13 Emmy Nominations from the Nest!

Chicken & Egg Pictures sends a massive congratulations to the two supported and 11 AlumNest films that received nominations for the 44th Annual News and Documentary Emmy® Awards. The honors will be presented live in two ceremonies, with Documentary Categories taking place on Thursday, September 28, 2023.

The Janes

dir. Tia Lessin, Emma Pildes

prod. Emma Pildes, Daniel Arcana, Jessica Levin

A photograph of 5 women wearing swimsuits and shades, in a sunny day in the'70s.
Still from The Janes

The Janes is a Project: Hatched 2022 finalist nominated for Outstanding Social Issue Documentary, Best Documentary, Outstanding Research: Documentary, Outstanding Direction: Documentary.

graphic of a film reel

Apart

dir. & prod. Jennifer Redfearn

prod. Tim Metzger

Still from Apart. Tomika and Amanda in the prison yard
Still from Apart

Apart is a 2018 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee nominated for Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary. 


From the AlumNest

  • American Reckoning
    dir. & prod. Yoruba Richen, Brad Lichtenstein
    Nominated for: Outstanding Historical Documentary
  • Art & Krimes by Krimes
    dir. & prod. Alysa Nahmias
    prod. Amanda Spain, Benjamin Murray
    Nominated for: Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary
  • Delikado
    dir. & prod. Karl Malakunas
    prod. Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala, Michael Collins, Marty Syjuco, Laura Nix
    Nominated for: Outstanding Investigative Documentary
  • How to Change your Mind
    dir. Lucy Walker, Alison Ellwood
    Nominated for: Outstanding Graphic Design and Art Direction: Documentary
  • Lincoln’s Dilemma
    dir. Jacqueline Olive, Barak Goodman
    Nominated for: Outstanding Graphic Design and Art Direction: Documentary
  • Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power
    dir. Geeta Gandbhir
    prod. Jess Devaney
    Nominated for: Outstanding Research Documentary, Outstanding Editing: Documentary
  • The Flagmakers
    dir. & prod. Cynthia Wade, Sharon Liese
    prod. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Carolyn Bernstein, Mark Gordon, Ryan Harrington, Jenna Segal
    Nominated for: Outstanding Short Documentary
  • The U.S. and the Holocaust
    dir. Lynn Novick, Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein
    Nominated for: Outstanding Research Documentary
  • TikTok, Boom
    dir. & prod. Shalini Kantayya
    prod. Danni Mynard, Ross Dinerstein
    Nominated for: Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary
  • Wuhan Wuhan
    dir. Yung Chang
    prod. Diane Quon, Donna Gigliotti, Peter Luo
    Nominated for: Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary
  • 37 Words
    dir. & prod. Dawn Porter, Nicole Newnham
    Nominated for: Outstanding Research Documentary

Post written by Communications Intern Tess Caldwell

Half a Dozen Nest-Supported Films at Camden International Film Festival!

We are thrilled to announce that six Chicken & Egg Pictures-supported films and two AlumNest filmmakers are included in this year’s lineup for Camden International Film Festival. The festival opens today and runs through Sunday, September 17, 2023. Part of our Program team will be in attendance, we hope to see you there!

Joonam

dir. Sierra Urich

prod. Keith Wilson

A mother and daughter stand under opposite ends of a grape arbor together, harvesting grape leaves. A grandmother is seen sitting in the background with a walker in front of her. Each woman appears to be separately lost in thought.
Still from Joonam

Joonam is a 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee.

Get your tickets here.

graphic of a film reel

Machtat

dir. Sonia Ben Slama

prods. Tania El Khoury, Cécile Lestrade, Elise Hug

Still from Machtat

Machtat is a 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee.

Get your tickets here.

graphic of a film reel

Milisuthando

dir. Milisuthando Bongela

prod. Marion Isaacs

Still from Milisuthando. Aerial shot of a person braiding their hair.
Still from Milisuthando

Milisuthando is a 2019 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee.

Get your tickets here.

graphic of a film reel

Non-Aligned: Scenes From the Labudović Reels

dir. & prod. Mila Turajlić

prod. Carine Chichkowsky

Still from Non-Aligned: Scenes From the Labudović Reels

Non-Aligned: Scenes From the Labudović Reels was supported through Mila Turajlić’s 2020 Chicken & Egg Award.

Get your tickets here.

graphic of a film reel

Q

dir. & prod. Jude Chehab

Still from Q
Still from Q

Q is a 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab Grantee.

Get your tickets here.

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 participant of Project: Hatched 2023.

Get your tickets here.


Chicken & Egg Pictures | POV Shorts Co-Production Fund

POV Shorts and Chicken & Egg Pictures announced today via DEADLINE the five recipients of the inaugural Chicken & Egg Pictures | POV Shorts Co-Production Fund, which granted $120,000 for development and production funding to three short documentary projects helmed by women and non-binary filmmakers. The initiative marks the two organizations’ first joint content development project, and all films are co-productions of POV Shorts and Chicken & Egg Pictures. In partnership with Points North, the institute will welcome the grantees as an official fellowship cohort at the 2023 Camden International Film Festival (CIFF2023). 

Chicken & Egg Pictures and POV Shorts each contributed $60,000 to finance the fund which awarded three non-recoupable $40,000 grants to new nonfiction short-form works in progress or already in production. In addition to financial support, each project will receive creative, strategic, and editorial advice from the Chicken & Egg Pictures and POV Shorts teams. The completed shorts will be considered for launch on PBS via national linear broadcast and PBS Digital, which reaches an audience of 44.7 million people monthly.


Chicken & Egg Pictures | POV Shorts Co-Production Fund Grantees

En Travesti

dirs. Brit Fryer, Lydia Cornett

En Travesti explores the entangled relationship between voice, gender, and opera through those who contend with these connections daily––a trans opera singer switching voice types, a musicologist delving into the legacy of Castrati singers, a cisgender vocalist challenging conventional voice categorizations, and an otolaryngologist specializing in vocal procedures for performers. From the history of trouser roles to breakthroughs in vocal feminization surgery, the film weaves together a tapestry of present-day stories while recognizing a long history of gender nonconformity in an art form bound by the binary. 

graphic of a film reel

Hold Me Close

dirs. Aurora Brachman, LaTajh Weaver

As winter gives way to spring, and spring to summer, two Queer Black women in love experience rituals of care, joy, and unavoidable pain, and a season of life together.  

graphic of a film reel

The Roost (working title)

dir. Imani Dennison 

The Roost (working title) is an experimental documentary exploring the rich history of a roller skate community in Louisville, KY. Through an intimate video lens, we delve into key community members’ personal recollections of the sport and its role in navigating life amidst the challenges of a gun-violence-affected city.

En Travesti explores the entangled relationship between voice, gender, and opera through those who contend with these connections daily––a trans opera singer switching voice types, a musicologist delving into the legacy of Castrati singers, a cisgender vocalist challenging conventional voice categorizations, and an otolaryngologist specializing in vocal procedures for performers. From the history of trouser roles to breakthroughs in vocal feminization surgery, the film weaves together a tapestry of present-day stories while recognizing a long history of gender nonconformity in an art form bound by the binary. 


From the AlumNest


Meet Our Program Team at Camden International Film Festival

Representing Chicken & Egg Pictures, our Program Director Kiyoko McCrae, Senior Program Manager Elaisha Stokes and Industry & Artist Development Manager Tobi Phang-Lyn will be in attendance at this year’s Camden International Film Festival. They will be bringing the Chicken & Egg Pictures | POV Shorts Co-Production Fund grantees to the festival, supporting our alumni and hosting a gathering, meeting with new filmmakers during 1-on-1 meetings, and watching as many docs as they can!


Post written by Communications Intern Tess Caldwell

Two Chicken & Egg Pictures-supported Films Win at Sundance!

The 2021 Sundance Film Festival Awards were announced Tuesday, February 3. We were egg-static to see two Nest-supported films receive major awards from the Park City festival, which was held online from January 28 to Wednesday, February 3. 


Users, directed by Natalia Almada

Natalia Almada received the “Directing Award: U.S. Documentary” for Users.

Natalia Almada worked on Users during her 2018 Chicken & Egg Award year and the project participated in NEXT GEN EGG. Check out the film’s Sundance page here.


Writing With Fire, directed by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh

Writing With Fire, directed by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh 2018 Accelerator Lab

Writing With Fire received the “Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary” and “World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award: Impact for Change.”

Writing With Fire participated in our 2018 (Egg)elerator Lab and NEXT GEN EGG. Check out the film’s Sundance page here.


A special congratulations to AlumNest filmmaker Camilla Nielsson (Democrats) on her “World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award: Vérité Filmmaking” for President!

Nest-supported Films at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival

We’re soaring (digitally) into the 2021 Sundance Film Festival this month, taking place from Thursday, January 28 to Wednesday, February 3. Tickets are now on sale to see the following Nest-supported filmmakers and films from anywhere in the United States: 

Users, directed by Natalia Almada

“A mother wonders, will my children love their perfect machines more than they love me, their imperfect mother? She switches on a smart-crib lulling her crying baby to sleep. This perfect mother is everywhere. She watches over us, takes care of us. We listen to her. We trust her.”
Natalia Almada worked on Users during her 2018 Chicken & Egg Award year and the project participated in NEXT GEN EGG. Check out the film’s Sundance page here.


Writing With Fire, directed by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh

Writing With Fire, directed by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh 2018 Accelerator Lab

In a cluttered news landscape dominated by men, emerges India’s only newspaper run by Dalit women. Armed with smartphones, Chief Reporter Meera and her journalists break traditions, be it on the frontlines of India’s biggest issues or within the confines of their homes, redefining what it means to be powerful.
Writing With Fire participated in our 2018 (Egg)elerator Lab and NEXT GEN EGG. Check out the film’s Sundance page here.


The Changing Same — Lead Artists: Michèle Stephenson, Joe Brewster, and Yasmin Elayat

Changing Same Michèle Stephenson Joe Brewster Impact Innovation Initiative 2018

“This immersive, episodic experience uses time travel and magical realism to pilgrimage through the evolution of racial violence in the U.S., making vital connections between the past and present. Episode 1 introduces the time travel portal—the Cracker House—and begins with a police altercation in a quiet suburb of modern-day New Jersey. The police altercation leads to mass incarceration and a slave warehouse, while hurtling toward a glimpse of a radiant post-racial utopia.”
The Changing Same received a 2017 Impact and Innovation Grant, a past Chicken & Egg Pictures program. You need a Desktop-tethered VR Headset to participate; learn more about the project here.


AlumNest Filmmakers

Our AlumNest is the 325+ women and gender nonconforming filmmakers we have supported in our sixteen years as an organization. Check out these projects by supported filmmakers at the upcoming Sundance Film Festival:

Bring Your Own Brigade, directed by Lucy Walker (The Lion’s Mouth Opens)

Prison X – Chapter 1 : The Devil and The Sun — Lead Artists: Violeta Ayala (Cocaine Prison), Alap Parikh, Maria Corvera Vargas, Roly Elias

Try Harder! directed by Debbie Lum (Seeking Asian Female)

President, directed by Camilla Nielsson (Democrats)

In The Same Breath, directed by Nanfu Wang (2018 Chicken & Egg Award, One Child Nation)

Chicken & Egg Pictures at DOC NYC 2017!

The 2017 DOC NYC Film Festival features three films that Chicken & Egg Pictures has supported directly. Running November 9-16, 2017 in Manhattan, the DOC NYC Film Festival is America’s largest documentary film festival.

Check out the full lineup of films, shorts, panels, and showcases here!

Lovesick (World Premiere)
Directed by Priya Desai and Ann Kim

In India, a culture obsessed with marriage but where AIDS is an unspeakable disease, can you find love and companionship if you’re HIV+? Ancient tradition and the new reality of HIV collide. Lovesick is the modern love story that results. Tickets and showtimes available here.

From Lovesick by Priya Desai and Ann Kim.

32 Pills: My Sister’s Suicide (NYC Premiere)
Directed by Hope Litoff

A reflection on the life and suicide of Ruth Litoff, a successful artist, a pathological liar, and the filmmaker’s sister. By looking back on Ruth’s incredible highs and lows, bursts of creative genius, depression, secrets, and lies, a vivid portrait will emerge of the brilliant woman the filmmaker is not sure she ever really knew. This is her attempt to understand what happened. Tickets and showtimes available here.

From 32 PIlls: My Sister’s Suicide by Hope Litoff.

Strong Island
Directed by Yance Ford

Set in the suburbs of the black middle class, Strong Island seeks to uncover how—in the year of the Rodney King trial and the Los Angeles riots—the murder of the filmmaker’s older brother went unpunished. The film is an unflinching look at homicide, racial injustice, and the corrosive impact of grief over time. Tickets and showtimes available here.

From Strong Island by Yance Ford.

A big congratulations, also, to these Nest-supported filmmakers whose films are also screening at DOC NYC:

Katherine Fairfax Wright, Behind the Curtain: Todrick Hall
Mohammed Naqvi, Insha’allah Democracy 
Geeta Gandbhir, Armed With Faith
Julia Bacha, Naila and the Uprising
Jeff Reichert and Farihah Zaman, Nobody Loves Me
Lucy Walker, Oh, What a Beautiful City (A City Symphony)
Laura Poitras, Risk

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.

The Lion’s Mouth Opens getting awards season buzz

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences released the shortlist of contenders for the Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short Subject. On the list was I Believe in You grant recipient Lucy Walker and her film The Lion’s Mouth Opens.

Eight films out of 58 eligible entries were named to the shortlist. Three to five will receive nominations. The full list can be found here.

Chicken & Egg Pictures congratulates Lucy and her team. We are thrilled and proud to be supporters of this film and to have Lucy in our nest. For more information on the film, visit our film page for The Lion’s Mouth Opens.