Aug 10, 2017
Artist Development
San Francisco, CA — SFFILM today announced the ten finalists for the 2017 SFFILM Documentary Film Fund which will award $125,000 to support feature-length documentaries in postproduction. The SFFILM Documentary Film Fund is a partnership with the Jenerosity Foundation and was created to support singular nonfiction film work that is distinguished by compelling stories, intriguing characters and an innovative visual approach. Finalists were selected from more than 300 applicants, and winners will be announced in early September.
The SFFILM Documentary Film Fund has an excellent track record for championing important films that have gone on to earn great acclaim. Previous DFF winners include Peter Nicks’s The Force, which won the 2017 Sundance Film Festival Directing Award for documentary and SFFILM Festival’s Bay Area Documentary Award, and will be released this fall by Kino Lorber; Peter Bratt’s Dolores, which won the 2017 SFFILM Festival Audience Award for Documentary Feature following its Sundance premiere; Jamie Meltzer’s True Conviction, which won a Special Jury Mention for Documentary Feature at the Tribeca Film Festival; and Zachary Heinzerling’s Cutie and the Boxer, which won Sundance’s Directing Award for documentary and was nominated for the 2014 Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature; among many others.
Since its launch in 2011, the SFFILM Documentary Film Fund has distributed nearly half a million dollars to advance new work by filmmakers nationwide. The 2017 Documentary Film Fund is made possible thanks to an expanded gift from the Jenerosity Foundation.
2017 DOCUMENTARY FILM FUND FINALISTS
The Feeling of Being Watched
Assia Boundaoui, director/producer; Jessica Devaney, producer
When a filmmaker investigates rumors of surveillance in her Arab-American neighborhood in Chicago, she uncovers one of the largest FBI terrorism probes conducted before 9/11 and reveals its enduring impact on the community.
Hale County, This Morning, This Evening
RaMell Ross, director; Joslyn Barnes and Su Kim, producers
What is the experience of coming-of-age in the Black Belt region of the US? This film presents the lives of two young men in a series of visual movements that replace narrative arc with orchestral form.
Heaven Through the Back Door
Anna Fitch and Banker White, co-director/producers; Sara Dosa, producer
Heaven Through the Backdoor is a contemplative documentary that tells the story of Yo (Yolanda Shae), a fiercely independent 88-year old woman whose unique brand of individualist feminism impacts how she chooses to live in the final years of her life. (Former SFFILM FilmHouse Resident)
How to Have an American Baby
Leslie Tai, director/producer; Jillian Schultz, co-producer
There is a city in Southern California that abounds with pregnant women from China. Told through multiple perspectives, How to Have an American Baby is a kaleidoscopic voyage behind the closed doors of the Chinese birth tourism industry. (SFFILM FilmHouse Resident, SFFILM fiscally sponsored filmmaker)
The Judge
Erika Cohn, director/producer; Sara Maamouri, co-producer
The Judge provides rare insight into Shari’a law (Islamic law), an often misunderstood legal framework for Muslims, told through the eyes of Kholoud Al-Faqih, the first woman judge to be appointed to the Middle East’s religious courts. (SFFILM fiscally sponsored filmmaker)
El Lugar de la Memoria
Juan Pablo González, director; Makena Buchanan, Jamie Gonçalves, and Ilana Coleman, producers
As economic and social conditions become dire, a wave of suicides among young people disrupts life in a small Mexican town. Through daily rituals and ceremonies amongst the people in this community, El Lugar de la Memoria presents a reflection on the reconfiguration of rural life in Mexico.
A Machine to Live In
Yoni Goldstein and Meredith Zielke, co-directors; Sebastian Alvarez, producer; Andrew Benz, co-producer
Hovering over what remains of Brazil’s modernist future, this film looks at how social control, rational design, and space-age architecture gave rise to a vast landscape of transcendental and mystical utopias.
Midnight Family
Luke Lorentzen, director; Kellen Quinn, producer; Daniela Alatorre,and Elena Fortes, co-producers
In Mexico City, 16-year-old Juan Ochoa struggles to legitimize his family’s unlicensed ambulance business, as corrupt police in the neighborhood begin to target this cutthroat industry.
Pahokee
Ivete Lucas and Patrick Bresnan, co-director/producers; Maida Brankman, producer
Pahokee, Florida (pop. 6,094): one hour by car across Palm Beach County from the presidential opulence of Mar-a-Lago. Against a backdrop of industrial agriculture and economic isolation, high school students from different racial and cultural backgrounds forge a sense of meaning and community via elaborate and colorful rites of passage.
Pigeon Kings
Milena Pastreich, director/producer; Michael Sherman and Matthew Perniciaro, producers
Keith London, the godfather of Birmingham Rollers, and his mentee, Choo Choo, survive life in South Central LA through their dedication to somersaulting pigeons.
SFFILM Documentary Film Fund grants are awarded once each year. The exact amounts of individual grants and the total number of grants are determined on an annual basis. As with all SFFILM grants, in addition to the cash awards, recipients will gain access to numerous benefits through SFFILM Makers, the organization’s comprehensive and dynamic artist development program. These benefits, customized to every individual production, can include one-on-one project consultations, creative development, additional fundraising assistance, resource and service recommendations, and networking opportunities, among many others. For more information visit sffilm.org/makers.
SFFILM Makers
SFFILM Makers (formerly “Filmmaker360”), the organization’s artist development program, provides significant financial and creative resources to independent filmmakers through grants, fellowships, residencies, fiscal sponsorship, and more. Since 2009, more than $5 million has been disbursed to more than 150 film projects in various stages of production. Highlights include the SFFILM / Rainin Filmmaking Grant; a joint effort with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to cultivate stories rooted in science and technology; and the Documentary Film Fund, a partnership with the Jenerosity Foundation. For more information, visit sffilm.org/makers.
SFFILM
SFFILM is a nonprofit organization with a mission to champion the world’s finest films and filmmakers through programs anchored in and inspired by the spirit and values of the San Francisco Bay Area. Presenter of the San Francisco International Film Festival, SFFILM is a year-round organization delivering screenings and events to more than 100,000 film lovers and media education programs to more than 10,000 students and teachers annually. In addition to its public programs, SFFILM supports the careers of independent filmmakers from the Bay Area and beyond with grants, residencies, and other creative development services. For more information visit sffilm.org.
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