Projects from Armenia, Chile, Uganda and Palestine are among grantees of the Sundance Institute Documentary Fund, which in the 20th anniversary year of the Documentary Film Program (DFP) has made $1.4m available in unrestricted grant support to 35 projects.
Of the recipients, five are in development, 15 in production, 10 in post, and the filmmakers behind five are actively pursuing support for audience engagement and social impact campaigns.
Some 57% of the current cycle’s submissions hail from outside the US. Among the 14 US films receiving support, all are directed by at least one BIPOC director and/or lead producer, while two of these projects are directed by Indigenous filmmakers.
Internationally, the DFP prioritises championing artists living and working in countries that lack an adequate support infrastructure for independent film and/or regions where freedom of expression may be at risk.
Previously supported projects have included American Factory, Collective, Crip Camp, The Edge Of Democracy, Fire Of Love, Hooligan Sparrow, and The Mole Agent.
The latest grantees, presented by production stage, are:
Development
Flying Cows (Arm-Neth)
Dirs: Vahagn Khachatryan, Aren Malakyan
Pdrs: Jia Zhao, Vahagn Khachatryan, Kamee Abrahamyan
Imago (Fr-Bel-Geor)
Dir: Déni Oumar Pitsaev
Pdr: Alexandra Mélot
Oaklead (USA)
Dir: Alex J. Bledsoe
Pdr: Alex J. Bledsoe
The Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest (Ger-Chin)
Dir: Viv Li
Pdr: Daniela Dieterich, Erik Winker
Vintage Or Violence (Uga-SA)
Dir: Nikissi Serumaga-Jamo
Pdr: Lesedi Oluko Moche
Production
Concrete Land (Jor)
Dir: Asmahan Bkerat
Pdr: Sahar Yousefi
For Venida, For Kalief (USA)
Dir: Sisa Bueno
Pdr: Sisa Bueno
Here, The Silence Is Heard (Chil)
Dirs: Gabriela Pena, Picho García
Pdrs: Gabriela Pena, Picho García
In Your Shadow (Neth-SA-Fr)
Dirs: Thabi Mooi, Tom Fassaert
Pds: Renko Douze, Hasse van Nunen
Matabeleland (Zim-Bot-Ken-Can)
Dir: Nyasha Kadandara
Pdrs: Sam Soko, Bob Moore
Matininó (USA)
Dir: Gabriela Díaz Arp
Pdrs: Karla Claudio Betancourt, Tatiana Monge Herrera
Night Fight (Usa
Dir: Khary Saeed Jones
Pdrs: Khary Saeed Jones, Kendra Taira Field
Por Arte De Magia / Like Magic (Col)
Dir: Melissa Saavedra-Gil
Pdrs: Maritza Blanco Ruano
Queendom (USA-Fr)
Dir: Agniia Galdanova
Pdrs: Igor Myakotin, Agniia Galdanova
Theft Of Fire (Pal-Can)
Dir: Amer Shomali
Producers: Ina Fichman, Rashid Abdelhamid
The Vanishing (Sen-Fr-Swi-Den)
Dir: Rama Thiaw
Pdrs: Rama Thiaw, Yanis Gaye, Jean-Laurent Csnidis, Vadim Jendreyko, Marie Schmidt Olesen
Untitled Jewish Abortion Doc (U.S.A.)
Dir: Paula Eiselt
Prds: Darcy McKinnon
Untitled Kenyan Politics Project (Kenya)
Dirs: Christopher King, Maia Lekow
Prds: Maia Lekow, Christopher King
Untitled Labor Union Documentary (U.S.A.)
Dirs: Stephen Maing, Brett Story
Prds: Samantha Curley, Mars Verrone
Untitled Residential School Documentary (Canada, U.S.A.)
Dirs: Emily Kassie, Julian Brave NoiseCat
Prds: Emily Kassie, Kellen Quinn
Post-Production
Delikado (USA-Phil-Aus)
Dir: Karl Malakunas
Prds: Michael Collins, Marty Syjuco, Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala
Fire Through Dry Grass (USA)
Dirs: Alexis Neophytides, Andres “Jay” Molina
Prds: Jennilie Brewster, Alexis Neophytides
Lakota Nation vs. United States (USA)
Dirs: Jesse Short Bull, Laura Tomaselli
Prds: Benjamin Hedin, Phil Pinto
Mai American (USA)
Dir: Kevin Truong
Pdr: Kevin Truong
Rejeito (Bra-USA)
Dir: Pedro de Filippis
Prds: Leonardo Mecchi, Bronte Stahl, Tarsila Nakmura
Stronger Together (Mex)
Dir: Tania Claudia Castillo
Prds: Gabriela Gavica, Carlos Hernández
Testament (Ken-USA-Bra)
Dirs: Meena Nanji, Zippy Kimundu
Prds: Meena Nanji, Zippy Kimundu, Eliane Ferreira
The Untitled Baltimore Documentary Project (USA)
Director: Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough
Prds: Dawne Langford, Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough
Untitled (Ind-Fr-Nor)
Dirs: Nishtha Jain, Akash Basumatari
Prds: Nishtha Jain, Valerie Montmartin, Torstein Grude Ruwê Yuxinawá
XiXi (Tai-Phil-SK)
Dir: Fan Wu
Pdrs: Fan Wu, Venice Atienza, Sona Jo
Impact
Black Mothers Love & Resist (USA)
Dir: Débora Souza Silva
Pdrs: Débora Souza Silva, David Felix Sutcliffe, Adina Luo
Hollow Tree (USA)
Dir: Kira Akerman
Pdrs: Monique Walton, Chachi Hauser
Razing Liberty Square (USA)
Di: Katja Esson
Pdrs: Katja Esson, Ann Bennett, Corinna Sager, Ronald Baez
The Territory (Bra-USA-Den-UK)
Dir: Alex Pritz
Pdrs: Gabriel Uchida, Will N. Miller, Lizzie Gillett, Sigrid Dyekjaer, Darren Aronofsky
Tigre Gente (USA)
Dir: Elizabeth Unger
Prds: Elizabeth Unger, Joanna Natasegara.
Grants are made possible by The Open Society Foundations, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Gucci, the Kendeda Fund, and Luminate. This round, Gucci has joined up withSundance Institute to create the Sundance Institute | Gucci Fund to support artists from around the world in the development, production, and post-production of work that looks at the world in complex, creative, beautiful, and provocative ways, and seeks to uplift underrepresented voices
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