Two Nest-supported Films Win Awards at Sundance World Cinema Documentary Competition!
Chicken & Egg Pictures is egg-static to see 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee Against the Tide, 2020 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Maite Alberdi, and Nest-supported filmmaker Michèle Stephenson receive Jury awards. We were also proud to see AlumNest filmmaker Jess Devaney be the recipient of the 2023 Amazon Studios Nonfiction Producers Award.
Congratulations to all awardees and their teams!
Winner of the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award: Verite Filmmaking
Against the Tide
dir. & prod. Sarvnik Kaur
prod. Koval Bhatia
Against the Tide is a 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee.
Winner of the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary
The Eternal Memory
dir. & prod. Maite Alberdi
prods. Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín, Rocío Jadue
The Eternal Memory was supported through Maite Alberdi’s 2020 Chicken & Egg Award.
From the AlumNest
- Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project
dirs. & prods. Michele Stephenson, Joe Brewster
U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary - Jess Devaney received the 2023 Amazon Studios Nonfiction Producers Award
Nest-Supported and AlumNest Films on the Oscars® Shortlist!
Congratulations to the Nest-supported and AlumNest films on the 95th Academy Awards® shortlist for documentary features and documentary short films! The Oscars® nominations will be announced on Tuesday, January 24, so stay tuned for more updates!
Nest-supported Films on the Documentary Feature Short List
Hidden Letters
dirs. Violet Feng, Zhao Qing
prods. Violet Feng, Mette Cheng Munthe-Kaas, Jean Tsien, Su Kim
Hidden Letters is a 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee.
The Janes
dirs. Tia Lessin, Emma Pildes
prods. Emma Pildes, Daniel Arcana, Jessica Levin
The Janes is a Project: Hatched 2022 finalist.
AlumNest Films on the Documentary Feature Shortlist
- All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
dir. Laura Poitras
prods. Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Laura Poitras, Nan Goldin, Yoni Golijov - Descendant
dir. & prod. Margaret Brown
prods. Essie Chambers, Kyle Martin
AlumNest Films on the Documentary Short Films Shortlist
- Angola Do You Hear Us? Voices from a Plantation Prison
dir. Cinque Northern
prod. Catherine Gund - The Flagmakers
dirs. & prods. Sharon Liese, Cynthia Wade
- The Martha Mitchell Effect
dirs. Anne Alvergue, Debra McClutchy
prods. Beth Levison, Judith Mizrachy
Four Nest-supported Films Nominated for the 2023 Cinema Eye Honors
Chicken & Egg Pictures is proud to see four Nest-supported filmmakers and four AlumNest filmmakers nominated for the 2023 Cinema Eye Honors. The 16th Annual Awards Ceremony will take place on Thursday, January 12, 2023 and celebrates outstanding artistry and craft in nonfiction filmmaking.
Check out the nominated Nest-supported films including:
BEBA
dir. & prod. Rebeca Huntt
prod. Sofia Geld
Project: Hatched 2022 grantee BEBA is nominated for Outstanding Debut Feature and is included in The Unforgettables list. Director Rebeca Huntt is nominated for Outstanding Direction.
Hidden Letters
dirs. Violet Feng, Zhao Qing
prods. Violet Feng, Mette Cheng Munthe-Kaas, Jean Tsien, Su Kim
2020 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee Hidden Letters is nominated for the Spotlight Award.
Mija
dir. & prod. Isabel Castro
prod. Tabs Breese, Yesenia Tlahuel
2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee Mija is nominated for the Audience Choice Award and is included in The Unforgettables list.
Users
dir. Natalia Almada
prod. Josh Penn
Users was supported through Natalia Almada’s 2018 Chicken & Egg Award and is nominated for Outstanding Original Music Score and Cinematography.
From AlumNest
- All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
dir. Laura Poitras
prods. Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Laura Poitras, Nan Goldin, Yoni Golijov
Nominated for Outstanding Direction, Outstanding Editing, Outstanding Nonfiction Fiction Film, Outstanding Original Music Score, and is included in The Unforgettables list - Black and Missing
dir. Geeta Gandbhir and Samantha Knowles
prods. Geeta Gandbhir, Jo Honig, Patrick Conway, Soledad O’Brien
Nominated for Outstanding Nonfiction Series - Descendant
dir. & prod. Margaret Brown
prods. Essie Chambers, Kyle Martin
Nominated for Outstanding Direction and Outstanding Original Music Score - Mind Over Murder
dir. Nanfu Wang
prod. Alexander Baertl
Nominated for Outstanding Nonfiction Series - The Martha Mitchell Effect
dir. Anne Alvergue, Debra McClutchy
prod. Beth Levison, Judith Mizrachy
Nominated for Outstanding Non-fiction short
- The Joys and Sorrows of Young Yuguo
dir. Ilinca Călugăreanu
prod. Mara Adina
Included in the Shorts List (Cinema Eye’s Annual List of the Year’s Top Short Documentaries)
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.
Against the Tide wins at Visions du Réel-VdR–Industry Awards!
The industry awards of the 2022 edition of Visions du Réel were announced on Wednesday, April 13. We are celebrating 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee Against the Tide on winning the Freestudios Award for VdR-Work in Progress project for the creation of a DCP package.
During the awards announcement, Madeline Robert, Head of Industry, also noted that this festival edition had a record of people in attendance. We are also sending a huge congratulations to the festival and the team that made it possible.
Against the Tide
dir. & prod. Sarvnik Kaur
prods. Koval Bhatia, Quentin Laurent
A tale of love, brotherhood, and resentments against the backdrop of an adoring sea, which is turning adverse under the menacing effects of an all-pervading calamity called climate change.
Check out the full list of industry awards winners with this link.
Brett Story and Stephanie Wang-Breal selected for Original Voices Fellowship!
At Chicken & Egg Pictures we are sending massive congratulations to Chicken & Egg Award recipients Brett Story and Stephanie Wang-Breal on being selected for an NBCU Academy Original Voices Fellowship. The fellowship is directed towards documentarians who identify as–or showcase stories highlighting social issues affecting–women, LGBTQ+, communities of color and people with disabilities.
The selected fellows will receive a $60,000 grant and a one-year artist development fellowship designed to help each filmmaker with the completion of their films; access to archival research and production resources as well as NBC News Studios executives and journalists; attend the 67th Flaherty Film Seminar, Continents of Drifting Clouds, programmed by Almudena Escobar López and Sky Hopinka; and will also participate in Collective Lens: An Impact Roadmap, a robust impact strategy workshop, led by Peace is Loud, to equip filmmakers with the tools to run their own impact campaigns, advancing transformative peace and social justice through storytelling.
Congratulations! 🥳
2022 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Brett Story
Untitled Labor Union Documentary
dirs. Brett Story and Stephen Maing
prods. Samantha Curley and Mars Verrone,
From the perspective of a single Amazon fulfillment center, this documentary is an intimate portrait of current and former Amazon workers taking on one of the world’s largest and most powerful companies in the fight to unionize.
2019 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Stephanie Wang-Breal
Florence From Ohio
dir. Stephanie Wang-Breal
prod. Carrie Weprin & Mynette Louie
Florence from Ohio is a real-life, genre-twisting film about Florence Wang and her second-generation daughter, Stephanie Wang-Breal. Told through the lens of Florence’s St. John Knit power suits and 1980s local TV cooking show, mother and daughter collectively reimagine and grapple with their generational ideas of motherhood, feminism, racism, and assimilation.
Check out the full list of recipients with this link.
Kirsten Johnson is the Special Guest of Visions du Réel!
We are egg-cited to see Nest-supported filmmakers participating at Visions du Réel (International Film Festival Nyon, Switzerland): 2017 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Kirsten Johnson, who is the Special Guest, and 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee All of Our Heartbeats Are Connected Through Exploding Stars (previously titled Stories from Debris), which is having its world premiere. The in-person festival will take place in the city of Nyon from Thursday, April 7 to Sunday, April 17, and online from Monday, April 11 through Monday, April 18.
Kirsten Johnson
Special Guest of Visions du Réel
2017 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Kirsten Johnson will give a masterclass in partnership with Le Temps, and her work as director as well as a selection of films to which she contributed will be featured in a retrospective. Plus, the posters and visual identity of the festival were taken from Kirsten’s body of work.
- Masterclass
Thursday, April 14 - Cameraperson (Nest-supported)
dir. & prod. Kirsten Johnson, prod. Marilyn Ness
Get your tickets with this link. - Bintou in Paris
dirs. Kirsten Johnson & Julia Pimsleur, prod. Julia Pimsleur - Deadline
dirs. Kirsten Johnson & Katy Chevigny, prods. Katy Chevigny & Dallas Brennan - The Above
dir. & prod. Kirsten Johnson, prod. Marilyn Ness - Dick Johnson is Dead (Nest-supported)
dir. Kirsten Johnson, prods. Katy Chevigny & Marilyn Ness - Derrida
*Cinematography by Kirsten Johnson
dirs. Kirby Dick & Amy Ziering Kofman, prod. Amy Ziering Kofman
All of Our Heartbeats Are Connected Through Exploding Stars
(previously titled Stories From Debris)
dir. Jennifer Rainsford
prods. Mirjam Gelhorn, David Herdies, Michael Krotkiewski
On March 11, 2011, a tsunami devastated the coasts of Japan, claiming thousands of lives. Today, the scars of this tragedy remain visible. Yet in spite of this, people, plants and animals alike continue to exist. Through striking images shot on land and in the sea, Jennifer Rainsford’s film celebrates human resilience and the endless beauty of our planet.*
All of Our Heartbeats Are Connected Through Exploding Stars is a 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee and is having its world premiere in the International Feature Film Competition .
Get your tickets with this link.
Check out the trailer with this link.
Take a look at the full line-up with this link.
*Text courtesy of Cineuropa.
Celebrating Alison O’Daniel’s Guggenheim Fellowship!
At Chicken & Egg Pictures, we congratulate 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee Alison O’Daniel on her 2022 Guggenheim Fellowship. Alison is a filmmaker and visual artist, and Assistant Professor of Film at California College of the Arts. She is currently working on her first feature film The Tuba Thieves.
Huge congratulations, Alison. We are so proud of you!
The Last Nomads Wins Best Pitch at CPH:DOX!
Chicken & Egg Pictures is proud to see 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee The Last Nomads receive the €20,000 Eurimages Co-Production Development Award for the best pitch of this year’s CPH:FORUM, announced on Friday, April 1.
“We were impressed by this project which brings us to a place we didn’t know existed, a place of striking beauty and importance to humanity. A story of the human being in a David against Goliath battle, urgently reminding us not to lose our way in the fog of war.”
–Jury Statement
Through the story of a a mother and daughter defending their land against becoming a military polygon, the film illustrates how violence against women echoes in violence against nature.
This project is currently in development and looking for €624,000 ($659,428 USD) in funding.
The Last Nomads
dir.co-dirs. Biljana Tutorov & Petar Glomazić
prods. Biljana Tutorov & Veliša Popović
Check out the full list of winners with this link.
*Photo courtesy of CPH:DOX
Ascension Soars at Cinema Eye Honors!
Huge congratulations to the Ascension team for picking up three awards at the 15th Annual Cinema Eye Honors: Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography, Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score, and Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film.
Plus a special shoutout to AlumNest filmmakers Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang, and the In the Same Breath team for their win in the award for Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Film For Broadcast.
Ascension
dir. & prod. Jessica Kingdon
prods. Kira Simon-Kennedy, Nathan Truesdell
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
Jessica Kingdon and Nathan Truesdell
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score
Dan Deacon
Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film
Jessica Kingdon
Ascension examines the contemporary “Chinese Dream” through staggering observations of labor, consumerism and wealth. In cinematically exploring the aspiration that drives today’s People’s Republic of China, the film plunges into universal paradoxes of economic progress.
Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Film For Broadcast
In the Same Breath
dir. Nanfu Wang
prods. Jialing Zhang, Carolyn Hepburn, Sara Rodriguez, Julie Goldman, and Christopher Clements
Take a look at the complete list of award winners by visiting this link.