Feb 19, 2015
Artist Development
San Francisco, CA – The San Francisco Film Society today announced the 11 finalists for the 2015 SFFS Documentary Film Fund awards totaling more than $75,000, which support feature-length documentaries in postproduction. The SFFS Documentary Film Fund 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 applications, and winners will be announced in early April.
The SFFS Documentary Film Fund has an excellent track record for championing compelling films that have gone on to earn great acclaim. Previous DFF winners include Zachary Heinzerling’s Cutie and the Boxer, which won Sundance’s Directing Award for documentary, was distributed theatrically by RADiUS-TWC and was nominated for the 2014 Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature; Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson’s American Promise, which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and won the festival’s Special Jury Prize in the documentary category; and Shaul Schwarz’s Narco Cultura, which premiered to strong reviews at Sundance the same year.
Since its launch in 2011, the SFFS Documentary Film Fund has distributed more than $375,000 to advance new work by filmmakers nationwide. Expected to grow in the coming years as further underwriting is secured, the 2015 Documentary Film Fund is made possible thanks to a generous gift from Jennifer Battat and the Jenerosity Foundation.
“The quality of the work we saw in this round of applicants for the Documentary Film Fund is inspiring, and it was extremely difficult narrowing the field to 11 considering that so many of the projects we reviewed are absolutely deserving of funding,” said Michele-Turnure Salleo, director of Filmmaker360. “The diversity of subjects in this group of finalists, and the creativity displayed in their approaches to visual storytelling, reflects the impressive strength of the work that was submitted this year. Not only do these projects tackle extremely relevant contemporary topics, but they also employ innovative aesthetic styles and remarkable cinematic approaches that caught the attention of the reviewers. We simply can’t wait to see these finished films, and we look forward to their premieres in the months to come.”
2014 DOCUMENTARY FILM FUND FINALISTS
The Bad Kids – Keith Fulton and Lou Pepe, codirectors
The Bad Kids brings audiences through the doors of an alternative public high school in the Mojave Desert where an extraordinary principal believes that, more than academics, it is love, support and empathy that will help at-risk students break the cycle of poverty that threatens their futures.
Forever Pure – Maya Zinshtein, director; Geoff Arbourne, producer
In January 2014, a secretive transfer deal transported two Muslim players to the heart of Israel to join the Beitar Jerusalem Football Club, leading to the most controversial public response in Israeli sports history. Closely following one season and a team in crisis, this film explores the structures of money and power behind this landmark event that sent the club spiraling out of control.
Forty Panes – Laura Dunn, director
Forty Panes is a cinematic portrait of the changing landscapes and shifting values of rural America in the era of industrial agriculture, as seen through the mind’s eye of farmer and novelist Wendell Berry. The film revolves around the divergent stories of several residents of Henry County, Kentucky, each of whom face difficult choices that will dramatically reshape their relationship with the land and their community. For more information visit fortypanes.com.
Infanity – Ramona Diaz, director
Infanity is set in the Philippines—the 12th most populous country in the world as well as one of the poorest—and explores its struggles with reproductive health policy, as seen in the legislature, where the laws are debated, and in a hospital with the busiest maternity ward on the planet. For more information visit cinediaz.com.
The Island and the Whales – Mike Day, director
The pilot whale hunters of the Nordic Faroe Islands believe that hunting is vital to their way of life, but when a local doctor makes a grim discovery about the effects of marine pollution, environmental changes threaten to end the controversial tradition and change the community forever. For more information visit intrepidcinema.com.
Learning to Forget – Kaspar Astrup Schröder, director; Katherine Sahlstrom, producer
In China, more people are on death row than in the rest of the world combined. The children of the convicts are most often left alone, stigmatized and living in the streets. Some of these abandoned kids are picked up by an orphanage founded by a former prison guard; here they learn to live a life without parents and prepare for a world outside where they have to prove wrong the many misconceptions about them. For more information visit goodcompanypictures.com.
Liyana – Aaron Kopp and Amanda Kopp, codirectors
In this genre-bending documentary, a talented group of children in Swaziland create a fictional heroine and send her on a dangerous quest. For more information visit liyanathemovie.com.
The Oakland Police Project – Peter Nicks, director
The Oakland Police Project is a film about police power and restraint, unfolding deep inside the famously troubled Oakland Police Department. The film presents in intimate detail the rare perspective of beleaguered officers who are often viewed as oppressors in the community they serve, even as they and their young chief struggle to rebuild trust in the face of mass protests, budget cuts and more violent crimes per officer than any city in America. For more information visit openhood.org.
Selling Our Daughters – Dave Adams and Josie Swantek, codirectors; Susan MacLaury, producer
Selling Our Daughters explores the dark side of child advocacy. A mystery unfolds as the film follows three Thai girls whose parents have allegedly sold them into sex work, only to discover that this story is a lie fabricated by the advocate who supposedly rescued them.
Uncertain – Ewan McNicol and Anna Sandilands, codirectors
Uncertain is a southern gothic tale set on the Texas / Louisiana border in a town called Uncertain, population 94. As the town struggles to survive, three men battle their demons in search of forgiveness and redemption. For more information visit uncertainfilm.com.
Very Semi-Serious – Leah Wolchok, director
Very Semi-Serious takes an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at a cultural icon—the 89-year-old New Yorker cartoon—and uncovers the process and personalities who bring the art form to life. Guided by Bob Mankoff, the magazine’s incisive cartoon editor, the film introduces the past, present and future generations of cartoonists who collectively answer the question that has agitated readers for decades: what does a New Yorker cartoon really mean? For more information visit verysemiserious.com.
For more information on the Documentary Film Fund and the other Film Society documentary support programs visit sffs.org/filmmaker360/documentary-grants-and-programs.
SFFS Documentary Film Fund grants are awarded once each year. Exact amounts of individual grants and the number of grants made will be determined on an annual basis. As with all Film Society grants, in addition to the cash awards, recipients will gain access to numerous benefits through Filmmaker360, the Film Society’s comprehensive and dynamic filmmaker services program. Filmmaker360 is a leader in the field of nonprofit 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 screenplay workshops, fiscal sponsorship and information resources. For information visit sffs.org/filmmaker360.