Oct 24, 2013
Artist Development
The San Francisco Film Society, in partnership with the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, today announced that Lea Nakonechny has been awarded the 2014 Djerassi Residency Award / San Francisco Film Society Screenwriting Fellowship, for continuing development of her script A Sweeter World.
The Djerassi Residency Award / San Francisco Film Society Screenwriting Fellowship provides uninterrupted time for work, reflection and collegial interaction, making this award unique in its capacity to provide a screenwriter with an inspiring and supportive environment in a stunningly beautiful rural location. Located 40 miles south of San Francisco in the Santa Cruz Mountains overlooking the Pacific Ocean, this residency offers living and work-studio accommodations and all meals from August 5 through September 3, 2014, at no cost to the recipient. The winner was selected from applications submitted in response to an international call for entries.
The panelists who reviewed the finalists’ submissions are filmmaker Daneen Akers; Joslyn Thoresen, SFFS marketing associate; and Director of Filmmaker360 Michele Turnure-Salleo. In a statement, the jury noted “We believe A Sweeter World has the potential to be a unique and evocative film and Lea is in the position to take full advantage of all the residency has to offer.”
“This residency is a huge milestone for me as screenwriter and just the boost I needed to help carry my project to term,” said Nakonechny. “I can hardly wait to take in the atmosphere of the Santa Cruz Mountains, meet my fellow residents and most of all, finish my script! Many thanks to the San Francisco Film Society and the Djerassi Institute-I’m truly grateful for the honor of this fellowship and the creative renewal it will bring.”
2014 DJERASSI RESIDENCY AWARD / SFFS SCREENWRITING FELLOWSHIP WINNER
Lea Nakonechny
Lea Nakonechny is a Montreal-based filmmaker originally from rural Saskatchewan, Canada. Her 53-minute documentary Two Museums (2005) won the Artistic Vision Award at the 2006 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula, Montana and toured 18 commercial theaters across Saskatchewan. Nakonechny was one of the eight female directors selected from across Canada for the prestigious 2012-13 Women in the Director’s Chair program at the Banff Centre, supported by NBC Universal. Nakonechny’s short film Edge of the Desert (2009) premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and screened at a dozen other festivals around the world. Her feature-length script Nowhere Road was a semi-finalist in the 2011 Slamdance Screenplay Competition, a Second-Rounder in the 2012 Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition, and was selected for the 2013 edition of IFP’s No Borders International Co-Production Market during Independent Film Week in New York City.
A Sweeter World
After falling on hard times when his bees die off, Jim Wiebe kills a competing beekeeper for his honey. Finding refuge in a Hutterite colony, he sees a chance at salvation. But how long can a guilty man stay in a place where the number one rule is to love thy neighbor?
Previous recipients of the Djerassi Residency Award are Joshua Zeman (2013) for his scientific drama Collider, Julie Tosh (2012) for her science fiction-infused family drama Program Rose, Adam Chanzit (2011) for his psychological thriller The 15th Stone and Kathryn Mockler (2010) for her project Weak People Are Fun to Torment.
For more information visit sffs.org/Filmmaker360/Grants or djerassi.org.
The Djerassi Residency Award / San Francisco Film Society Screenwriting Fellowship is supported by a gift from Film Society board of directors member Dale Djerassi.
Filmmaker360 is a leader in the field of non-profit support of cinema and offers unparalleled assistance and opportunities designed to foster creativity and further the careers of independent filmmakers nationwide. Filmmaker360 oversees one of the largest film grant programs in the country, which disperses nearly $1 million annually to incubate and support innovative and exceptional films at every stage of production. Other elements of Filmmaker360 include project development consultation, FilmHouse Residencies, Off the Page screenwriting workshops, membership discounts and benefits, fiscal sponsorship and information resources.
Recent Filmmaker360 success stories include Short Term 12, Destin Daniel Cretton’s sophomore feature which won both the Narrative Grand Jury Award and Audience Award at South by Southwest 2013; Ryan Coogler’s debut feature Fruitvale Station, which won the Un Certain Regard Avenir Prize at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, and both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the narrative category at Sundance 2013; and Beasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin’s debut phenomenon which won Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize and Cannes’ Camera d’Or in 2012, and earned four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. For information visit sffs.org/filmmaker360.