Blog
Welcome to the Nest, Kat Zhao!
Meet the newest member of our team: Development Assistant Kat Zhao
As Development Assistant, Kat supports the Development team in their ongoing fundraising efforts. Prior to joining Chicken & Egg Pictures, Kat worked and volunteered with several nonprofits and museums, many with a focus on the creative arts. During her time at New York University, she explored film courses and grew largely interested in diversity in the media. After getting her BA in Psychology, Kat worked with a world-renowned visual artist, then worked in programming at iCouldBe, an e-mentoring nonprofit where she helped design a unique network tool for high schoolers. Through these collective experiences, her passion to learn more about diversity and inclusivity, and to elevate underrepresented voices in the arts continues to grow.
“I am thrilled to be part of an incredibly innovative organization and a team that works toward enabling and elevating diverse and important voices in film.”
We are excited to welcome an egg-stra special new team member in our Nest. To learn more about her, visit our team page.
Chicken & Egg Pictures Executive Director Jenni Wolfson Joins BAFTA
We are proud to announce that our Executive Director Jenni Wolfson has become a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).
Jenni has joined a leading global arts charity that amplifies and celebrates excellence across the screen industries and drives positive change through the power of film, games, and television. Her membership will play an integral role in upholding BAFTA’s commitment to supporting the growth of creative talent by fostering an inclusive and accessible industry for all, as BAFTA’s activities continue to expand across North America.
Congratulations, Jenni!
The Nest is back at DOC NYC PRO FALL 2022
DOC NYC PRO FALL 2022 will take place from Thursday, November 10 through Thursday, November 17 at Cinepolis Chelsea. The activities are designed to empower filmmakers at different stages of their careers. At Chicken & Egg Pictures, we are proud to see current grantee Rebeca Huntt and AlumNest filmmakers sharing their expertise throughout the week.
Production Day
Friday, November 11
TRUST
Featuring Nest-supported filmmaker Margaret Brown
NEW YORK TIMES VS. SULLIVAN: DEFAMATION AND THE FUTURE OF DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING
Featuring Nest-supported filmmaker Jessica Devaney
Editing Day
Sunday, November 13
CASE STUDY: BEBA
Featuring Project: Hatched 2022 grantee Rebeca Huntt 
Still from BEBA
Journalism and Documentary Day
Monday, November 14
CASE STUDY: THE SING SING CHRONICLES
Featuring 2017 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Dawn Porter
Music for Documentaries Day
Tuesday, November 15
THE DIRECTOR/COMPOSER RELATIONSHIP
Featuring 2017 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Dawn Porter
CASE STUDY: MIJA
Featuring 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee Isabel Castro
Still from Mija
Documentary Series Day
Tuesday, November 16
MAKING THE LEAP FROM FEATURE DIRECTING TO DOC SERIES
Featuring 2017 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Geeta Gandbhir
CASE STUDY: MIND OVER MURDER
Featuring 2018 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Nanfu Wang
Check out the full line-up with this link.
Nest-Supported films at DOC NYC 2022 Film Festival
Chicken & Egg Pictures will be represented in the DOC NYC 2022 line up. The festival will run in-person from Wednesday, November 9 to Thursday, November 17 and online through Sunday, November 27. Take a look at the current Nest-supported films and projects from the AlumNest below that are screening and get your tickets with this link.
BEBA
dir. & prod. Rebeca Huntt
prod. Sofia Geld
BEBA is a Project: Hatched 2022 grantee and is part of DOC NYC’s 15-film Short List.
Get your tickets with this link.
Mija
dir. & prod. Isabel Castro
prod. Tabs Breese, Yesenia Tlahuel
Mija is a 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee and is part of DOC NYC’s 15-film Short List.
Get your tickets with this link.
The Hamlet Syndrome
dirs. Elwira Niewiera, Piotr Rosolowski
prod. Magdalena Kaminska
The Hamlet Syndrome was supported through Elwira Niewira’s 2021 Chicken & Egg Award and is part of the International Competition.
Get your tickets with this link.
The Art of Rebellion
dir. & prod. Libby Spears
prod. Sam Hook
The Art of Rebellion was supported by Chicken & Egg Pictures in 2014 and 2015 and is part of the Artistic Expressions section.
Get your tickets with this link.
The Janes
dirs. Tia Lessin, Emma Pildes
prods. Emma Pildes, Daniel Arcana, Jessica Levin
The Janes is a Project: Hatched 2022 finalist and is part of DOC NYC’s 15-film Short List.
Get your tickets with this link.
From the AlumNest
- A Witch Story
dir. & prod. Yolanda Pividal
prod. Ruth Somalo - All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
dir. & prod. Laura Poitras
prods. Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin, Yoni Golijov - Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net
dir. & prods. Dawn Porter
prods. Summer Damon, Sadie Bass, Mark Burnett, Barry Poznick - Descendant
dir. & prod. Margaret Brown
pros. Kyle Martin, Essie Chambers - Gumbo Coalition
dir. & prod. Barbara Kopple
prods. David Cassidy, Williams Cole, Ray Nowosielski - In Search of Bengali Harlem
dirs. Vivek Bald, Alaudin Ullah
editor. Beyza Boyacioglu - Jeanette Lee Vs.
dir. Ursula Liang
prod. Cora Atkinson
Nest-supported Films at IDFA 2022
The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam will take place from Wednesday, November 9 through Sunday, November 20. We are proud to see five Nest-supported films and seven AlumNest films in the line-up, and a retrospective dedicated to AlumNest filmmaker Laura Poitras. Multiple supported projects are also participating in the IDFA Forum from Saturday, November 12 to Wednesday, November 16.
IDFA is home to the second and last Chicken & Egg Award program retreat of the year, where 2022 Award recipients will be taking meetings about their films, which are currently in development and production.
Check out the Nest-supported films screening at IDFA including:
Alis
dirs. & prods. Clare Weiskopf, Nicolas van Hemelryck
prods. Alexandra Galvis, Radu Stancu
Alis is a 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab finalist and is part of the Best of Fests section.
Get your tickets with this link.
BEBA
dir. & prod. Rebeca Huntt
prod. Sofia Geld
BEBA is a Project: Hatched 2022 grantee and is part of the Best of Fests section.
Get your tickets with this link.
Blue Id
dirs. & prods. Burcu Melekoglu, Vuslat Karan
Blue Id is a Nest-supported film and is having its World Premiere in the Luminous section.
Get your tickets with this link.
Dear Mother, I Meant to Write about Death
dir. & prod. Siyi Chen
Dear Mother, I Meant to Write about Death is a 2018 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee.
Get your tickets with this link.
The Hamlet Syndrome
dirs. Elwira Niewiera, Piotr Rosolowski
prod. Magdalena Kaminska
The Hamlet Syndrome was supported through Elwira Niewira’s 2021 Chicken & Egg Award and is part of the Best of Fests section.
Get your tickets with this link.
Midwives
dir. & prod. Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing
prods. Bob Moore, Ulla Lehmann, Mila Aung-Thwin
Midwives is a 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee and is part of the Best of Fests section.
Get your tickets with this link.
Non-Aligned: Scenes from the Labudović Reels
dir. & prod. Mila Turajlić
prod. Carine Chichkowsky
Non-Aligned: Scenes from the Labudović Reels was supported through Mila Turajlić’s 2020 Chicken & Egg Award and is having its World Premiere in the International Competition.
Get your tickets with this link.
The Golden Thread
dir. & prod. Nishtha Jain
prods. Irena Taskovski, Irena Taskovski
The Golden Thread was supported through Nishtha Jain’s 2020 Chicken & Egg Award and is having its World Premiere in the Masters section.
Get your tickets with this link.
Polaris
dir. Ainara Vera
prod. Clara Vuillermoz
Polaris is a 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee and is part of the Best of Fests section.
Get your tickets with this link.
From the AlumNest
Nest-supported and Academy Award®-winning director Laura Poitras was named Guest of Honor at IDFA. She will be honored in the Retrospective and the Top 10 programs. The retrospective includes all seven films directed by Poitras from 2003 to today, and the Top 10 program includes Laura’s curation of ten films key to the human condition.
- Ciné-Guerrillas: Scenes from the Labudović Reels
dir. & prod. Mila Turajlić
prod. Carine Chichkowsky
- Merkel
dir. & prod. Eva Weber
prods. Lizzie Gillett, Sonja Henrici, Sigrid Jonsson Dyekjær - Non-Aligned Newsreels: Fragments #2 – New Voices from the Summit
dirs. Mila Turajlić, Maja Medić - Gumbo Coalition
dir. & prod. Barbara Kopple
prods. Ray Nowosielski, Williams Cole, David Cassidy
IDFA Forum
The IDFA Forum gathers some of the strongest documentary projects currently being developed and produced globally, and presents them in a five-day program of public presentations and one-on-one meetings.
Chicken & Egg Pictures is proud to co-host the IDFA Forum Lunch.
Check out the list of Nest-supported projects below:
The Tuba Thieves
dir. Alison O’Daniel
Between 2011 and 2013, tubas were stolen from high schools across Southern California. The Tuba Thieves begins with one of the heists, but it is not a mystery about the thefts. Nyke, a Deaf drummer and Geovanny, a hearing marching band student, play fictionalized versions of their lives within a Los Angeles soundscape: helicopters hover, highway tunnels absorb radio signals, and working-class neighborhoods are overwhelmed by the cacophony of highways and airplane flight paths. Finally, three historical ‘silent’ concerts are re-enacted. By the end of the film, as the last tubas are stolen, portraits of Nyke and Geovanny emerge from all the noise.
The Tuba Thieves is a 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee.
Learn more about the film with this link.
The Eternal Memory
dir. & prod. Maite Alberdi
The Eternal Memory was supported through Maite Alberdi’s 2020 Chicken & Egg Award.
Learn more about the film with this link.
The Phantom Pain of Rojava
dir. Maryam Ebrahimi
prod. Stina Gardell
The Phantom Pain of Rojava was supported through Maryam Ebrahimi’s 2021 Chicken & Egg Award.
Learn more about the film with this link.
Meet our Team at IDFA
Senior Creative Consultant Yvonne Welbon and International Program Consultant Tereza Simikova will coordinate the Chicken & Egg Award retreat, organize meetings with filmmakers, and attend the IDFA Forum Lunch.
The Nest at 2022 CIFF this Week
The 18th edition of Camden International Film Festival will take place in person in Maine this Thursday, September 15 through Sunday, September 18, and online through Sunday, September 25 for audiences across North America. Chicken & Egg Pictures is egg-cited to participate in the market, and we are also excited to see screenings of two 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab films, All of Our Heartbeats Are Connected Through Exploding Stars and Polaris, as well as two AlumNest films at the festival.
Please take a look at the films below:
All of Our Heartbeats Are Connected Through Exploding Stars
dir. Jennifer Rainsford
prods. Mirjam Gelhorn, David Herdies, Michael Krotkiewski
The 2011 Japan tsunami triggers this staggering essay about loss that connects human and environmental trauma using astonishing juxtapositions. Humans breathe out and the oceans breathe in, so that we are constantly breathing together and becoming our planet. If we admit that our human experiences of pain and the Earth’s are just different versions of the same destruction, will recovery come, be it in ripples or waves?*
All of Our Heartbeats Are Connected Through Exploding Stars is a 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee and is part of the Cinematic Vision Competition.
Get your tickets + more info with this link.
*Text courtesy of Cineuropa.
Polaris
dir. Ainara Vera
prod. Clara Vuillermoz
After overcoming her painful childhood in France, 36-year-old Hayat has managed to become an expert skipper in the Arctic. Her biggest passion is to navigate in between icebergs and spot whales. While she experiences this pureness, her 28-year-old sister Leila tries to integrate into society after coming out of jail in France. Their life went by independently until a year ago when Leila fell pregnant. Polaris explores the inner battle that we all have to undertake to find a balance between the light and the darkness and how the beauty of nature can help us.
Polaris is a 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee and is part of the Harrel Competition.
Get your tickets + more info with this link.
From the AlumNest
- Descendant
dir. & prod. Margaret Brown
prods. Kyle Martin, Essie Chambers
This film is part of the Best of Fest section. - Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power
dirs. Geeta Gandbhir, Sam Pollard
prods. Jessica Devaney, Anya Rous, Dema Paxton Fofang
This film is part of the Best of Fest section.
Meet Our Team at CIFF
Program Manager Sabine Fayoux Cantillo and Program Coordinator Iva Dimitrova will attend the festival. They will be taking meetings and watching lots of films!
Check out the full line-up with this link.
Welcome to the Nest, Allison Villegas Roman!
Meet the newest member of our team: Development Manager Allison Villegas Roman.
As Development Manager at Chicken & Egg Pictures, Allison supports the organization’s ongoing fundraising efforts. Prior to joining, Allison worked across multiple academic research centers, government agencies, and nonprofits with the goal of centering and leveraging the impact of mission-driven work. She joins us from Acumen, where she focused on creating collaborative processes to analyze in-house data to gather insights and to further drive Acumen’s larger strategic initiatives. Allison holds a BA in Anthropology, Environmental Studies, and Human Rights from Hunter College and an MA in Climate and Society from Columbia University Graduate School of Arts and Science.
“I am honored to join an organization that not only elevates such catalytic stories that might have gone untold but fosters a space in which filmmakers are able to transcend what they thought was even possible.”
We are excited to welcome an egg-stra special new team member in our Nest.
Nest-supported Films in The Gotham Week Project Market
Chicken & Egg Pictures is proud to see two Nest-supported and eight AlumNest films in The Gotham Week Project Market. This year’s lineup includes 60 documentary features that will be presented in-person at Brooklyn Navy Yard, and virtually. The Gotham Week will take place from Saturday, September 17 through Friday, September 23.
The Gotham Week Project Market hosts one-on-one industry meetings dedicated to elevating the work of independent artists and facilitating relationships with distributors, financiers, production companies, festival programmers, sales/talent agents, and other potential collaborators.
Take a look at the Nest-supported projects below:
Life + Life
dir & prod. Contessa Gayles
prods. Richie Reseda, David Felix Sutcliffe
An incarcerated musician struggles for healing and peace as he comes of age in this documentary-musical odyssey composed behind bars.
Life + Life is a 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee.
Storming
dir. Katrina Sorrentino
prod. Tiffany Fisher-Love
A family hangs in limbo, caring for their comatose son. Hope and denial blur as seasons circle in this meditation on love and letting go.
Storming was a participant of the 2019 Nest Knight Fellowship.
From the AlumNest
- #NunsToo
dir. Lorena Luciano, prod. Filippo Piscopo - Give it a Shot
dir. & prod. Vaishali Sinha, prod. Hemang Chheda - In Plain Sight
prod. Farihah Zaman, dir. PJ Raval - Life After
prods. Jessica Devaney, Colleen Cassingham, dir. Reid Davenport - Meanwhile
dir. & prod. Catherine Gund, prod. Erika Dilday - Prisoner X
dirs. Hilla Medalia, Amos Roberts, prod.Hilla Medalia & Gal Greenspan - Thoughts & Prayers
dir. & prod. Jessica Dimmock, Zackary Canepari - To Use a Mountain
Executive produced by 2022 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Brett Story, Maida Lynn, dir. Casey Carter, prod. Colleen Cassingham
The Gotham Week Conference
- The Politics of Filmmaking in the US
Wednesday, September 21 at 2:30 pm ET
With Project: Hatched 2022 finalist The Janes’ directors Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes.
Cost: $25
Meet Our Team
Our Executive Director Jenni Wolfson and Program Coordinator Iva Dimitrova will be taking meetings at The Gotham Week.
Check out the full list of projects participating with this link.
Eight Nest-supported Films Receive Emmy® Nominations!
Chicken & Egg Pictures sends massive congratulations to the eight Nest-supported films that received a nomination for the 43rd Annual News and Documentary Emmy® Awards. The honors will be presented live in two ceremonies, with Documentary Categories taking place on Thursday, September 29, 2022, at 7:30 pm EDT.
“Through our mission to advance gender equity in the documentary film industry, Chicken & Egg Pictures is proud to support women and nonbinary filmmakers whose work expands our collective consciousness. We congratulate all Nest-supported filmmakers for their tremendous achievements, and for crafting stories that advance social change.” -Jenni Wolfson, Executive Director of Chicken & Egg Pictures.
Check out each nomination below and celebrate the filmmakers and their teams with us:
A Thousand Cuts
dir. & prod. Ramona S. Diaz
prods. Christopher Clements, Julie Goldman, Carolyn Hepburn, Leah Marino
Nominated for:
- Outstanding Social Issue Documentary
- Best Documentary
Supported through Ramona’s 2018 Chicken & Egg Award
Coded Bias
dir. & prod. Shalini Kantayya
Nominated for:
- Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary
Coded Bias was a Project: Hatched 2020 grantee
Picture a Scientist
dirs. & prods. Sharon Shattuck & Ian Cheney
prod. Manette Pottle
Nominated for:
- Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary
Picture a Scientist was a Project: Hatched 2020 grantee
Pray Away
dir. & prod. Kristine Stolakis
prod. Jessica Devaney and Anya Rous
Nominated for:
- Outstanding Social Issue Documentary
Pray Away was a 2019 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee
Simple As Water
dirs. & prod. Megan Mylan
prod. Robin Hessman
Nominated for:
- Outstanding Direction: Documentary
Simple As Water was a 2018 Nest-supported project
Storm Lake
dirs. Beth Levison & Jerry Risius
prod. Beth Levison
Nominated for:
- Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary
Storm Lake was a Project: Hatched 2021 grantee
Takeover
dir. Emma Francis-Snyder
prod. Tony Gerber
Nominated for:
- Outstanding Short Documentary
Takeover is a Project: Hatched 2022 grantee
The Changing Same: An American Pilgrimage
dirs. Michèle Stephenson, Joe Brewster
prods. Scatter, Rada Studio
Nominated for:
- Outstanding Interactive Media: Innovation
The Changing Same: An American Pilgrimage was supported through the 2017 Impact and Innovation Grant
From the AlumNest
- In the Same Breath
dir. Nanfu Wang
prods. Jialing Zhang, Carolyn Hepburn, Sara Rodriguez, Julie Goldman, and Christopher Clements
Nominated for: Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary, Best Documentary - Through Our Eyes: Apart
dirs. Geeta Gandbhir, Rudy Valdez
prods. Beth Miranda Botshon, Jessica Devaney, Lisa Diamond, Anya Rous
Nominated for: Best Short Documentary
Check out the full nominations list with this link.
Welcome to the Nest, Nina Rodgers!
Meet the newest member of our team: Associate Director of Communications Nina Rodgers. 
As Associate Director of Communications, Nina shapes the voice of Chicken & Egg Pictures. She leads the communications team through strategic communications planning, brand-building, and public relations. She increases the visibility of the organization to advance its mission.
Prior to joining Chicken & Egg, Nina was the Assistant Director of Communications at The New York Women’s Foundation, where she worked on impact campaigns for the film The Assistant and produced original content with a focus on gender and racial justice. She has worked on communications strategy for documentary films including Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool and Vick.
Nina believes in the power of storytelling for social impact. Her live journalism experience includes moderating events with thought leaders such as Wade Davis, Taraji P. Henson, Sybrina Fulton, Lesley MsSpadden, Benjamin Crump, and Mara Brock Akil. She has a BA in Broadcast & Digital Journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and a MA in Communication Education from Columbia University.
“I’ve been an admirer of Chicken & Egg Pictures’ work for many years, so it feels like a full circle moment being part of the team now,” Nina reflects. “We support women and nonbinary filmmakers whose stories have the power to change the world–and I believe our story as an organization can also catalyze change. I’m excited to tackle new projects that will advance gender equity in the film industry, and introduce more people to the powerhouse that is Chicken & Egg Pictures.”
We are excited to welcome an egg-stra special new team member in our Nest.