10 Community SIMA Award Wins & Mentions

Last month, SIMA, the nonprofit impact media agency that celebrates, curates, and distributes documentaries and creative media projects that advance positive social change, announced the winners of the 12th annual Social Impact Media Awards. Of the 2024 winners, we were proud to have five supported films and two filmmakers win awards, and three films and filmmakers receive special mentions. Congratulations to all those strong social impact leaders recognized in this year’s awards.

Eat Bitter

dirs. Ningyi Sun, Pascale Appora-Gnekindy

prod. Mathieu Faure

The upper half is characters Luan and Thomas' faces and Thomas prays to the left of their faces; and the lower half is the back of Thomas' head and him getting ready to dive in the yellowish river.
Stills from Eat Bitter

Eat Bitter is a 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab finalist who won the award for Best Cinematography.

graphic of a film reel

PAY OR DIE

dirs. & prods. Rachael Dyer, Scott Alexander Ruderman 

prod. Yael Melamede

PAY OR DIE
Still from PAY OR DIE

PAY OR DIE is a Project: Hatched 2023 grantee and won the Systemic Change Award (Sponsored by the Foundation for Systemic Change (FSC)).

graphic of a film reel

The Eternal Memory

dir. & prod. Maite Alberdi

prod. Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín, Rocío Jadue

Still from the Eternal Memory
Still from The Eternal Memory

The Eternal Memory was supported through Maite Alberdi’s 2020 Chicken & Egg Award and won the award for Best Director.

graphic of a film reel

The Script

dir. Brit Fryer, Noah Schamus

prod. Colleen Cassingham, Jess Devaney

Still from The Script. In a set, a person with their back to the camera, talks to two other persons that are sitting in chairs in front of a table. To the right and left, there are camera crew people.
Still from The Script

The Script was supported in partnership with Multitude Films as a part of the QUEER FUTURES series and won the Creative Activism Award.

graphic of a film reel

Twice Colonized

dir. Lin Alluna

prods. Emile Hertling Péronard, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, Stacey Aglok, Bob Moore

The main character of Twice Colonized, Aaju Peter, in a close-up shot holding her hands in front of her face so her traditional tattoos on her hands and her chin are visible.
Still from Twice Colonized

Twice Colonized is a Project: Hatched 2023 grantee who won the Transparency Jury Prize.


Special Mentions

How to Carry Water

dir. Sasha Wortzel

prod. Jess Devaney, Anya Rous, Colleen Cassingham

Still from How to Carry Water

How to Carry Water was supported in partnership with Multitude Films as a part of the QUEER FUTURES (2022) series.

graphic of a film reel

Suddenly TV

dir. & prod. Roopa Gogineni 

prods. Reem Haddad, Trevor Snapp, Fiona Lawson-Baker

A young Sudanese protester points a cardboard camera towards an interview unfolding on a bridge in the middle of a large sit-in demonstration.
Still from Suddenly TV

Suddenly TV is a Project: Hatched 2023 grantee.


From the AlumNest

  • Mourning in lod – Ethos Jury Prize
    dir. Hilla Medalia
    prod. Sheila Nevins

  • This Is Where I Learned Not To Sleep – Humanitas Award
    dirs. & prods. Kirsten Kelly & Anne de Mare
    prod. Andrew Schwertfeger

  • Who I Am Not – Special Mention
    dir. Tunde Skovran
    prods. Andrei Zinca, Danielle Turkov, Paul Cadieux, Patrick Hamm, Amy Shepherd, Edith Weil, Daniel Szandtner, Janos Kovacs

Post written by Communications Assistant Tess Caldwell

Three Chicken & Egg Pictures grantees recognized with Emmy nominations

We were thrilled to see that three Chicken & Egg Pictures grantees have been recognized with News & Documentary Emmy nominations:

Born to Fly
Directed by Catherine Gund
Nominated for Outstanding Arts & Culture Programming
Elizabeth Streb and the STREB Extreme Action Company form a motley troupe of flyers and crashers. Propelled by Streb’s edict that “anything too safe is not action,” these daredevils challenge the assumptions of art, aging, injury, gender, and human possibility. Revealing the passions behindthe dancers’ bruises and broken noses, Born to Fly offers a breathtaking tale about the necessity of art, inspiring audiences hungry for a more tactile and fierce existence.

Still from Born to Fly, directed by Catherine Gund
Still from Born to Fly, directed by Catherine Gund

The Homestretch
Directed by Anne de Mare and Kirsten Kelly
Nominated for Outstanding Business & Economic Reporting: Long Form
The Homestretch follows three homeless teens as they fight to stay in school, graduate, and build a future. Each of these smart, ambitious teenagers will surprise, inspire, and challenge audiences to rethink stereotypes of homelessness as they work to complete their education while facing the trauma of being alone and abandoned at an early age. Haunting images, intimate scenes, and first-person narratives take us on their journeys of struggle and triumph.

Still from The Homestretch, directed by Anne de Mare and Kirsten Kelly
Still from The Homestretch, directed by Anne de Mare and Kirsten Kelly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Directed by Lucy Walker
Nominated for Outstanding Short Documentary
A courageous young woman, Marianna, takes the boldest step imaginable to confront her risk of having inherited the fatal, incurable Huntington’s Disease.

Still from The Lion's Mouth Opens, directed by Lucy Walker
Still from The Lion’s Mouth Opens, directed by Lucy Walker

We’ll be watching and wishing them all luck when the ceremony airs on September 21.