Slamdance has unveiled The Indie Awards, a new annual award show dedicated to celebrating independent filmmaking. The inaugural ceremony will take place on December 9, 2024, at the Directors Guild of America Theater in Los Angeles, hosted by comedians and actors Nic Novicki (Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos) and Steve Way (Ramy).
Ciela directed by Mauricio Sierra won the coveted Grand Chameleon and the Best Narrative Short awards at Brooklyn Film Festival’s 26th edition, “Human Times,” which wrapped on Sunday, June 11th. The film is described as an impressionistic fable, seen through the eyes of a young misfit named Ciela, who forms a secret friendship with an octopus. As her fantasy world collides with reality, Ciela sets off a chain of events that disrupt her sleepy fishing village.
Brooklyn Film Festival (BFF) announced the film lineup for its 26th edition, themed Human Times. The 2023 edition will show in competition 155 features and shorts from over 30 countries. 10 films will also play as part of one of the most successful BFF programs, now in its 19th year, kidsfilmfest.
The 22nd San Francisco Documentary Film Festival (SF DocFest) will be held June 1 – 11, 2023; and screen 39 features and 47 shorts. The festival opens with Christine Yoo’s 26.2 To Life and Fantastic Negrito: Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? directed by Yvan Iturriaga, Francisco Nuñez Capriles.
Everything Everywhere All At Once was the year’s big winner at the 2022 Seattle Film Critics Society Awards, picking up four awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), Best Film Editing, and Best Supporting Actor to Ke Huy Quan.
Sham, Yaman and Lulu in Lesbos, Greece, September 2015 (Amanda Bailly) (8 BORDERS, 8 DAYS – Amanda Bailly)[/caption]
Amanda Bailly’s film 8 BORDERS, 8 DAYS and co-directors Elisa Levine and Gabriel Miller’s film SWEETHEART DEAL have been awarded filmmaking grants in the 2016 True Productions + SIFF $50,000 Documentary Filmmakers Grant program.
True Productions founder Dwayne Clark, and his wife Terese Clark, have generously pledged to underwrite an annual $50,0000 grant for three years, this being the second year. “We are committed to producing true stories and both these documentaries touch our hearts. Both my wife and I are children of immigrants and we understand the plight of the immigrant. But we are especially touched by those seeking refuge from violence. In addition, when it comes to the topic of heroin addiction, we see Seattle and nearby communities struggling with solutions. We hope by supporting SWEETHEART DEAL, that we can keep the problem top of mind and perhaps spark more conversations around prevention,” said Dwayne Clark.
“I am so grateful to True Productions + SIFF for investing in the story of this single Syrian mother and her children, who had no other option but to travel in a raft across the sea with smugglers,” director Amanda Bailly said. “It is through human stories like this one that I hope our country can understand what it means to close our doors to the millions of people in need of refuge.”
8 BORDERS, 8 DAYS is the story of one woman’s personal revolution in the context of one of the greatest human rights crises of our time. The film weaves between the intimate story of a fierce single mother of two from Syria, and an immersive experience of their eight-day journey to safety.
Elisa Levine and Gabriel Miller’s film SWEETHEART DEAL, produced by Peggy Case, follows the lives of four women whose lives are ruled by heroin, and there is no help in sight – except from a ponytailed eccentric living in a Winnebago parked on Seattle’s notorious Aurora Avenue.
“When Mary Ellen Mark and Martin Bell made STREETWISE back in 1984, they chose Seattle because it was considered America’s most livable city. They wanted to show that if the issue of homeless kids could be a problem in wholesome Seattle, it had to be a problem everywhere. The same holds true today for heroin addiction,” director Elisa Levine said. “This incredible support from True Productions + SIFF comes at a crucial point in our post-production process. We so look forward to sharing SWEETHEART DEAL with SIFF audiences when it is completed.”
“Continuing with our second consecutive year, we are thrilled to have selected two powerful documentaries for the True Productions + SIFF Documentary Filmmaking Grant,” said Interim Artistic Director Beth Barrett. “8 BORDERS, 8 DAYS and SWEETHEART DEAL have tackled the issues of immigration and heroin addiction with such grace and thoughtfulness, and thanks to the dedication of Dwayne and Teresa Clark and True Productions, both films will be equipped with the necessary tools for launching into the festival and exhibition world.”