Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat tells the kaleidoscopic story of the Republic of Congo’s first democratically elected prime minister Patrice Lumumba
Still from Johan Grimonprez’s Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat.
During World War I, what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo but was then the Belgian Congo, supplied rubber crucial to the war effort. In World War II, the country supplied uranium the Manhattan Project needed as it developed the atomic bomb. During the Vietnam war era, copper from Congo aided the American war effort. These days the region supplies conflict minerals and minerals crucial to electric cars and cell phones.
Those factoids—what Grimonprez calls the “Congolese algorithm”—explaining how important the African nation is to Western interests come from filmmaker Johan Grimonprez, SFFILM’s 2024 Persistence of Vision award winner. The Belgian filmmaker brings his latest, Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat to the Festival to accompany the award ceremony and onstage conversation. The winner of a special jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival for cinematic innovation, the documentary is a heady mix of Cold War politics and cool jazz that investigates the 1961 assassination of what was then the Republic of Congo’s first democratically elected prime minister Patrice Lumumba.
“What the film is zooming in on is the ground zero moment in the beginning of the 1960s when so many colonies became independent,” Grimonprez says during a recent call from Greece, where he was traveling.
“There was this sort of hope of the Global South waking up and pursuing its own dream, it was actually smothered by a neocolonialist movement and neocolonialist grab of resources by the West and the United States. The story in the film is of what happened and what is still going on today.”
Still from Johan Grimonprez’s Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat.
Johan Grimonprez’s History at the SFFILM Festival
Grimonprez is no stranger to the Festival. He first attended in 1999 when his first feature DIAL H-I-S-T-O-R-Y, a deep dive into the history of airplane hijacking and revolution, screened. Then in 2016, the Festival screened Shadow World, his documentary about the international arms trade based on Andrew Feinstein’s book of the same name. For this latest work, Grimonprez has something of a personal connection: He is Belgian and the conspiracy against Lumumba included Belgian elements, starting with King Baudouin I. Belgium’s ruler had prior knowledge of an assassination plot but, bitter over losing his colony, said nothing.
“This is something that was silenced for a long time,” Grimonprez says. “The parliamentary commission on the murder of Patrice Lumumba only happened in 2001. Even then, the [extent of what happened] is not fully acknowledged; the conclusions were sort of not 100% sort of accurate and decisive.”
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat is Grimonprez’s attempt at a more accurate and decisive reckoning of what happened to Lumumba, setting the assassination within the context of colonial history, liberation, and the Cold War and finding the conspiracy that led up to it. At the same time, the United States engaged in a program of propaganda under the guise of entertainment, sending jazz musicians to perform in newly free Africa, while in the US musicians like drummer Max Roach and singer Abbey Lincoln used their art as a form of protest.
All of these things, plus politicking in Africa and the United Nations proving to be anything but are part of Grimonprez’s kaleidoscopic documentary that is made up almost entirely of archival footage. A living history lesson unfolds of infighting at the United Nations, CIA shenanigans, and Congo and other newly liberated nations’ first steps of self-determination as First World nations and corporations seek to throttle those efforts. The “soundtrack” in the title is literal. The film is broken down into chapters with graphics suggesting album cuts from the Blue Note catalog. Music is omnipresent with performances from Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone, and more embellishing and commenting on history unfolding.
“You know, when independence was demanded by the Congolese roundtable, the parliamentarians brought their musicians, they brought African jazz,” Grimonprez says. “Music was very much part of the political agency.”
“The film is called A Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat. Music clips but with academic footnotes,” he adds. “It’s like what Hitchcock did with North by Northwest. It’s the James Bond genre where comedy turns into a thriller. It’s interesting to explore. Like, for me, you have a jazz composition but then what’s added on top is a UN vote or a speech by Lumumba or a roundtable discussion or Nikita Khrushchev banging on his shoe. The politics become part of the jazz composition. I like where the music turns into politics and politics turns into music and exploring the boundaries of what it stands for.”
About the Author
Pam Grady is a freelance writer, whose work appears in the San Francisco Chronicle, 48 Hills, and other publications. She also has her own web site.
Stay In Touch With SFFILM
SFFILM is a nonprofit organization whose mission ensures independent voices in film are welcomed, heard, and given the resources to thrive. SFFILM works hard to bring the most exciting films and filmmakers to Bay Area movie lovers. To be the first to know what’s coming, sign up for our email alerts and watch your inbox.
Fremont native Sean Wang opens the 2024 SFFILM Festival with his award-winning, homegrown feature debut Dìdi (弟弟)
Sean Wang and a still from his film Dìdi (弟弟).
Sean Wang is a fan of coming-of-age movies, citing as a start Rob Reiner’s Stand By Me, François Truffaut’s New Wave classic The 400 Blows, Lynne Ramsay’s Ratcatcher, Céline Sciamma’s Water Lilies, David Mickey Evans’ The Sandlot, and Eliza Hittman’s It Felt Like Love. But none of those movies stars an Asian kid or has a Taiwanese American kid from the East Bay as a protagonist. For that, Wang would have to make his own film, and he has with Festival opener Dìdi (弟弟).
“When I look at those movies, it’s not about a 13-year-old boy or girl, it’s about that 13-year-old boy or girl and it’s all the little details that culminate in their life that all of sudden make it feel like a movie you’ve never seen before,” Wang says during a recent Zoom call.
“That was the hope with our movie, too, that we can just make every detail sit on top of one another until it feels like this is a story that’s so specific, that feels like the rollercoaster of a great coming-of-age movie. The hope was for something that feels new but also feels familiar at the same time.”
What is Dìdi (弟弟) about?
Set and shot in Fremont, Wang’s hometown, the Sundance audience award winner and recipient of a special jury award for its ensemble, tells the semi-autobiographical tale of 13-year-old Chris (Izaac Wang) who experiences a rocky summer before starting high school. It is 2008 and Chris is locked into social media and is a budding videographer. But as he experiences first love, fights with his friends, tangles with his college-bound sister Vivian (Shirley Chen), and argues with his mom Chungsing (Festival honoree Joan Chen), his feelings are volatile and the sense of humiliation that comes with being 13 is too often present. His grandma Nai Nai (Wang’s real-life grandmother Chang Li Hua, one of the subjects of his Oscar®-nominated short film Nai Nai and Wài Pó) adores him but she can only provide so much comfort to a boy with roiling emotions.
“There’s a very clear one to one of the inspirations being a version of something that’s happened in my life, literally like my family, my friends, my upbringing,” Wang says. “I think a lot of it was sort of looking back at my childhood and things that I know intimately and realizing that the emotions I feel about certain experiences–I think emotions are universal, whether you’re talking about adolescence, adulthood, emotions of shame, love, fear joy. Everyone knows these emotions but the way you frame them and the way to get to those emotions vary from person to person.
“When I think of my specific experiences and me and my friends in Fremont, California, I realized I’ve never seen that version on screen and one that stars a group of friends in very multicultural community in a place like the Bay Area,” he adds. “It also takes place in the late 2000s and utilizes the sort of internet language that I think we were all sort of growing into. And the technology was moving so fast. I felt like I hadn’t seen this period captured accurately in the movies.”
What are the inspirations behind Wang’s first feature film?
Wang began writing Dìdi (弟弟) seven years ago. His original screenplay focused much more on Chris’ relationships with his friends. Wang describes his early efforts as akin to Stand By Me or Superbad. At the same time, he was making shorts that related to his mother, including 3000 Miles, a short documentary in which the voicemails she left him provides the film’s narration, and 1990, a short in which his sister becomes a mother and his mother a grandmother. And at work, he was working on projects for Mother’s Day.
Wang didn’t want to be “the mom filmmaker.” At the same time, when he read over his early efforts on Dìdi (弟弟), he realized there was something missing. Or someone.
“I think I have a very close but also complicated relationship with my mom that is so full of love,” Wang says. “I realized in writing the movie, I got to this point where I really wanted to write about my family, but especially my mom. I realized it’s the relationship in my life, that is the most of every emotion. It’s the most love and the most joy and the most care but also the root of the most anger and shame and regret and protection. It’s the most of every emotion, so I just felt there was a lot there.
“Once I realized it was about a mother-son relationship encased in the trappings of a movie like Stand By Me about adolescent friendships, that was the eureka moment. That cracked everything open for me.”
Dìdi (弟弟) is not just a story about a boy and his mother and his friends. It is also a Bay Area story, joining a family of recent films that include Fruitvale Station, Sorry to Bother You, Earth Mama, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Blindspotting, Medicine for Melancholy, and Fremont. When Wang was growing up he says he took his hometown and its environs for granted, It’s only in looking back as an adult that he realizes how special the place is and how it has come to inspire so many personal films.
“So many things were special and unique, things that I had never seen before in movies, you know, like to grow up around such a diverse multicultural community and get to learn about all these different cultures,” Wang says. “Not because it was educational taught in school, but because of where I grew up because of the proximity of my friends and the happenstance that I grew up in a deeply rooted immigrant community.
“The Bay Area at large is such fertile soil for so many different types of stories,” he adds. “I’ve been so inspired by the stories that have come out of the Bay Area and wanted to be part of that canon.”
Wang says he went into Dìdi (弟弟) with the dream of having a big Bay Area hometown premiere at SFFILM Festival. The festival previously screened two of his shorts, Have a Good Summer and Nai Nai and Wài Pó, and Dìdi (弟弟) came into the world with support from SFFILM Rainin Grant, SFFILM Invest, and SFFILM Dolby Institute Fellowship. Filmmaker and festival enjoy a strong relationship. And San Francisco is just a short ride from Fremont.
“The word that I keep describing in making this movie and our ethos in making the movie was to try to keep it homegrown, to try to make it feel very local,” Wang says. “And so, to come back and have our hometown premiere here with SFFILM, I’m so excited for all my friends from home, my hometown friends, all the Bay Area locals to see it and hopefully notice the landmarks that we shot and just have it feel very familiar.”
About the Author
Pam Grady is a freelance writer, whose work appears in the San Francisco Chronicle, 48 Hills, and other publications. She also has her own web site.
Stay In Touch With SFFILM
SFFILM is a nonprofit organization whose mission ensures independent voices in film are welcomed, heard, and given the resources to thrive. SFFILM works hard to bring the most exciting films and filmmakers to Bay Area movie lovers. To be the first to know what’s coming, sign up for our email alerts and watch your inbox.
SFFILM Executive Director and Academy Member Anne Lai shares her thoughts around the annual film industry celebration
Photo by Pamela Gentile
Photo by Pamela Gentile
Photo by Pamela Gentile
SFFILM Sloan Science in Cinema Award: Oppenheimer
SFFILM Sloan Science in Cinema Award: Oppenheimer
SFFILM Sloan Science in Cinema Award: Oppenheimer
Photo by Pamela Gentile
Photo by Pamela Gentile
Photo by Pamela Gentile
Regina Hall, Sterling K Brown
Regina Hall, Sterling K Brown
Regina Hall, Sterling K Brown
Photo by Pamela Gentile
Photo by Pamela Gentile
Photo by Pamela Gentile
Nadim Cheikhrouha, Kaouther Ben Hania
Nadim Cheikhrouha, Kaouther Ben Hania
Nadim Cheikhrouha, Kaouther Ben Hania
Photo by Pamela Gentile
Photo by Pamela Gentile
Photo by Pamela Gentile
Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr.
Photo by Tommy Lau
Photo by Tommy Lau
Photo by Tommy Lau
Greta Gerwig
Greta Gerwig
Greta Gerwig
Photo by Pamela Gentile
Photo by Pamela Gentile
Photo by Pamela Gentile
Matthew Heineman, Lauren Domino
Matthew Heineman, Lauren Domino
Matthew Heineman, Lauren Domino
Photo by Tommy Lau
Photo by Tommy Lau
Photo by Tommy Lau
Ryan Gosling
Ryan Gosling
Ryan Gosling
Photo by Tommy Lau
Photo by Tommy Lau
Photo by Tommy Lau
Boots Riley, Cord Jefferson
Boots Riley, Cord Jefferson
Boots Riley, Cord Jefferson
Photo by Pamela Gentile
Photo by Pamela Gentile
Photo by Pamela Gentile
Miri Navasky, Joan Baez, and Karen O’Connor
Miri Navasky, Joan Baez, and Karen O’Connor
Celine Song, Greta Lee
Most of us have heard the phrase, “And the Oscar goes to…” whether we were practicing our fantasy acceptance speech in front of the bathroom mirror, or were gathered with friends and family around a television watching the annual celebration of Hollywood’s most glamorous event. Have you ever wondered why we all feel some curiosity about “The Academy?” Here’s Anne Lai to tell you a little bit about how the Oscars work, why it is important to the film industry, and why it is also a lot of fun!
It Started at the Local Movie Theater
In my career, there were two moments that validated to my parents that I was officially working in the movies. The first time was when my name appeared in the end credits of a feature film playing at a local movie house. The second time was an invitation from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences to become a member nearly three decades into my career. And, I must say, both of these moments had me feeling a swell of pride and accomplishment, as well.
I grew up in southwest Ohio, and an excursion out to the movies was an occasional treat in my family. That meant the multiplex or that one arthouse theater, both of which were a drive through suburbia and crops of corn and soybean fields. Movies were very far away from my everyday life. But, as this year marks 30 years of working in film, I realize how much I thoroughly enjoy the annual ritual known as the Academy Awards telecast.
What is The Academy?
The first Academy Awards (affectionately known as the Oscars) took place as a private dinner in 1929. To this day, the Oscars recognize achievement in excellence in motion pictures, and the honors are bestowed by peers who are members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. There are just over 10,000 Academy members located around the world with a good amount here in the San Francisco Bay. A member is invited to join after being sponsored by two Academy members and is then voted in by a specific committee made up of current Academy members. (Each Academy member can only sponsor one candidate each year). There are 19 branches that represent different areas of film craft and expertise. The simplest way to understand what branches might exist (although it’s not necessarily a one-to-one correlation) is looking at the Award categories themselves—from Editing to Directing to Producing (i.e. Best Picture) to Film Composing to Visual Effects. The Academy membership embodies so many facets of skill and knowledge and effort that—not surprisingly—mimic what it takes to make a movie from conception, to script, to production, to post production, to distribution, and marketing. Is it any wonder that the telecast of the Academy Awards can hold that element of magic, as well?
Why We Love the Oscars
The Oscars remain a standard bearer of awards shows, and the Academy members I’m privileged to know take their responsibility seriously. (And the glamor is also fun!) Film, at its best, is reflective of ourselves and our world and continues to be a global cultural force. Each of us, whether a movie goer or an Academy member, has our own relationship to and experience with a film. These unique opinions around emotional resonance, satisfaction, admiration, and appreciation define our individual vote for what is “best.” Debating amongst friends about what movie you liked, what you didn’t like, and what got overlooked is part of that wonderful community that includes every person who sees the the same film. I can’t wait to have those final passionate conversations while I watch the envelopes being opened.
SFFILM Supported Films Nominated for Academy Awards
This year, SFFILM is thrilled to celebrate the nominations of films and filmmakers we have supported and honored through our curation and exhibition, artist development, and youth education programs. We are so proud to support the films and filmmakers whose vision ultimately makes it up on screen for all of us to see. I say this from a place of a little bit of awe, with that same sense of anticipation when the lights go down in the movie theater. Filmmaking is not the most romantic and gentle of processes—it’s a miracle that any movie gets made. It takes so much willpower, patience, tenacity, funding, and a truly complex series and volume of nuts and bolts and people power and skill. No one sets out to make a bad film. To make a truly notable one is not an exercise that can be engineered, but becomes an ephemeral piece of art, entertainment, and storytelling that lights up a screen. We are rooting for them this Sunday, and know that it is truly an honor to be nominated.
About The Author
Anne Lai is the Executive Director of SFFILM. Previously, she served as Director of Creative Producing and Artist Support at Sundance Institute, where she focused on discovering and nurturing emerging independent producers, screenwriters, and directors through their first or second feature films. During her tenure there, she worked with over 300 screenwriters, directors, and producers who represented a significant and bold collection of voices and films from early development through production and distribution. Anne began her career at Scott Free, the film and television company founded by Ridley and Tony Scott, serving lastly as Vice President of Production. Anne was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, attended the University of Michigan, and received her degree in film production from the University of Southern California. She is a member of the Academy Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences.
Stay In Touch With SFFILM
SFFILM is a nonprofit organization whose mission ensures independent voices in film are welcomed, heard, and given the resources to thrive. SFFILM works hard to bring the most exciting films and filmmakers to Bay Area movie lovers. To be the first to know what’s coming sign up for our email alerts and watch your inbox for what’s coming next.
SFFILM welcomed guests at FilmHouse for a community gathering of Palestinian film and filmmakers
FilmHouse is the SFFILM community hub for filmmakers to work and collaborate, and where we host events that bring people together through film. Last Thursday night, SFFILM welcomed guests at FilmHouse for an evening of Palestinian film, conversation, and connection. The Arab Film & Media Institute (AFMI) selected a short film for the program, and then we heard from SFFILM FilmHouse Resident and Mexican-Palestinian American filmmaker Colette Ghunim for a sneak peek at her in-progress feature documentary Traces of Home.
A Space for Connection and Community Care
Guests began arriving to FilmHouse in the early evening, gamely dodging the persistent winter rains. They were welcomed with food and drinks, and time to say hello to old and new friends before the program began. We hit capacity and settled in. Masashi Niwano, the Director of Artist Development took the mic and explained how the program came together as a collaboration between SFFILM staff and Serge Bakalian, the Executive Director of AFMI. Masashi explained, “We at SFFILM have been processing all of the tragic news happening in the Middle East and navigating ways we can be helpful and contribute to our community. SFFILM believes in the power of cinema and understands that telling stories and exploring timely topics through film is vital. Our mission is to continue to nurture, support, and exhibit independent storytellers. Tonight’s program celebrates two films and filmmakers that are uniquely bold and powerful. Although different from each other, we feel that this pairing is a way to showcase the diversity in stories and creativity that center on Palestinians and Palestinian Americans.”
Masashi then introduced Serge, who told the gathering about his selected short called Ambience by Palestinian filmmaker Wisam Al-Jafari. It tells the story of two young Palestinians trying to record a demo for a music competition inside a noisy, crowded refugee camp. Serge DM’d with Wisam who was home in Jenin earlier in the day to let him know we’d be screening the film, a true honor for SFFILM since it had premiered, “at a little festival in France.” (Serge was of course referring to the film’s award-winning performance at Cannes!)
After the short film, Masashi welcomed 2024 FilmHouse Resident Colette Ghunim to the front for conversation and Q&A. Colette shared an in-progress trailer for her documentary Traces of Home, a personal story where Colette embarks on journeys with her parents to find the ancestral homes they fled from as children in both Mexico (mother), and Palestine (father). She explains, “…the film then becomes this healing journey of me figuring out where home is for myself through the journeys of us returning to Mexico and Palestine.” Below are some highlights from their conversation, lightly edited for clarity.
In Conversation with Filmmaker Colette Ghunim
Because Colette’s film is intensely personal, but feels incredibly urgent and relevant globally, Masashi asked Colette, “How do you as a filmmaker balance what is true to your story and what’s unique, but then also making a film that can kind of connect with people outside and represent a larger community?” Her responses were enlightening and generous, “the thing that is really fascinating about film is that the more intimate we go and the more personal that we go, that’s how we’re actually able to create it to be more universal. There’s this intergenerational trauma piece that is the core message of the film, but especially now with what’s happening in Palestine and the genocide in Gaza, that it has now become a tool to show my dad’s story, and give context to what has been happening for the past 75 years. And that people don’t realize that this is not something that just happened on October 7. And so through this very intimate story of us returning, it is now going to the global space of understanding the context of the occupation and the siege.”
Colette also explained that even in the face of the horrific violence and grief she came to understand her role as a filmmaker and storyteller to be essential and will, “create the long term narrative change that is needed to create the liberation of Palestine and that and the whole world. This is why I feel the mode of film is just so powerful and, and art in general, that it allows us to open up about these things in ways that we wouldn’t be able to if it was just political activism and just protests.”
She also regaled us with tales of guerilla documentary filmmaking, and is looking ahead to completing and releasing the film this year with an impact campaign to follow at colleges and universities. The film is a co-production with Kartemquin Films and funded by Latino Public Broadcasting, among others.
We are so grateful to Wisam for sharing his film with us from afar, and for Serge and Colette’s time being in community with us. Film is our favorite connection point. We look forward to the next one!
About The Author
Justine Hebron is the Director of External Relations at SFFILM where she leads the communications, marketing, cultural, and PR strategy. For over a decade, Justine worked in feature film production on films like The Patriot, Mystery Men, The Replacement Killers, and Anaconda. An interest in organizing and cultural strategy moved her into nonprofit communications where she worked with people and organizations including Tom Steyer’s Next Generation, Hillary Rodham Clinton and The Clinton Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Propper Daley, Mom 2.0, Ford Foundation, The Opportunity Agenda, and more.
Justine was born in New York City, and grew up in Telluride, Colorado and Santa Fe, New Mexico. She received her BA in English from San Diego State University and is a trained high school teacher.
Stay In Touch With SFFILM
SFFILM is a nonprofit organization whose mission ensures independent voices in film are welcomed, heard, and given the resources to thrive. SFFILM works hard to bring the most exciting films and filmmakers to Bay Area movie lovers. To be the first to know what’s coming sign up for our email alerts and watch your inbox for what’s coming next.
Meet the three filmmakers who are the recipients of the 2023 SFFILM Rainin Filmmaker with Disabilities Grant.
Directors Vivien Hillgrove, Andrew Reid, and Daniela Muñoz have been selected to receive funding through SFFILM’s suite of Artist Development programs, which provides financial and artistic support to artists worldwide. The Rainin Filmmakers with Disabilities Grant, introduced in 2020, supports filmmakers whose films specifically address stories from the diverse disability community. Ensuring underserved communities have access to artistic and financial support in order to create a more inclusive film landscape is at the core of SFFILM and the Kenneth Rainin Foundation’s partnership.
The panel who chose the grantees noted in a statement: “We are delighted to support these three outstanding filmmakers, who impressed us with their boldness and creativity. With this strong cohort, we are proud to provide funding and artist development benefits to narrative and documentary films, features, and shorts all at different stages of production. We are extremely grateful to the Kenneth Rainin Foundation for their continued partnership in this initiative that supports filmmakers from underserved communities and gives space to vital stories that expand our understanding of disability within our communities.”
The panel that reviewed submissions for the Rainin Filmmakers with Disabilities Grant included Filmmaker and FilmHouse alumni Javid Soriano; Erika Arnold, Artist Development, SFFILM Artist Development Associate Manager; Rosa Morales, SFFILM Artist Development Manager: Narrative Film; Joshua Moore, SFFILM Artist Development Manager of Documentary Programs; Masashi Niwano, SFFILM Director of Artist Development.
About the SFFILM Rainin Grant
The SFFILM and Kenneth Rainin Foundation partnership is the largest granting body for independent narrative feature films in the United States. SFFILM Rainin Grants are awarded to filmmakers whose narrative feature films will have a significant economic or professional impact on the Bay Area filmmaking community and/or meaningfully explore pressing social issues.
The SFFILM Rainin Grant is currently accepting applications for the 2024 cycle; the final deadline to apply is Friday, May 3, 2024. For more information visit sffilm.org/makers.
About the Filmmakers and Films
Vivien Hillgrove, Director, $10,000 for post-production
Vivien Hillgrove is a documentary film director and a picture and dialogue editor in the San Francisco Bay Area with over 50 years of experience in the film business. She has worked extensively on both narrative and documentary films. She is a member of AMPAS, and has served as an advisor for numerous Sundance Documentary Composer/Edit Labs.
Vivien’s Wild Ride Synopsis
After a long career in cinema, veteran film editor Vivien Hillgrove discovers she is losing her sight, catapulting her into unknown territory where she is haunted by a previous loss. What unfolds is an unconventional documentary memoir that invites viewers into the artist’s inner world while she grapples with encroaching blindness and struggles to reinvent herself at age 70.
Andrew Reid, Director, $5,000 for post-production
Andrew Reid is a disabled Jamaican-Cuban storyteller who migrated to the United States at the age of 10. He was an undocumented immigrant for several years before receiving US citizenship under the wet foot, dry foot policy from the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966. He is a DGA Award winning director and MFA graduate from the USC School of Cinematic Arts. His award-winning projects have screened at Slamdance, CAA Moebius, Paramount Pictures, HollyShorts, Cleveland, Pan African and over 70 other film festivals worldwide. He was recently nominated at the NAACP Image Awards, HBO Max Latino Short Film Competition and Best of NewFilmmakers LA.
Iron Lun Synopsis
When a storm knocks out the power to her iron lung, a polio survivor and her sister find themselves in a race against time to find a new way for her to breathe.
Daniela Muñoz, Director, $10,000 for production
Daniela Muñoz is a cuban documentary filmmaker, producer and photographer who graduated in DOP. from the University of Arts, Havana in 2017. Co-founder of the independent Cuban production company ESTUDIO ST, with which she has produced the short films Tundra, El Rodeo, The Rubber Boy and most recently, History is written at night, Blue, and 4 Holes. Her films have also been selected at festivals like Sundance, Rotterdam, Locarno, IDFA, Clermont-Ferrand, Ji.hlava, Bogoshorts, BAFICI, Miami, among others.
Her films understand and explore cinema from the perspective of her hypoacusia, proposing others sound universes. An example of this is her feature documentary Mafifa (2021), which premiered at Luminous of IDFA and selected in numerous international festivals. It had its North American premiere at True/False Film Festival and screened at IDA Spring Docs/Nonfiction Access Initiative in 2023. She also directed the documentary short films Gloom (2021) which premiered at FICViña, Chile, with which she participated in the Open Doors program at the Locarno Film Festival in 2022. And recently finished 4 Holes which had its world premiere at IDFA, and North American premiere at RIDM in Canada at the end of 2023.
Her current feature-length documentary project “Silence Diaries” was selected for the Spanish Academy Residencies for 2023–2024, and won the prestigious Chicken & Egg fund awarded to women documentary filmmakers for the research phase. She is also currently working on the development of several hybrid and fiction feature films. She also participated in the Producers Lab at Locarno Open Doors, 2023.
Silence Diaries Synopsis Silence Diaries is the record of a journey to learn a new language. An autobiographical documentary where the director deals, through memories, with uprooting and hearing loss. It is an exploration of hypoacusia and exile as successive mourning processes.
Stay In Touch With SFFILM
SFFILM is a nonprofit organization whose mission ensures independent voices in film are welcomed, heard, and given the resources to thrive. SFFILM works hard to bring the most exciting films and filmmakers to Bay Area movie lovers. To be the first to know what’s coming, sign up for our email alerts and watch your inbox.