported. The Gospel of Eureka (United States) Directors: Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher Producer: Charlotte Cook Love, faith and civil rights collide in a southern town as evangelical Christians and drag queens step into the spotlight to dismantle stereotypes. Gospel drag shows and passion plays set the stage for one hell of a show. Narrated by Mx Justin Vivian Bond. In Real Life (United States) Director: Liza Mandelup Producers: Bert Hamelinck, Lauren Cioffi This intimate contemplation on modern youth follows 16-year-old Austyn Tester as he flirts with the world of social media fame. Driven by a wide-eyed desire for stardom, Austyn cultivates a singularly positive online persona that’s at odds with growing up in small town Tennessee.  After trading in a high school education for management and devoted fangirl followers, Austyn confronts his own motivation and questions whether he’s cut out for the business of virtual connection. Kids (Australia) Director: Maya Newell Producers: Sophie Hyde, Rachel Nanninaaq Edwardson, Larissa Behrendt, Maya Newell Like many Indigenous kids before him, 10-year-old Dujuan is fighting an enemy he cannot see, which makes him strike out at everything. When he cannot run, nor fight alone, he realises that not only has he inherited the trauma and dispossession of his land, but also the resilience and resistance of many generations of his people which holds the key to his future. Made with and alongside those represented, this feature doc by Australian filmmaker Maya Newell (Gayby Baby) is the second in her series about child perspectives. Midnight Family (United States, Mexico) Director: Luke Lorentzen Producers: Kellen Quinn, Daniela Alatorre, Elena Fortes, Luke Lorentzen In Mexico City’s wealthiest neighborhoods, the Ochoa family runs a private ambulance, competing with other for-profit EMTs for patients in need of urgent help. As they try to make a living in this cutthroat industry, they struggle to keep their financial needs from compromising the people in their care. Midnight Traveler (United States, Afghanistan) Director: Hassan Fazili Producer: Emelie Mahdavian Midnight Traveler follows a family of Afghan filmmakers on the run from the Taliban. Told from refugee-Director Hassan Fazili’s unique first-person perspective, their story provides unprecedented access to the complex refugee encounter with the West. The Seer and the Unseen (United States) Director: Sara Dosa Producer: Shane Boris The Seer and the Unseen is an unexpected environmental film about invisible elves, the free market and the surprising power of belief told through the story of an Icelandic woman’s quest to save a threatened landscape and the beloved home her family has lived in for generations. Unfolding through vérité magical realism, the film explores the unseen forces that shape our visible worlds and transform our natural landscapes – and, the profound meaning of home.

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  • Filmmakers Erica Tremblay and MorningStar Angeline Wilson Selected for 2018 Sundance Institute Native Filmmakers Lab

    [caption id="attachment_28959" align="aligncenter" width="1309"]Sundance Institute Selects Erica Tremblay and MorningStar Angeline Wilson For 2018 Native Filmmakers Lab Erica Tremblay | MorningStar Angeline Wilson[/caption] Two emerging Native storytellers, Erica Tremblay (Seneca-Cayuga) and MorningStar Angeline Wilson (Navajo, Blackfeet, Chippewa Cree) have been selected to participate in the 2018 Sundance Institute Native Filmmakers Lab, continuing the Institute’s year-round work in the discovery and development of artists from diverse backgrounds. The Lab takes place May 13 to 18 in Santa Fe, NM. During the Lab, Fellows work with a cast, crew, and supervising producer to shoot workshop versions of scenes from their short films under the expert creative mentorship of Program alumni and other established industry professionals and Program staff. The Lab encourages Fellows to hone their storytelling and technical skills in a hands-on and supportive environment. After the Lab they will receive targeted support from supervising producers, grants to fund the production of their short films and will attend the annual Native Forum at the January 2019 Sundance Film Festival for ongoing support on their projects. N. Bird Runningwater (Cheyenne/Mescalero Apache), director of the Institute’s Native American and Indigenous Program, said, “The Lab creates a unique environment nurturing creativity and collaboration among these talented Native and Indigenous storytellers and advisors. The Institute has a long history supporting Native filmmakers and we are happy to continue that tradition with Erica and MorningStar to help their short stories come to life.” The Native Program has built and sustained a unique support cycle for Indigenous artists through grants, labs, mentorships, fellowships, the platform of Sundance Film Festival, and screenings in Native communities to inspire new generations of storytellers. The Institute has established a rich legacy of commitment to Native filmmaking, supporting more than 300 Native and Indigenous filmmakers over the years, including Taika Waititi (Te Whānau-ā-Apanui), Sterlin Harjo (Seminole/Creek Nations), Billy Luther (Navajo/Hopi/Laguna Pueblo), Andrew Okpeaha MacLean (Iñupiaq), Aurora Guerrero (Xicana), Sydney Freeland (Diné), Blake Pickens (Chickasaw Nation), Ciara Lacy (Kanaka Maoli),Razelle Benally (Oglala Lakota/Diné), Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr. (Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa Tribe) and Shaandiin Tome (Diné). The filmmakers serving as Creative Advisors for this year’s Native Lab include: Danis Goulet (Cree/Métis) (Wakening, Wappawekka), Blackhorse Lowe (Navajo) (Shimasani, 5th World), Jennifer Phang (Half-Life, Advantageous) and Chelsea Winstanley (Ngati Ranginui/Ngati Pakeha) (Ebony Society, Night Shift, Waru). Peer Advisors for this year’s Native Lab include: Razelle Benally (Oglala Lakota/Diné) (I Am Thy Weapon) and Shaandiin Tome (Diné) (Mud, Hastl’ishnii). Both are Native Lab alumni (Benally, 2015 and Tome, 2017).

    Artists and projects selected for the 2018 Native Filmmakers Lab:

    Little Chief Erica Tremblay The lives of a Native woman and nine-year-old boy intersect over the course of a school day on a reservation in Oklahoma. Erica Tremblay belongs to the Seneca-Cayuga Nation and is also of Wyandotte heritage. As a documentary filmmaker and activist based in New York City, her projects have screened at numerous film festivals and her work has been featured on PBS and CNN. Tremblay’s films explore topics including violence against Indigenous women, restorative justice and issues impacting the two-spirit community. She has worked with many grassroots organizations, including the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, Wica Agli and the Monument Quilt Project. In 2016, Tremblay was awarded a Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Artist Fellowship and she was recently honored as a 40 Under 40 Native American. Ahéhee’ Shizhé’é (Thank you, Father) MorningStar Angeline Wilson A young woman struggles to come to terms with the legacy left to her after her father passes away from an unknown virus in a post-apocalyptic world. Through a series of dreams, she finds the strength to carry the traditions and medicine that was left to her. MorningStar Angeline Wilson belongs to the Navajo, Blackfeet, Chippewa Cree Tribes. She began acting in theatre from an early age and was cast as Nizhoni Smiles in Sydney Freeland’s Drunktown’s Finest. This debut role earned her the Best Supporting Actress Award from The American Indian Film Festival in 2014. In 2016, Wilson contributed as a camera operative to VICE TV’s series Rise which premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. She worked in production on projects such as Scalped and WACO. Angeline was awarded ‘Best Acting Performance’ at the Institute of American Indian Arts for her role as Jade in Razelle Benally’s Raven, a short narrative that premiered at the 2017 IMAGINENative Film Festival. That same year she was selected to be Marie Claire’s 2017 June Guest Editor. The New Mexico Film & Television Hall of Fame honored Wilson with the ‘Rising Star’ award in 2018. She currently divides her time between Albuquerque, NM and Los Angeles, CA.

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  • 7 Bold, Visionary Writers Selected for Film Independent’s 20th Screenwriting Lab

    Film Independent, Seven screenwriters have been selected for Film Independent’s 20th annual Screenwriting Lab, an intensive four-week workshop designed to facilitate each writer’s unique voice through the development of a single feature screenplay. Eighty-five percent of this year’s participants are from communities underrepresented in film and over half the participants are women. Fellows will workshop their projects over the course of the Lab under the guidance of Creative Advisors Rodrigo García (Nine Lives, HBO’s In Treatment), Pamela Ribon (Moana, Wreck-It Ralph 2) and Jeff Stockwell (Bridge to Terabithia). Additional guest speakers and advisors include Andrew Ahn (Spa Night), Script Consultant Ruth Atkinson, Jelani Johnson of CAA and Virgil Williams (Mudbound). “We are extremely proud that Film Independent’s 20th Screenwriting Lab is made up of seven bold, visionary writers whose diverse perspectives represent our continued commitment to fostering inclusion in the film industry. We look forward to nurturing their projects in the Lab and their careers as artists in the long term,” said Jennifer Kushner, Director of Artist Development at Film Independent. For the seventh year, Film Independent will present the Loyola Marymount University School of Film and Television Screenwriting Fellowship. This year’s Fellowship is being awarded to Margaret Hedderman who will receive a $10,000 grant to support the development of her script, The Code of the West, through the Screenwriting Lab. Past Screenwriting Lab projects include Spirit Award Winner Andrew Ahn’s Spa Night, which premiered in competition at Sundance and won the Grand Jury prize at Outfest; Chloé Zhao’s Spirit Award nominated Songs My Brothers Taught Me, which premiered in competition at Sundance and in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes; and Robbie Pickering’s SXSW winner Natural Selection. The 2018 Screenwriting Lab participants and their projects are: Title: At Risk Writer: Jenny Halper Logline: A ten-year-old budding scientist becomes obsessed with a turtle he believes has been alive since the time of the dinosaurs as his sister’s AIDS diagnosis turns his family into pariahs in their small New England town. Based on Alice Hoffman’s novel. Title: Bury Me on Gold Mountain Writer/Director: Li Lu Logline: In 1872, a young Chinese woman fights to survive after being sold to an unknown man in a remote Idaho gold mining town. Title: Hombrecito Writer/Director: Miguel Nuñez Logline: A romantic little fella leads a peasant revolt against the abuses of a foreign cotton company. On his odyssey to defend their right to the land, Hombrecito has kung-fu fights, is stalked by a ghost, and ends up as a misfit cowboy. Title: Juveniles Writer/Director: Joshua James Richards Logline: Teenage love and rebellion in a juvenile correctional facility. Title: SOAD Writer/Director: Ayten Amin Logline: 12-year old Rabad lives in Zaqazig, a small conservative town in Egypt. After her older sister, Soad falls down an online rabbit hole with tragic consequences, Rabad embarks on a journey looking for answers. Title: The Code of the West Writer: Margaret Hedderman Logline: A directionless musician takes her young son on a road trip to find his father – whom he imagines is a John Wayne-esque figure. They find him on a New Mexico ranch that’s under threat from energy development. The boy tries to save the day. Title: Zenith Writer/Director: Ellie Foumbi Logline: An adopted Black Mennonite leaves the rural White community she was raised in and travels to an inner-city neighborhood to find her biological mother. In the process, she discovers what it means to be Black.

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  • 4 Filmmakers Win 2018 Oregon Media Arts Fellowship

    [caption id="attachment_28743" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Roland Dahwen Wu Roland Dahwen Wu[/caption] The Northwest Film Center, Oregon Arts Commission, and The Oregon Community Foundation announced Julia Oldham, Howard Mitchell, Roland Dahwen Wu, and Arianna Gazca as the winners of the 2018 Oregon Media Arts Fellowship (OMAF). Julia Oldham’s work combines live action video with traditional animation to create narratives about science and nature. She creates fantastical worlds by layering animated sequences and video footage, and through this process explores the far reaches of outer space and the deep seas, has dreamlike encounters with animated birds and coyotes, and finds the potential for romance in mathematical equations. Her work has been screened/exhibited at Art in General in New York, NY; MoMA PS1 in Long Island City, NY; BRIC in Brooklyn, NY; Northwest Film Center in Portland, OR, and many other locations. Oldham’s OMAF funded project will concern packs of dogs living in the wake of the Chernobyl Power Plant disaster. She plans to make a dialogue-free short film called Fallout Dogs in the exclusion zone of the region, following and filming the strays littered throughout the zone in order to capture an impression of Chernobyl through the eyes of the dogs. Portland-based director Howard Mitchell (aka El Gato Negro) was born in Panama to an Afro-Panamanian mother and an American father. As an artist, he’s taken what he’s learned from his background as a painter, poet, and musician and combined these disciplines. Mitchell says, “I believe in viewing art and cinema as a means of elevating consciousness, politically and culturally…as a liberating art.” Mitchell’s work has screened at the Toronto International Film and Video Awards, the Portland International Film Festival, and other festivals, and has also appeared on OPB’s Open Lens program. The OMAF funding will support the production of Mitchell’s short film Killingsworth, a noir thriller that touches on issues surrounding displacement and gentrification in the African American community, shedding light on voices and experiences that are being misheard, misrepresented or worse, muzzled. Roland Dahwen Wu is a filmmaker whose work explores migration, race, and memory. His films and installations have been shown at CalArts, Time Based Art Festival, Northwest Film Center, and numerous galleries. He is a 2018 artist-in-residence at Portland Institute for Contemporary Art’s Creative Exchange Lab. His films span nonfiction, experimental, and narrative genres, and are commonly marked by poetry: from his first documentary about the whistling language of the Canary Islands (There are no birds in the nests of yesterday) to his recent short film about 20th century Asian migration (Haft-Seen). Wu’s Fellowship award will help fund his upcoming short film Borrufa. Based on true events and shot on Super 16mm, Borrufa involves a grown son and his parents when they learn that his father has a secret, second family. Following the lives of an immigrant family in Oregon, Borrufa is a subtle, introspective work about loneliness, betrayal, and reconciliation. Arianna Gazca is a Portland-based artist and filmmaker who works with mixed media through the moving image. Her work often deals with visual music and color psychology, and has been featured in screenings and exhibitions including the Punto y Raya Festival 2016, the Melbourne International Animation Festival 2017, Bogota Experimental Film Festival/CineAutopsia 2017, and Regional Arts & Culture Council and Open Signal’s Night Lights Series 2016. She holds a B.F.A. in Animated Arts from Pacific Northwest College of Art. Gazca will apply her OMAF grant funds towards producing a short, experimental animated visual music film called Metanoia. Inspired by the work of avant-garde artist and filmmaker Viking Eggeling, Gazca intends to, “create a genuine, significant connection with its audience through abstraction and characters that don’t explicitly represent anything concrete or realistic, but are still understood for something.” The completed project will combine live action footage with post-production digital manipulation and traditional ink and paint based animation to realize a highly textured visual accompaniment to the musical elements of her piece. The Oregon Media Arts Fellowship supports filmmakers who have demonstrated an ongoing commitment to the media arts. Jurors reviewed 50 submissions from applicants throughout the state, weighing artistic merit, the potential of the proposed activity to advance the artist’s work, and the feasibility of the projects proposed. This year’s combined $23,000 of Fellowship awards are funded by the Oregon Arts Commission and The Oregon Community Foundation and administered by the Northwest Film Center. The application deadline for the 2019 Oregon Media Arts Fellowships is January 1, 2019. Applications are available online.

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  • Sundance Institute Selects 6 Projects for 2018 New Frontier Story Lab

    [caption id="attachment_28747" align="aligncenter" width="1227"]Sundance Institute Announces 2018 New Frontier Story Lab Fellows. Nitzan Bartov | Charlotte Simpson | Michèle Stephenson | Joe Brewster | Raqi Syed | Areito Echevarria | Stephanie Dinkins |Sadé Dinkins | Shariffa Chelimo Ali | Yetunde Dada | Kevin Cornish | Seyward Darby Sundance Institute Announces 2018 New Frontier Story Lab Fellows. Nitzan Bartov | Charlotte Simpson | Michèle Stephenson | Joe Brewster | Raqi Syed | Areito Echevarria | Stephanie Dinkins |Sadé Dinkins | Shariffa Chelimo Ali | Yetunde Dada | Kevin Cornish | Seyward Darby[/caption] Sundance Institute has selected six projects for the annual New Frontier Story Lab, which supports independent artists working at the cutting-edge convergence of film, art, media, live performance and technology. The New Frontier Story Lab is a week-long immersive experience that empowers creatives with individual story sessions, conversations about key artistic, design and technology issues and case study presentations from experts in multiple disciplines. Past participants include Roger Ross Williams, Josephine Decker, Silas Howard, Tracy Fullerton, Yung Jake, Chris Milk, Hasan Minhaj, Tommy Pallotta, Amelia Winger-Bearskin, Hank Willis Thomas, Jillian Mayer, Heather Dewey-Hagborg, Navid and Vassiliki Khonsari, A Dandy Punk, Nicolas Peufaillit, and Yasmin Elayat. The Lab takes place May 16-21 at the Sundance Resort in Utah, under the guidance of Sundance Institute Feature Film Program Founding Director Michelle Satter and Kamal Sinclair, Director of New Frontier Lab Programs. Sinclair said, “The intersection of artists and technologists at New Frontier Story Lab this year is going to create a unique experience where the Fellows are able to challenge each other to take risks and interact with stories in different ways. Creative Advisors and Industry Mentors will come together to explore the convergence of art and technology and engage in ground-breaking work in the full spectrum of immersive media, connected environments and machine learning.” Creative Advisors and Industry Mentors for the Lab include: Reggie Watts (Creator, Spatial), Nick Fortugno (Co-Creator, Frankenstein AI), Rashida Bumbray (Curator, Funk, God, Jazz and Medicine: Black Radical Brooklyn), Katerina Cizek (Creator, HIGHRISE), Toby Coffey (Head of Digital Development, National Theatre in London), Kirsten Johnson (Director, Cameraperson), Lauren McCarthy (Creative Coder, p5.js), Mark Monroe (Writer, The Cove), Arnaud Colinart (Co-Founder, AtlasV), Dr.Joy DeGruy (Author, Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome), Katherine Dieckmann (Writer/Director, Strange Weather), Sylvio Drouin (Vice President Research Labs, Unity Technologies) , Moira Griffin (Executive Director of Production, Creative Labs at Fox Networks Group), Scott Norville (Vice President, Digital Audience Development at Fox), Torfi Frans Ólafsson (Design Director, Minecraft at Microsoft), Opeyemi Olukemi (Vice President, POV’s Digital Production and Innovation), Melissa Painter (Creator, HEROS), Joan Tewkesbury (Writer, Nashville), Saschka Unseld (Director, The Blue Umbrella), Diana Williams (Executive Vice President of Creative at Madison Wells Media) and Anthony Sparks (Co-Executive Producer, Queen Sugar).  The Creative teams and Projects Selected for The 2018 Sundance Institute New Frontier Story Lab: Alexa, Call Mom! Nitzan Bartov and Charlotte Simpson Alexa, Call Mom! is a connected environment installation featuring Alexa and other interactive devices working as a conduit between the living and the dead. It is the seance experience of the future! Nitzan Bartov is a game designer and architect based in Brooklyn. In VR, interactive and spatial media, her work mixes pop culture and sci-fi with computational design and sculptural elements, exploring representations of time and beauty in the flaws of the digital world. Charlotte Simpson writes interactive fiction and designs narrative formulas for gamified texts, VR, and immersive experiences. Her focus is stories that encourage an extranoematic interaction between the reader and text. Changing Same: The Untitled Racial Justice Project Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster Changing Same: The Untitled Racial Justice Project is a magical-realist journey through the uninterrupted cycle of white racial oppression from slavery to now to an afro-futurist world of freedom, liberation and equity. Michèle Stephenson pulls from her Panamanian and Haitian roots to tell provocative stories that are created by, for and about communities of color. Stephenson’s most recent feature documentary, American Promise, was nominated for three Emmys, garnered a Sundance Film Festival Jury Award, and won a Britdoc Puma Award for Impact. Her collaborative short-film series with New York Times Op-Docs, Conversations on Race, won an Online Journalism Award for Commentary. Joe Brewster is a physician who uses his psychiatrist training to inform the social issues he tackles as a filmmaker. Brewster has created stories using a variety of mediums that have garnered support from critics and audiences internationally. Brewster is a Guggenheim Fellow and Spirit Award and three-time Emmy Award nominee. His recent documentary, American Promise, won the Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival. Brewster’s outreach accomplishments include a NAACP Image Award for his book Promises Kept, and a BritDoc Prize for developing one of the most innovative outreach campaigns. Minimum Mass Raqi Syed and Areito Echevarria After a series of miscarriages, a young woman is convinced her children were born into another dimension. Through immersive media, this story of loss, fear and reunion penetrates the unseen portal between worlds. Raqi Syed is a writer and artist who has worked on films such as Tangled, District 9, Avatar, Dawn of The Planet of the Apes, and The Hobbit Trilogy. In 2017, The Los Angeles Times pegged Syed for its list of 100 Industry professionals who can help fix Hollywood’s diversity problem. Syed’s writing focuses on film and gender, film technology, the historiography of visual effects, and the business of visual effects. Her essays have appeared in TechCrunch, Vice, Salon, Quartz, and The Los Angeles Review of Books. Areito Echevarria is an Academy Award winning artist and researcher, specializing in computational creativity and design. His feature film experience includes work on films such as War for the Planet of the Apes, Godzilla, The Hobbit Trilogy, Avatar and Black Hawk Down. In 2014, Echevarria was awarded the Scientific and Technical Academy Award for his work developing Deep Compositing, an imaging technology that fundamentally changed the nature of compositing workflows in the feature film industry. Not The Only One Stephanie Dinkins and Sadé Dinkins Not the Only One is the multigenerational memoir of one black American family told from the mind of an artificial intelligence of evolving intellect. Stephanie Dinkins is a transdisciplinary artist interested in creating platforms for ongoing dialog about artificial intelligence as it intersects race, gender, aging, the proliferation of knowledge(s) and our future histories. She is particularly driven to work with communities of color to develop deep-rooted AI literacy and co-create more equitable artificial intelligence. Sadé Dinkins is passionate about social justice and the need for a future that reflects us, as representation has growing effect on the human psyche, public policy. She has an external drive to seek and establish representation for blackness and women in media as well as in the technological sector as it increasingly intersects our lives. Evolve | Revolve​ Shariffa Chelimo Ali and Yetunde Dada Circle the Mugumo tree seven times and transform from masculine to feminine or feminine to masculine; and live in your new identity forever. This is the ritual of the Kikuyu ancestors that no contemporary person has experienced until now. Shariffa Chelimo Ali is an Afropolitan creative leader committed to working with an open-heart at the intersection of the performing arts and humanitarianism. Ali works as a Community Coordinator at the Public Theater in New York. Selected directing credits include: Detroit 67 (Brooklyn College, NY), We are Proud to Present…(Yale Dramatic Society, Yale University, CT), Eclipsed (Lewis Center for the Arts, Princeton University, NJ), The Year of the Bicycle (C.M.O.R.E Festival, The Cell Theatre, NY) and Evolve | Revolve (formerly known as Round Round, VR film), winner of the Digital Lab Africa Competition. Yetunde Dada’s background is in photography, design and technology and she is currently completing her MBA at the Said Business School, University of Oxford. She passionate about using art and technology for social change and founded a social impact art, design and music magazine called Our Friends. True Crime Kevin Cornish and Seyward Darby Unearth stories by speaking with the witnesses, family members, detectives and towns people who lived the nightmares of this True Crime series. These conversational documentaries put the viewer face to face with the subjects and let’s them ask the questions to discover the multifaceted truth. Kevin Cornish, director of cinematic immersive experiences, is the CEO and Co-Founder of Conversive, an immersive conversation engine, and the founder of Moth+Flame agency. Cornish has created immersive experiences for AMC’s The Walking Dead and Pandas AR for IMAX, which allows kids to have conversations with a talking panda in augmented reality. He’s also the creator of Fall in Love, an AI-powered VR experience inspired by The New York Times article “36 Questions to Fall in Love,” which was shortlisted for an Innovation Lion at Cannes and uses natural language processing to enhance first-person storytelling. Seyward Darby is a magazine editor who specializes in longform narrative nonfiction. Currently, she is the executive editor of The Atavist Magazine, an award-winning publication that delivers cinematic true stories featuring in-depth reporting, compelling writing and the most elegant design on the web. She is also a writer and is currently working on a book about how women have shaped white nationalism in America (Little, Brown, 2020).  

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  • 9 Indie Filmmakers with 6 Documentary Films Selected for Film Independent’s 2018 Documentary Lab

    [caption id="attachment_27705" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]Unapologetic Unapologetic[/caption] Nine filmmakers and six projects have been selected for Film Independent’s 2018 Documentary Lab, an intensive five-week program designed to help filmmakers who are currently in post-production on their feature-length documentary films. This year’s projects span the globe – from a film about undocumented youth in the US, to an indigenous family in the Andes standing up to one of the largest gold producers in the world, to an unexpected environmental film about invisible elves, the free market and the surprising power of belief told through an Icelandic grandmother’s quest to save a threatened landscape. “We’re delighted to welcome this talented group of filmmakers who will be joining us for the eighth year of the Documentary Lab from diverse regions across the US and as far away as Egypt,” said Jennifer Kushner, Director of Artist Development. “Through mentorship, career development and a lively collaborative work environment, the Lab provides support to filmmakers as they work to bring these meaningful nonfiction stories to audiences.” Through a series of meetings and workshops, the Documentary Lab provides creative feedback and story notes to participating filmmakers, while helping them strategize for the completion, distribution and marketing of their films. Additionally, the program serves to advance the careers of its Fellows by making introductions to film professionals who can advise on both the craft and business of documentary filmmaking. Lab Fellows attend multiple guest speaker and workshopping sessions with established documentary directors, institutional funders, legal professionals, festival programmers and distributors, and each is paired with an experienced Creative Advisor who provides one-on-one support and insight as the Fellows ready their projects for release. This year’s Documentary Lab Advisors and Guest Speakers include Ramona S. Diaz (Motherland), Greg Finton (Editor, A River Runs Through It, Dazed and Confused), Amy Halpin of the International Documentary Association, Alexandra Johnes (The Square), Senain Kheshgi of Majority Film, Jeff Malmberg (Spettacolo, Marwencol), Marjan Safinia (But You Speak Such Good English), Chris Shellen (Spettacolo, Marwencol) and Rahdi Taylor of Concordia Films (Blue Note). Notable past Documentary Lab projects include Tracy Droz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palmero’s Rich Hill; Marah Strauch’s Sunshine Superman; Sarita Khurana and Smriti Mundhra’s A Suitable Girl; Dustin Nakao Haider, Daniel Dewes and Derek Doneen’s Shot in the Dark; and Bing Liu and Diane Quon’s Minding the Gap, winner of the 2018 US Documentary Competition Award for Breakthrough Filmmaking at Sundance. Film Independent Artist Development promotes unique independent voices by helping filmmakers create and advance new work through its Filmmaker Labs (Directing, Documentary, Episodic, Producing and Screenwriting), Grants Program which awards over $800K annually to filmmakers, the Fast Track finance market, Fiscal Sponsorship and Project Involve, celebrating 25 years of mentoring the next generation of visual storytellers and working toward an inclusive industry. The 2018 Documentary Lab projects and Fellows are: Title: I am a Script Girl Director/Producer: Mina Nabil Logline: I Am a Script Girl is an up close and personal examination of the life, challenges and career of the unstoppable Sylvette Baudrot who at 89-years old recounts her journey from Egypt to Paris where she became a trusted confidant to the great auteurs of 20th century cinema. Title: Pathways Director: Florencia Krochik Logline: Pathways tells the stories of six “DACA-mented” & undocumented youth and the struggles they face pursuing higher education. The film weaves together their captivating stories and explores the crippled US immigration policies that have led to the hardships they and their families face. Title: Sage Country Director: Yuri Chicovsky Producer: Lauren Blair Logline: A Colorado sheep rancher who inherits a beloved piece of land and way of life must come to terms with his legacy and his life’s dream. Title: The Seer and the Unseen Director/Producer: Sara Dosa Producer: Shane Boris Logline: The Seer and the Unseen is an unexpected environmental film about invisible elves, the free market and the surprising power of belief told through an Icelandic grandmother’s quest to save a threatened landscape – and the beloved home her family has lived in for generations. Title: Unapologetic Director: Ashley O’Shay Logline: After two Black Chicagoans are murdered by the police, young Black citizens begin challenging the city’s corrupt policies while redefining the meaning of community organizing. Unapologetic goes behind the veil with two Black, queer women, providing an intimate peek into the personal lives that sustain a movement. Title: Untitled Claudia Sparrow Documentary Director: Claudia Sparrow Producer: Ryan Schwartz Logline: An indigenous family from the Andes stands up to one of the largest gold producers in the world defending their right to live off their land and protect natural resources from devastating corporate greed.

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  • 6 Indie Filmmakers to Compete in Seattle International Film Festival’s 2018 Fly Filmmaking Challenge

    [caption id="attachment_27596" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]2018 SIFF Fly Filmmakers are Jeff Barehand (Olympia), Graham Bourque (Ellensburg), Myisa Plancq-Graham (Seattle), Elliat Graney-Saucke (Seattle), Kendra Ann Sherrill (Spokane), Masahiro Sugano (Tacoma) 2018 SIFF Fly Filmmakers are (top row: l – r) Jeff Barehand (Olympia), Graham Bourque (Ellensburg), Myisa Plancq-Graham (Seattle), (bottom row: l – r) Elliat Graney-Saucke (Seattle), Kendra Ann Sherrill (Spokane), Masahiro Sugano (Tacoma)[/caption] The Fly Filmmaking Challenge organized in partnership with Washington Filmworks, returns to the 2018 Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) after a three year hiatus. For the first time ever, the Fly Filmmaking Challenge hit the road and invited filmmakers from cities across the state to participate. “As a statewide entity that works closely with creative industries, Washington Filmworks knows first hand how creativity and creative professionals transform communities both culturally and economically,” said Amy Lillard, Executive Director of Washington Filmworks. “The six filmmakers selected for this year’s Challenge have chosen to showcase a diverse group of people and places from their community which make a delightful, inspired, and unforgettable program for SIFF audiences.” Each filmmaker chose a creative professional living in their community as the subject of their documentary film. From a fashion professional to a creative technologist, from a woodworker to a literary artist, SIFF audiences will experience an intimate look inside each artisan’s creative process and understand how their work benefits the quality of life in the city which they live and work. Given only 10 weeks to plan, produce, and complete a short 5-7 minute documentary short within the creative challenges, filmmakers must think on their feet to present the most compelling film. “Documentary projects often afford months to years of production but this year’s team said they are up to the challenge.” said Dustin Kaspar, SIFF’s Education Programs Manager. “The abbreviated production timeline engages their creative instincts and provides a showcase of their visionary talent through another artist’s process. The final program features six short films by filmmakers from across the state, intended to shine a light on Washington’s far-reaching and inspired creative industries. The 2018 Fly Filmmakers are Jeff Barehand (Olympia), Graham Bourque (Ellensburg), Myisa Plancq-Graham (Seattle), Elliat Graney-Saucke (Seattle), Kendra Ann Sherrill (Spokane), Masahiro Sugano (Tacoma). The Fly Filmmaking Challenge is scheduled to premiere on Monday, May 28 and will screen again on Wednesday, June 6.

    The Filmmakers

    Jeff Barehand

    Jeff is an enrolled citizen of the Gila River Indian Community of Arizona. He studied at the Studio Theatre Acting Conservatory in Washington, D.C. and filmmaking at the American Indian Arts Institute’s intensive filmmaking workshop sponsored by ABC/Disney. He is a founding member of the non-profit, the Olympia Film Collective, a South Sound premiere filmmaking hub. He is co-owner of Sky Bear Media, a video production company specializing in producing media for Tribes, Native organizations, and Tribal youth programs. He is a Sundance Native Lab fellow and also the current Board Chair of Red Eagle Soaring, Seattle’s only Native youth theatre program.

    Graham Bourque

    Graham is a filmmaker living in Ellensburg, Washington. He graduated from Central Washington University in 2017 with a degree in Film Production, and has produced a number of short films, documentaries, and commercials. During his senior year, he produced Todd’s Vlog which won 1st place in the narrative short film category at the BEA Festival of Media Arts 2017.

    Elliat Graney-Saucke

    Elliat is a documentary filmmaker focused on equity and cultural knowledge exchange. Currently acting President of the Seattle Documentary Association, Elliat is completing her second feature documentary Boys on the Inside, about ‘boy’ culture in women’s prisons. She is also completing the documentary Art Heart: Children of Riot Grrrl with Celeste Chan, about coming of age in riot grrrl, queercore culture. After seven years in Berlin producing content in eight countries, she is back in Seattle as an organizer and teacher at Northwest Film Forum and Director of Elliat Creative, LLC.

    Myisa Plancq-Graham

    San Francisco native, Myisa, began her photography career exploring the streets of Atlanta in 2011. Her growing appreciation for photography and videography culminated in the creation of Annie Graham Imagery. Creating content by, about and for Black people is her primary filmmaking incentive. Myisa serves as lead director, videographer, and editor for documentary short series UNCODE, highlighting people and stories of the African Diaspora.

    Kendra Ann Sherrill

    Kendra Ann is an award-winning filmmaker from Spokane, WA. Many of her short films have screened at local film festivals such as the National Film Festival for Talented Youth, Seattle Shorts Film Festival, Local Sightings Film Festival, and Reel NW. She is a graduate of the Eastern Washington University’s Film Program, where she received the Best Director and Best Screenplay awards, and was a finalist for the the DGA Student Film Awards. Kendra also serves as the Assistant Director for the Spokane International Film Festival and works full time as an editor and producer for the Emmy award-winning television series Washington Grown.

    Masahiro Sugano

    Masahiro, a Sundance Film Festival alumnus, is an award winning filmmaker whose accolades stretch from a Student Academy Award nomination in 1997 to his most recent 2016 Documentary Award given by the National Asian American Journalists Association. In 2013 he received the Center for Asian American Media’s Innovation Fund for his series “Verses in Exile,” currently hosted on PBS.org. Masahiro’s second feature, Cambodian Son is winner of several awards including the Best Documentary Award at CAAMFEST 2014 and the Audience Choice Award at Bali International Film Festival 2015. As co-founder of artist-ran media lab Studio Revolt, Masahiro creates short films on a variety of societal issues such as deportation. He’s also a pioneering force in the art of spoken word videos. Earning a B.A. in Philosophy from California State University, Northridge, Masahiro went on to earn an M.F.A. in Film from University of Illinois, Chicago. Masahiro currently resides in Tacoma, WA and serves as an Artist-in-Residence at the University of Washington, Bothell.

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  • 6 Independent Film Directors Selected for Film Independent’s 18th Directing Lab

    Film Independent, Film Independent has picked 6 emerging independent film directors for its 18th annual Directing Lab, an intensive eight-week program designed to support the directors on their feature films. Daniel Barnz (Cake, Phoebe in Wonderland), Nicole Holofcener (Enough Said, Friends with Money) and James Ponsoldt (The End of the Tour, The Spectacular Now) are the 2018 Directing Lab Creative Advisors. Additional Advisors and guest speakers include: Ruth Atkinson, Rodrigo García, Catherine Hardwicke, Alex O’Flinn, Lisa Robertson, Nancy Schreiber, ASC, Emily Schweber and Chloé Zhao. Under the guidance of established industry professionals who serve as Creative Advisors, Directing Lab Fellows receive script feedback, discuss their visions, and select short scenes from their screenplays to workshop. Each director then casts actors and rehearses their scenes in the Lab before undertaking a mini-production; Film Independent provides Fellows with digital camera, lighting and sound packages and small stipends to shoot their scenes, and offers access to experienced casting directors, cinematographers, and editors with whom to collaborate and consult. The process creates an opportunity to see the work through from pre- to post-production, and culminates in a group screening for fellow Lab participants and Advisors. Past Directing Lab Fellows include Christina Choe with Nancy (2018 Sundance Film Festival),  Sheldon Candis with LUV (2012 Sundance Film Festival), Cherien Dabis with Amreeka (2010 Film Independent Spirit Award Nominee, FIPRESCI Award Winner at 2009 Cannes Film Festival) and Robbie Pickering with Natural Selection(2012 Spirit Award Nominee, Winner SXSW Grand Jury Prize, Audience Award). The 2018 Directing Lab participants and their projects are: Title: DOHA – The Rising Sun Director/Writer: Eimi Imanishi Logline: Disheartened by her deportation from Europe, Mariam is forced to return home to Western Sahara. Adrift in the very place that’s supposed to be her home, she searches for the means to assert agency over her own life. Title: Followers Director/Writer: Tim Marshall Logline: A recent widow sees the face of Jesus on her gay Aqua Aerobics instructor’s swimming shorts and sets out to convince him that he is Jesus. Title: Girl with Child Director/Writer: Maria Abraham Logline: Near Quito, Ecuador, teenager Diana escapes from an institution for troubled girls with her toddler. The goal: travel to pick up her younger sister from their abusive childhood home and start a new life. But along the way, Diana ends up down and out and must figure out how to survive with her young son, whom she’s not even sure she wants. Title: The Hiding House Director/Writer: Ally Pankiw Logline: An awkward Canadian teen befriends the mysterious girl next door, and discovers that her new neighbor is actually the “child bride” of a notorious, polygamous FLDS leader wanted by the FBI. Title: Toughest MoFo in Portland, Oregon Director: Ryan Velásquez Logline: A hyper-belligerent teen, sent to live with his estranged brother in Portland, Oregon, struggles to cope with his best friend’s suicide and the very real possibility that he is losing his mind. Title: Valley of Exile Director/Writer/Producer: Anna Fahr Logline: In the arid valley of Eastern Lebanon, two Syrian sisters set out in search of their missing brother uncertain of where their own journey into exile will lead.

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  • Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers is 2018 Recipient of Sundance Institute Merata Mita Fellowship for Indigenous Artists

    Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (Blackfoot/Sámi) Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (Blackfoot/Sámi) from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is the 2018 recipient of the Sundance Institute Merata Mita Fellowship – an annual fellowship named in honor of the late Māori filmmaker Merata Mita (1942-2010).  The announcement was made today at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. For the third consecutive year, Sundance Institute has identified an Indigenous filmmaker from a global pool of nominees to award a cash grant and provide a year-long continuum of support with activities including a trip to the Sundance Film Festival, access to strategic and creative services offered by Sundance Institute artist programs, and mentorship opportunities. Tailfeathers is a filmmaker, writer, and actor. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of British Columbia in First Nations and Indigenous Studies with a Minor in Women’s and Gender Studies. Her award-winning works are often community-focused and rooted in social justice. Tailfeathers is a recipient of the Vancouver Mayor’s Arts Award and a Kodak Image Award for her work as an emerging filmmaker and a Canadian Screen Award for her performance in On the Farm. Her short documentary, Bihttoš (2014) was included in the TIFF Top Ten Canadian Shorts and was also nominated for a Canadian Screen Award and a Leo Award for Best Short Documentary. Bihttoš also won the grand jury prize at the Seattle International Film Festival for Best Short Documentary. Most recently, she directed a feature-length documentary, cesnaʔem: the city before the city – in collaboration with the Musqueam First Nation – which premiered at the 2017 Vancouver International Film Festival. Tailfeathers is currently directing a feature-length documentary about the opiate crisis and addiction in her home community of Kainai First Nation (Blood Reserve). She is also in pre-production on a narrative-feature, which she is co-writing and co-directing with Kathleen Hepburn. Tailfeathers is an alumna of the Berlinale Talent Lab, the Sámi Film Institute’s Indigenous Film Fellowship, and a recipient of the Hot Docs Cross Currents Fund. “Now in its third consecutive award year, this Fellowship pays tribute to the immense artistic contributions and memory of our beloved colleague and friend Merata Mita, who was an activist, documentarian and the first and only Māori woman to write and direct a dramatic feature,” said N. Bird Runningwater (Cheyenne/Mescalero Apache), director, Sundance Institute Native American and Indigenous Film Program. “The Merata Mita Fellowship reflects Sundance Institute’s ongoing commitment to supporting Indigenous artists globally. The selection of Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers as the 2018 recipient exemplifies the creative work and the efforts that Merata championed throughout her life.” Merata Mita (Ngai te Rangi/Ngati Pikiao) was New Zealand’s first Indigenous female filmmaker. She served as an advisor and artistic director of the Sundance Institute Native Lab from 2000 to 2009, where she championed emerging Indigenous talent. The Fellowship is supported by the Consulate General of Canada, Indigenous Media Initiatives, Anonymous, Fenton Bailey and Billy Luther (Diné/Hopi/Laguna Pueblo), and Sarah Luther (Diné). Sundance Institute’s Native American and Indigenous Film Program champions Native American and Indigenous independent storytelling artists through residency Labs, Fellowships, public programming, and a year-round continuum of creative, financial, and tactical support. The Program conducts outreach and education to identify a new generation of Native and Indigenous voices, connecting them with opportunities to develop their storytelling projects, and bringing them and their work back to Native lands. At its core, the Program seeks to inspire self-determination among Native filmmakers and communities by centering Native people in telling their own stories.

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  • Filmmakers: Apply for $25,000 SFFILM / Vulcan Productions Environmental Fellowship

    SFFILM SFFILM, in partnership with Vulcan Productions, has launched a new support program designed for nonfiction filmmakers, adding to its slate of artist development offerings for independent storytellers from across the US. The SFFILM / Vulcan Productions Environmental Fellowship kicked off yesterday with an open call for applications for fellowships for mid-career or established filmmakers telling powerful stories about conservation and environmental issues. The winner of the inaugural SFFILM / Vulcan Productions Environmental Fellowship will receive:
    • A $25,000 cash grant
    • Guidance from advisors with expertise in the specific environmental issue they are exploring
    • Travel to San Francisco and Seattle to participate in workshops on filmmaking and environmental activism
    • Lesson plans for educational outreach, developed by SFFILM Education staff
    • Strategic consultation from SFFILM and Vulcan Productions staff, including SFFILM and Vulcan filmmakers and policy, science and technology experts, as well as documentary mentors, who will advise the fellow artistically while providing industry support that will allow the filmmakers to successfully enter fundraising and production
    SFFILM and Vulcan Productions share the belief that filmmakers tackling stories about climate change and the natural world need and deserve meaningful financial and creative support, particularly as environmental and scientific research and initiatives are being threatened. The SFFILM / Vulcan Productions Environmental Fellowship is geared towards mid-career or established documentary filmmakers from across the United States who are addressing pressing environmental issues through compelling storytelling and who are in the development or early production phase of their projects. “We’re thrilled to partner with Vulcan Productions to ensure great documentaries are being made about such a crucial subject as the environment, which is dear to us both,” said SFFILM Director of Artist Development, Caroline von Kühn. “This fellowship adds to SFFILM’s commitment to supporting filmmakers at the early development stage and to surround them with filmmaker advisors and environmental thought leaders in the Bay Area to support such critical stories being told.” “Stories about the environment and conservation that inform and enlighten have never been more important,” said Carole Tomko, General Manager and Creative Director of Vulcan Productions. “SFFILM is the perfect partner to support emerging filmmakers in telling these vital stories. Through the SFFILM / Vulcan Environmental Fellowship, we hope to enable greater storytelling on today’s critical environmental issues.” In addition to receiving funding resources and consultation services from SFFILM and Vulcan Productions, fellows will benefit from an SFFILM residency, accompanying guidance from the SFFILM Mentorship Advisory Board—an established network of directors, producers, editors, managers, and legal consultants to help navigate their looming funding and producing concerns—and additional documentary mentors. The fellowship selection process will seek out documentary features with an emphasis on powerful stories, compelling storytelling, and a focus on pressing issues of the environment or conservation. The program is open to mid-career and established documentary filmmakers across the US who are in the development or early production phase of their projects. Stories and subjects may be from any country. The application for the SFFILM / Vulcan Productions Environmental Fellowship is now open, and will close on March 5.

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