Sep 19, 2013
Artist Development
San Francisco Film Society and Kenneth Rainin Foundation have selected 14 finalists for the latest round of SFFS / Kenneth Rainin Foundation Filmmaking Grants; more than $300,000 will be awarded to one or more narrative feature films at any stage of production. SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grants are awarded twice annually to film projects that will have significant economic or professional impact on the Bay Area filmmaking community. More than $2 million has been awarded since the launch of the Film Society’s grant program in 2009. Winners of the fall 2013 SFFS / KRF Grants will be announced in late October.
Recent SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grant winners include Short Term 12, Destin Cretton’s sophomore feature which won both the Narrative Grand Jury Award and Audience Award at South by Southwest 2013 and is currently in theaters nationwide; 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, has had a wildly successful two-month theatrical run and is an Oscar hopeful in multiple categories; 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, earned four Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture) and became an indie box office smash.
“Since arriving at SFFS a year ago, it has become clear to me that there is one thing that can advance, diversify and improve film culture-and it’s not simply not-for-profit funding for the arts,” said SFFS Executive Director Ted Hope. “Through my experience with the SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grant I have become incredibly impressed with what institutionalized staged financing can do, which is exactly what the Film Society does with each new round of grants. We fund a diverse group of filmmakers at different stages of creation and completion, without requiring the balance to be in hand. This is how great movies get made, get seen, and go on to real success.”
“It’s always thrilling to see the range and breadth of applications when we open the call for each grant round, and the jury was blown away by the diversity, creativity and talent evident in each of these projects,” said Michele Turnure-Salleo, director of Filmmaker360. “We’re excited to see so many new names in the mix, and we can’t wait to see this fresh new talent in action when their work hits screens for the first time in the months to come.”
SFFS/KRF Filmmaking Grants are made possible by the vision and generosity of the Kenneth Rainin Foundation. In addition to a cash grant, recipients will receive various benefits through Filmmaker360, the San Francisco Film Society’s comprehensive and dynamic filmmaker services program.
For additional information visit sffs.org/Filmmaker360/Grants.
FINALISTS
Doctor – Musa Syeed, director/producer/writer; Nicholas Bruckman, coproducer – screenwriting
Salim, a disgraced young doctor from India, will do anything to rebuild his former life. But when he starts practicing medicine illegally in New York, he’s drawn into a medical underworld where he risks losing everything. For more information visit musasyeed.com.
Escape from Morgantown – Peter Nicks, writer/director – screenwriting
A young addict arrives at a federal prison camp with a plan to turn his life around, but is drawn into the intoxicating world of a crew of seasoned inmates.
The Fixer – Ian Olds, writer/director; Caroline von Kuhn, producer – packaging
An Afghan journalist is exiled from his war-torn country to a small bohemian community in Northern California. When he attempts to turn his menial job on the local police blotter into “Afghan-style” coverage of local crime he gets drawn into the backwoods of this small town-a shadow Northern California where sex is casual, true friendship is hard to come by, and an unfamiliar form of violence burbles up all around him.
G.E.Z.I. – Aslihan Unaldi, writer/director – postproduction
This political and psychological drama is a fictionalized account of the dramatic night when a peaceful demonstration in Istanbul’s Gezi Park turned into a major national uprising. The story follows three main characters: a strong, liberal woman, her idealistic boyfriend and her apolitical ex-lover. As intricate layers of past secrets are revealed, deeper insight is gained into their characters and situation, which is closely intertwined with the political events accelerating around them.
Hellion – Kat Candler, writer/director; Jonathan Duffy and Kelly Williams, producers – postproduction
When his delinquent behavior forces his little brother to be taken away, a motocross-obsessed teenager and his emotionally absent father must take responsibility for their destructive behavior to bring him home.
Kicks – Justin Tipping, writer/director; Joshua Astrachan, David Kaplan and Adele Romanski, producers – preproduction
Fifteen-year-old Brandon, from a rough part of Richmond, California, has always been picked on. He has survived by running away from trouble all his life. But after getting jumped over a new pair of kicks, Brandon recruits his two best friends to join him on a mission to get his shoes back. The odyssey they embark on is at once the night of their lives and a gamble with life-and-death stakes.
Little Accidents – Sara Colangelo writer/director; Jason Michael Berman, Anne Carey, Thomas B. Fore and Summer Shelton, producers – postproduction
In a small American coal town, the disappearance of a boy draws a young miner, the lonely wife of a mine executive and a local 14-year-old together in a web of secrets.
Los Valientes / The Brave Ones – Aurora Guerrero, writer/director; Chad Burris, producer – packaging
Felix Lopez is gay, undocumented and living in San Francisco until his family obligations move him across the country to a small Pennsylvania mining town to join his undocumented sister. Once there, alienated by local and family politics, Felix finds unexpected solace in the company of one person: his sister’s husband.
Love Land – Joshua Tate, writer/director/producer; Andrew Richey, producer – postproduction
Love Land follows Ivy, a young woman with a severe traumatic brain injury, as she faces her refusal to be identified as a person with an intellectual disability. When she is placed in an institution for being a danger to herself and others, Ivy will stop at nothing to prove to the world-and to herself-that she is “normal” enough to transcend the label of “special.”
Ma – Destin Cretton, writer/director – screenwriting
After being a mom for 30 years, Jan is forced to deal with the fact that her youngest son has finally left the nest. On a road-trip down the Oregon Coast, she begins to learn what it means to live life after motherhood.
Manos Sucias – Josef Wladyka, writer/director; Elena Greenlee and Márcia Nunes, producers – postproduction
A desperate fisherman and a naive young man embark on a dangerous journey trafficking drugs up the Pacific coast of Colombia. Hidden beneath the waves, they tow a narco-torpedo filled with millions of dollars worth of cocaine. Together they must brave the war-torn region while navigating the growing tension between them.
Start at the End – Jonah Markowitz, writer/director – packaging
Start at The End is a character-driven drama that explores the similarities between the family we are born into and the one that we create. The story begins with a tragic accident that results in a gay couple becoming caretakers of their teenaged niece and nephew. As grief catapults all four onto seemingly individual paths of despair and discovery, the inherent bond of family contains these journeys into one that is shared. For more information visit mrmarkowitz.com.
Terrible Love – Christopher Thomas, writer/director; Luke Helmer, producer – postproduction
When her wounded husband returns home from Iraq with violent PTSD, a devoted wife must choose between her daughter’s safety and the preservation of her marriage. For more information visit helmsmanstudios.com.
Note: at the request of the filmmakers, one finalist project has been omitted from this announcement. In the event that this project is awarded funds, full project details will be provided within the announcement of SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grant winners.