Sundance Institute has announced 23 feature projects awarded grants across four funding categories that will receive financial and creative support from the Sundance Documentary Film Program.

Three of the 23 projects are the first films to receive a grant from the Sundance Reach Fund, part of the Cinereach Project at the Sundance Institute that was unveiled last July.

The Sundance Reach Fund provides emergency discretionary grants and support for risk-taking features and documentaries that evoke global cultural exchange and social impact.

Nearly 500 filmmakers working in more than 50 countries submitted projects. “The films funded in this round highlight the inner struggles of ordinary individuals to come to terms with global issues,” Cara Mertes, director of the Sundance Documentary Film Program, said.

“From local efforts at truth and reconciliation to a war criminal on a mission of forgiveness, to young soldiers returning to every day life in small town America, nonfiction storytellers are leading us down new paths as we search for common ground.”

In development: Casablanca Calling (UK-Morocco), Rosa Rogers; Dear Mandela (US-South Africa), Dara Kell; Forty Panes (US), Laura Dunn; Gardens Of Paradise (US), Bernardo Ruiz; My Good Name Is Stalin (US-India), Kavita Pillay; My Love Awaits Me By The Sea (Jordan), Mais Darwazah

In production, post-production: A Small Act (US) (pictured), Jennifer Arnold; Untitled Tanzania Project(Tanzania-US), Elinyisia Mosha; Camp Victory, Afghanistan (US), Carol Dysinger; Donde Estan? (US-El Salvador), Maria Teresa Rodriguez; Fallen City (China), Qi Zhao; Fambul Tok (US), Sara Terry; Rose And Nangabire (US), Elizabeth Mandel and Beth Davenport; Semper Fi: Always Faithful(US), Rachel Libert and Tony Hardmon; The Disappearance of McKinley Nolan (US), Henry Corra; The Redemption Of General Butt Naked (US), Daniele Anastasion and Eric Strauss; This Is My Picture When I Was Dead (Jordan), Mahmoud Al Massad; Where Soldiers Come From (US), Heather Courtney.

Audience Engagement: Which Way Home (US), Rebecca Cammisa.

Discretionary: Marathon Boy(UK-India), Gemma Atwal.

Sundance Reach Fund: 25 To Life (US), Michael Brown; Gasland (US), Josh Fox; The Fire This Time (US), Blair Doroshwalther.