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Nest-supported Filmmakers on the DOC NYC Short List
DOC NYC, the largest nonfiction film festival in the US, announced their Short Lists for contenders for the documentary short category and contenders for feature documentary category. Their Short Lists are influential for their steady track record of anticipating Academy Award nominees and winners.
DOC NYC also noted that this year seven of the Short List feature selections are directed or co-directed by women, marking a new high. At Chicken & Egg Pictures, we were proud to see two of our supported filmmakers make the cut.
On Her Shoulders , directed by Alexandria Bombach (2018 SXSW LUNA / Chicken & Egg Pictures Award recipient), was listed as a top award contender for the documentary feature category.
Take Back The Harbor, directed by Kristi Jacobson (2016 Breakthrough Filmmaker Award recipient) and Roger Ross Williams, was listed as a top award contender for the documentary short category.
Both filmmakers will have their films screened during the DOC NYC festival in programs to be announced in mid-October. Congratulations to Alexandria and Kristi and good luck!
Breakthrough Filmmakers Meet the Press
The second annual Meet The Press Film Festival, in collaboration with the American Film Institute, features short documentaries which spotlight critical political issues, ahead of the US midterm elections. The festival will be held in Washington, DC at the Landmark Atlantic Plumbing Cinema on Sunday, October 7 and Monday, October 8.
We are proud to have supported two filmmakers featured in the Meet The Press Film Festival through our Breakthrough Filmmakers Award program. Nanfu Wang and Dawn Porter will screen their shorts and participate in discussions with fellow filmmakers and NBC News correspondents and anchors.
Out of Many, One (World Premiere), co-directed by 2018 Breakthrough Award Recipient Nanfu Wang and John Hoffman
“A Netflix original documentary short, Out of Many, One is a film about how one museum is using art, artifacts and historical documents to help green card holders prepare for the Naturalization Test and, in turn, become U.S. citizens.” *
Part of the “E Pluribus Unum” program, followed by Q&A with MSNBC correspondent Jacob Soboroff and the filmmakers. Monday October 8 at 6:00 PM.
Voting Matters, directed by 2017 Breakthrough Filmmaker Award Recipient Dawn Porter
“More than 50 years after the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most extensive pieces of civil rights legislation, people of color across the United States still are engaged in a battle to protect their right to vote. Voting Matters follows one dynamic woman working tirelessly on the ground and in the courts to ensure that they are not denied this right.” *
Part of the “My Democracy” program and followed by Q&A with “TODAY” and MSNBC anchor Craig Melvin and the filmmakers. Monday October 8 at 5:30 PM.
*Synopses from the AFI website.
Full slate available here. See you in DC!
Chicken & Egg Pictures-Supported Filmmakers Win at CIFF
The 2018 Camden International Film Festival (CIFF) hosted its annual awards ceremony on Sunday, September 16, and we are excited to announce that two Nest-supported filmmakers took home the top prizes at the awards!
The 2018 Harrell Award for Best Documentary Feature went to On Her Shoulders, directed by Alexandria Bombach (2018 SXSW LUNA / Chicken & Egg Pictures Award recipient) *
This empowering documentary presents 23-year-old Nadia Murad, a Yazidi genocide survivor determined to tell the world her story. Determined advocate and reluctant celebrity, she becomes the voice of her people and their best hope to spur the world to action.
The Feeling of Being Watched, directed by Assia Boundaoui (participant of the 2016 Accelerator Lab and recipient of The Whickers Chicken & Egg Pictures Award) received the Audience Award.
In the Arab-American neighborhood outside of Chicago where director Assia Boundaoui grew up, most of her neighbors think they have been under surveillance for over a decade. With unprecedented access, The Feeling of Being Watched weaves the personal and the political as it follows the filmmaker’s examination of why her community fell under blanket government surveillance.
Congratulations Alexandria and Assia!
For more about the other Nest-supported projects at the 2018 Camden International Film Festival, see our previous blog post.
* Chicken & Egg Pictures did not support On Her Shoulders but supported director Julia Alexandria Bombach through the SXSW LUNA / Chicken & Egg Pictures Award.
We’re hiring! Program & Partnerships Manager
Chicken & Egg Pictures is seeking a Program & Partnerships Manager.
The Program & Partnerships Manager will have an integral role in several of our soon-to-be-launched programs in support of our goal to provide creative, professional, and financial support to filmmakers at strategic junctures in their careers.
Come join a creative team that is truly passionate about advancing our mission of supporting women nonfiction filmmakers globally.
Applications will be processed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. For more information, see the full job posting on Idealist or download the PDF.
Nest-supported Nominees for The Grierson Awards
The Grierson Trust commemorates the pioneering Scottish documentary maker John Grierson. Each year, the trust celebrates documentary filmmaking from the UK and around the world with the British Documentary Awards, more fondly known as The Griersons.
We are honored to announce that Chicken & Egg-supported projects Kingdom of Us and Strong Island were nominated this year.
Kingdom of Us, directed by Lucy Cohen, was nominated for Best Single Documentary – Domestic and Best Cinema Documentary.
Kingdom of Us is a film about memory, identity, and growing up told through the eyes of seven siblings and their mother. Five of the children are on the autistic spectrum and as they move through adolescence, an event of the past keeps drawing them back. Combining observational footage with a rich archive of home movies and songs, the film is both a detective story and coming-of-age tale, exploring universal themes of memory, family, and love.
Strong Island, directed by Yance Ford, was nominated for Best Single Documentary – International.
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.
The Griersons will take place on the evening of Monday, November 5 at The Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. In the meantime, both Kingdom of Us and Strong Island are available to stream on Netflix.
Congratulations Yance and Lucy and good luck!
Penny Lane at the Open City Documentary Film Festival
The eighth edition of the Open City Documentary Festival is kicking off this Tuesday, September 4, taking place over six days in venues across Central London. As part of their “Penny Lane: Observing Observation Itself” program, the festival will be running two feature films and eight short films by 2017 Chicken & Egg Pictures Breakthrough Award Recipient Penny Lane, including:
Morgellons disease is a medical mystery. Although doctors have no explanation for the condition, thousands of sufferers claim to experience a persistent crawling sensation under their skin, thin fibres growing out of their body and a host of other symptoms. Penny Lane dives head first into the online community of Morgellons patients re-working candid home-videos uploaded to YouTube by three women who are afflicted with the disease. Friday, September 7 at 6:10 PM. *
Throughout Richard Nixon’s presidency, three of his top White House aides obsessively documented their experiences with Super 8 home movie cameras. Saturday, September 8 at 1:00 PM. *
This screening offers a rare opportunity to see Lane’s short form work; distinctive, entertaining and provocative in equal measure. The event will include an extended Q&A with Penny covering her work and creative practice. Sunday, September 9 at 1:00 PM. *
Congratulations Penny!
And a special congratulations to Chicken & Egg Pictures Board Member Alexandra Shiva on her UK Premiere of This Is Home at the Open City Documentary Film Festival, in partnership with the London Migration Film Festival. Saturday, September 8 at 6:00 PM.
*Synopses from the Open City website.
Post by 2018 Communications Intern Morgan Lee Hulquist.