Suddenly TV

SYNOPSIS

In April 2019, after the fall of President Omar al-Bashir, Sudanese from across the country congregate in Khartoum to demand civilian rule. Demonstrators occupy the military headquarters. As the weeks pass, the besieged protest grows into a utopian settlement with library tents, communal kitchens, concerts, and health clinics. In this liminal space, a group of young revolutionaries create an imaginary television station—a playful act that grows into an urgent conjuring of a new Sudan. 

Suddenly TV is a participant of Project: Hatched 2023.

 

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR & PRODUCER

A black and white portrait of Roopa Gogineni looking at the camera.Roopa Gogineni (she/her) is a filmmaker and photographer based in Paris. For a decade she lived in East Africa where she developed a practice rooted in co-creation. Her films have premiered at festivals including IDFA, Hot Docs, and Sheffield DocFest. I am Bisha (2018), her documentary chronicling a satirical puppet show in rebel-held Sudan, received the Oscar-qualifying Full Frame Award for Best Short and a Rory Peck Award. Suddenly TV (2022), her latest short film about magical thinking and revolution, earned the SXSW Special Jury Award and the IndieLisboa Short Film Grand Prize.

Bad Press

SYNOPSIS

When the free press is swiftly repealed on the eve of an election year for the Muscogee Nation, tenacious Muscogee reporter Angel Ellis fights to bring it back. The election is full of twists and turns, and she refuses to leave the fate of the media to its outcome. 

With both humor and unparalleled insight, this documentary probes the inner workings of a modern Native American tribe, revealing its media, sovereignty, and elections with a holistic perspective that few audiences have experienced. 

Bad Press is a participant of Project: Hatched 2023.

 

ABOUT THE CO-DIRECTORS AND PRODUCERS

 

Rebecca Landsberry-Baker is an Indigenous woman with dark brown hair and light olive skin. She's wearing a beaded Muscogee collar and light blue jacket with a gray background. Black and white portrait.

Rebecca Landsberry-Baker (she/her) is an enrolled citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and the executive director of the Native American Journalists Association. Bad Press, her directorial debut, was supported by the Sundance Institute, Ford Foundation JustFilms, NBC, and The Gotham. The film premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, where it received the US Documentary Special Jury Award for Freedom of Expression.

 

 

 

Joe Peeler is a white man with brown eyes and a short, gray beard. He's wearing a blue collard shirt, navy jacket and standing in front of a trees. Black and white portrait.

Joe Peeler (he/him) is a Sundance award-winning director and editor whose work has appeared on NETFLIX, HBO, FX, ESPN, Hulu and CBS. Peeler began his career apprenticing under legendary director Peter Bogdanovich, and has edited Lucy Walker’s Academy Awards shortlisted documentary short The Lion’s Mouth Opens; multiple episodes of the Netflix original series Flint Town; and Margaret Brown’s SXSW premiere documentary short, The Black Belt

Big Fight in Little Chinatown

SYNOPSIS

Set against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and an unprecedented rise in anti-Asian racism, Big Fight in Little Chinatown takes us into the lives of residents, businesses, and community organizers whose neighborhoods are facing active erasure. In New York, it is the construction of the world’s largest vertical jail. In Montreal, it is developers swallowing up the most historic block of Chinatown, while big box chains displace the community in Toronto, and a Vancouver legacy business holds steadfast. These communities, resisting the pressure around them, offer Chinatown as a blueprint for inclusive and resilient neighborhoods of the future.

Big Fight in Little Chinatown is a participant of Project: Hatched 2023.

 

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

A photo of Filmmaker Karen Cho. Black and white portrait.Karen Cho (she/her) is a Chinese-Canadian filmmaker known for her socio-political documentaries. Her films include In the Shadow of Gold Mountain, about the Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act; Seeking Refuge, on refugees in Canada; and Status Quo?, about the women’s rights movement in Canada, which won Best Documentary at the Whistler Film Festival. In 2018 Cho was nominated for a Best Directing Canadian Screen Award for her work on CBC’s Interrupt This Program. Karen’s latest film, Big Fight in little Chinatown premiered at DOCNYC in 2022, and won both the Women’s Inmate Jury Award and the People’s Choice Award at the Montreal International Documentary Film Festival (RIDM).

 

 

ABOUT THE PRODUCER

A photo of Producer Bob Moore. Black and white portrait.Bob Moore (he/him) is a creative producer at EyeSteelFilm in Montreal, where he has produced more than 40 feature documentaries since 2008. He has been the recipient of more than 100 international awards, including Emmys, Cinema Eyes, Golden Horses, Owls, Phoenixes, and a variety of other celebratory animal-themed prizes. Moore is currently an advisor working with the Sundance Institute, IDFA, QUMRA, Tokyo Docs, Hot Docs, and others.

 

 

ABOUT THE CO-PRODUCER

A photo of Co-Producer Katie McKay. Black and white portrait.Katie McKay (she/her) is a documentary producer based in Montreal who has been working with Eyesteelfilm since 2016. She was the director, producer, and DP of Body of Water, an interactive meditation on lake swimming. A former preschool teacher, she is formally trained as a cinema projectionist and is the co-founder of the queer femme DJ collective LADIES BEVERAGE ROOM.

Freedom Hill

SYNOPSIS

Marquetta Dicken’s hometown, Princeville, sits atop wet, swampy land along the Tar River in North Carolina. Disregarded by white people, the land was left available after the Civil War and settled by newly freed enslaved Africans, who called it “Freedom Hill” and established a self-sufficient, all Black town. This short documentary follows Marquetta Dickens as she tries to help save her hometown from flooding, and explores the environmental racism that is washing away the historic town of 2,000 people.

Freedom Hill is a participant of Project: Hatched 2023.

 

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR & PRODUCER

 

Black woman with curly, brown hair sits in front of a tan backdrop on a stool with legs crossed, wearing a black shirt, Black loafers and white socks. Black and white portrait.
Photo Credit: Jeremy McKellar

Born and raised in the South, Resita Cox’s (she/her) films center Southern, Black communities and explore environmental justice, racial justice, and more. With a degree in journalism from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Resita started her career as a storyteller in TV news as a reporter in North Carolina and later in Chicago. She holds an MFA from Northwestern University in Documentary Film and is a 2021 North Star fellow with Points North Institute. Resita was recently named a 2022 Esteemed Artist by the City of Chicago and is one of Elevate’s 2022 Climate Changemakers.

From the Shadows #missingirls

SYNOPSIS

Every 8 minutes in India, a child goes missing. Countless are victims of sex trafficking. This film follows two women working against this status quo: One, an artist, relentlessly sprays silhouettes of girls on public walls tagged #missing, calling attention to the loss. The second, an activist, accompanies rescued girls across international borders. These parallel narratives intersect, revealing glimmers of hope, as these women imaginatively challenge a powerful trafficking nexus in their country.

From the Shadows #missingirls is a participant of Project: Hatched 2023.

 

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR & PRODUCER

Miriam Chandy Menacherry Director of From the Shadows. Black and white headshot.Miriam Chandy Menacherry (she/her) is the Founder and Director of Filament Pictures. Her award-winning films are From the Shadows #Missingirls (2022), The Leopard’s Tribe (2022), Lyari Notes (2015), The Rat Race (2011), Robot Jockey (2007), Stuntmen of Bollywood (2005) and a seven-part series on BBC World. Her films have premiered at the International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam and been broadcast on Netflix, BBC, Al Jazeera, NGC, TV2, and Arte. Her most recent feature documentary, From the Shadows, had a special screening at SXSW. She was selected in the first cohort of the Global Media Makers Fellowship by Film Independent and the US State Department

 

 

ABOUT THE CO-PRODUCERS

Aliya Furniturewala Co Producer of From the Shadows. Black and white headshot.Aalia Furniturewala (she/her) has worked as a producer/director in non-fiction and factual programming for more than a decade, including the social issue films The Leopard’s Tribe (2022), which premiered at IDSFFK; Last Kind of Burma (2015); Robot Jockey (2007); and Stuntmen of Bollywood (2005). 

 

 

 

 

 

Sheena Matheiken Co Producer of From the Shadows. Black and white headshot.Sheena Matheiken (she/her) is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker and co-founder of ¡Bricolagista!, a subterranean filmmaking collective based between Brooklyn and Mexico City.

 

 

 

 

 

Anand Ramayya Co Producer of From the Shadows. Black and white headshot.Anand Ramayya (he/him), founder of Karma Film, is a multiple Gemini Award winning producer focused on filmmaker-driven animation, documentary, and drama.

 

 

 

 

 

Gary Byung Seok Kam Co Producer of From the Shadows. Black and white headshot.Gary Byung-Seok Kam (he/him) has produced award-winning documentaries in Korea and worldwide, including Academy Award nominees, and has been an independent filmmaker since 2006.

 

 

 

 

ABOUT THE IMPACT PRODUCER

Triparna Banerjee is the Impact Producer on From the Shadows. Black and white headshot.Triparna Banerjee (she/her) is a screenwriter and filmmaker. Her first film as Associate Producer, Frozen, premiered at Toronto International Film Festival and received multiple global awards, including two National Awards in India. She is a 2019 Global Media Maker Fellow with Film Independent.

Liquor Store Dreams

SYNOPSIS

Growing up a daughter of Korean immigrants who ran a liquor store in South Los Angeles, Director So Yun Um has never seen eye-to-eye with her father on anything—especially not her career choices. Although his liquor store has provided her financial stability to dream big, there is tension between father and daughter, including around the complicated past their Korean culture and store have within the Black community. 

Danny Park, in contrast, is drawn back toward home. In the wake of his father’s passing, he quits his dream job at Nike and returns to Los Angeles to help his mother run the family store on Skid Row, where he dreams of uniting the Black and Korean communities at his store. 

Liquor Store Dreams is a portrait of two second-generation Korean Americans trying to create their own future by honoring, understanding, and healing their parents’ past.

Liquor Store Dreams is a participant of Project: Hatched 2023.

 

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR & PRODUCER

Director So Yun Um stands on a beige background in an all-Black outfit. Black and white headshot.So Yun Um (she/her) is a Korean American director and producer born and based in Los Angeles. Her directorial debut documentary feature film, Liquor Store Dreams, made its world premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival. Her work has screened at Tribeca Film Festival, Busan International Film Festival, BFI London, and more. Um is a 2022-2023 BAFTA Breakthrough USA participant and 2021 CAAM fellow.

 

 

ABOUT THE PRODUCER

Producer Eddie Kim wears a white shirt against a purple background. Black and white portrait.Eddie Kim (he/him) is a filmmaker, producer, and writer based in Los Angeles, and he is a believer in creating stories that amplify underserved voices. Eddie has deep experience in producing original series for digital media and television. His work has been featured on The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, The View, Billboard, Hypebeast, and more.

Now That We Are Together

SYNOPSIS

After an unexpected encounter with a group of women attempting to take back the streets, filmmaker Patricia Balderas Castro embarks on a personal and collective journey to understand the violence she has experienced. Against the resurgence of feminist protests in Mexico, she delves into her own history, her mother’s, and those of the women she fights alongside. Through this exploration, she learns that in a violent world, acts of solidarity, creating modes of self-defense, and preserving joy are revolutionary.

Now That We Are Together is a participant of Project: Hatched 2023.

 

 

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR & PRODUCER

In a black and white picture, Patricia Balderas is smiling after being noticed that her first film was selected in Morelia International Film Festival.Patricia Balderas Castro (she/her) is a feminist Mexican filmmaker, graduate of the National School of Film Arts, and co-founder of the production company Bandada Films. She has worked as a director, producer, editor, screenwriter, fixer, boomer, and sound mixer for production houses and independent projects. Her first film, Now That We Are Together, won both Best Movie Directed by a Woman and Audience Favorite at the Morelia International Film Festival. She has designed training and production projects for community cinema and ludic workshops on sexual harassment in the streets for institutions and civil associations. She was also the coordinator of audiovisual production at FARO Aragón and collaborated at the audiovisual laboratory at CIESAS – CONACyT.

 

 

ABOUT THE CO-PRODUCER

Claudia Ruiz Capdevielle and Patricia Balderas smiles in front of the banner of their movie "Now that we are together" at Morelia International Film Festival. Black & white image.Claudia Ruiz Capdevielle (she/her) holds an MA in Documentary Film from UNAM. She co-edited Now that we are together and supported its production throughout the arduous process to make the film a reality. Currently, she is also working on the impact campaign for this project. Claudia is a co-founder of the production company Bandada Films and director of the documentary Concert for the stubborn, which has been selected in various film festivals around the world. In addition to directing, she has also worked as producer and screenwriter on several film, video, and TV projects.

 

 

ABOUT THE IMPACT PRODUCERS

Michelle Plascencia and Merle Iliná smiles to the camera at Guadalajara International Film Festival. Black & white image.Merle Iliná (she/her) and Michelle Plascencia (she/her) are co-founders of Impacta Cine, an impact production collective based in Mexico which has produced campaigns for a variety of Mexican documentaries focused on human rights, gender, and migration. They organized Good Pitch México in 2020 and 2022. 

PAY OR DIE

SYNOPSIS

Today, nearly 2 million Americans are being held for ransom by pharmaceutical companies—without insulin, they’ll be dead in days. PAY OR DIE follows families on the receiving end of these ransom notes, revealing the harrowing reality of living with a chronic illness in the richest country in the world. The film tells the stories of a mother and daughter who struggle to rebuild their lives after losing their home due to choosing between paying rent and buying insulin, a young woman who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a Minnesota family whose 26-year-old son died from rationing his insulin and was thrust into the national spotlight. These stories lay bare the human cost of America’s insulin affordability crisis.

PAY OR DIE is a participant of Project: Hatched 2023.

 

 

ABOUT THE DIRECTORS & PRODUCERS

Rachael Dyer headshot in black and whiteRachael Dyer (she/her), an Australian native and Canadian citizen based in New York, is an award-winning producer and journalist whose work has appeared on Netflix, Apple TV+, Paramount+, MTV Documentary Films, HBO,, BBC Studios, Hulu, Peacock, Oxygen, Discovery+, and OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network. PAY OR DIE is Dyer’s directorial debut. Her previous credits include Hillary and Chelsea Clinton’s documentary series Gutsy (2022); Keep This Between Us (2022), and Un(well) (2020). Dyer previously worked as a journalist for BBC, Channel News Asia and other major international channels. She was awarded the Southern California’s journalist award for best international feature as well as the Clio Entertainment Grand winning entry for her work on The Greatest Showman Live, the world’s first live commercial for a theatrical release.

 

Scott Ruderman headshot in black and white

Scott Alexander Ruderman (he/him) is an accomplished cinematographer and award-winning film director based in New York. His diverse portfolio has earned global recognition at esteemed film festivals and has been featured on platforms such as Netflix, Paramount+, MTV, HBO, PBS, BBC, A&E, Hulu, and Discovery+. Additionally, he directed the documentary short Piano Craftman about a quirky, sometimes cranky New York City piano tuner. The film was screened at multiple festivals and won the Best Director award at the 2021 Madrid Art Film Festival. He holds an MFA degree from the School of Visual Arts. Currently, he is collaborating with esteemed filmmakers Jenifer McShane, Anthony Wonke, Cindy Meehl, and Sheila Nevins.

 

 

ABOUT THE PRODUCER

Producer Yael Melamede looking directly at camera and smiling. Black and white photo.Yael Melamede (she/her) is the co-founder of SALTY Features, a film production company based in New York. Yael served as an Executive Producer on the Jigsaw Productions/Amblin Entertainment six-part series, Why We Hate, which premiered on Discovery in November 2019. Her directorial debut, the critically acclaimed (Dis)Honesty – The Truth About Lies (2015), combined the work of behavioral scientist Dan Ariely with personal stories to illuminate how and why we lie.

Melamede has produced several documentaries, including Straight/Curve (2017), Inocente, Academy Award® for Best Documentary (Short Subject) (2013), Desert Runners (2015), When I Walk, Outstanding Informational Programming – Long Form News & Documentary Emmy® Award Winner (2015), and My Architect, Academy Award® Nominee (2004). Prior to her career in filmmaking, Yael was an architect. She is currently a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

The Mind Game

SYNOPSIS

When he was just 15, Sajid Khan Nasiri fled Afghanistan alone. After a two-year journey filled with danger and hardships—which he minutely documented on his phone camera—he arrives in Belgium to seek asylum. There, a whole new struggle begins. This Intimate film is a sequel to the prize-winning Shadow Game

The Mind Game is a participant of Project: Hatched 2023.

 

ABOUT THE DIRECTORS & IMPACT PRODUCERS

Photo of the 3 directors togetherThe Mind Game is directed by Eefje Blankevoort (she/her), Els van Driel (she/her), and Sajid “SK” Khan Nasiri (he/him) . Nasiri was one of the main characters in the award-winning documentary Shadow Game and one of the driving forces behind the impact campaign “Protect children on the move.” He has spoken at the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, and the Croatian Parliament to raise awareness about the violation of the rights of refugee children. He is now learning Dutch and working towards becoming a TikTok journalist, reporting on the lives of displaced teenagers in Europe and the Afghan diaspora.

 

 

ABOUT THE PRODUCER

Producer Laura Verduijn headshot in black and white.Laura Verduijn (she/her) is the Business Manager and Project Manager of Prospektor, where she has worked on films in various fields from from reconciliation in post-genocide Rwanda (Love Radio) to the Dutch asylum policy (The Asylum Machine). 

 

 

 

 

IMPACT PRODUCERS

Els van Driel

Eefje Blankevoort

Tina Farifteh 

Nienke Huitenga

Lara Aerts

Khadidja Benouataf

Twice Colonized

SYNOPSIS

The irrepressible Aaju Peter pursues a major goal: To create a permanent EU forum for Indigenous peoples. At the same, she delves into her own origins. When she was a child, she was sent away from her family in Greenland to Denmark, losing both her mother tongue and her indigenous culture. When she grew up, she fled to Arctic Canada, only to experience the colonization of the Inuit there too. Now, Peter fights for justice to create a better future for her grandchildren and future generations. 

Twice Colonized is a participant of Project: Hatched 2023.

 

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

The director of Twice Colonized, Lin Alluna, looking into the camera. She's a caucasian woman with red hair, and around 30 years of age. Black and white portrait.Lin Alluna’s (she/her) films focus on brave women who want to change the world. Twice Colonized is her debut feature; it premiered at Sundance in 2023 and was the first film to open both CPH:DOX and HOT DOCS. She teaches filmmaking and is chair member at the Danish Film Director’s association, and a graduate of the prestigious National Film School of Denmark. She is an alumni/lab fellow at IDFAcademy, UnionDocs, DFI Outreach, Nordic Talents and Circle Doc Accelerator.

 

 

ABOUT THE PRODUCERS

The producer of Twice Colonized, Emile Hertling Péronard, looking into the camera. He's a caucasian man with brown hair, and around 40 years of age. Black and white portrait.Emile Hertling Péronard (he/him) is an Oscar-nominated Greenlandic film producer based in Denmark with production company Ánorâk Film. Working to build bridges between Europe and the Arctic through films, Emile focuses on documentaries as well as fiction projects. He is the Chair of Arctic Indigenous Film Fund and is on the steering committee of ARTEF – the Anti-Racism Taskforce for European Film. His films have screened at Cannes, Venice, Berlinale, and Sundance.

 

 

 

The producer of Twice Colonized, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, looking into the camera. She an Inuit woman with black hair and facial tattoos, and around 40 years of age. Black and white portrait.Alethea Arnaquq-Baril (she/her) is an Inuit filmmaker and activist from Canada.  She directed and produced Angry Inuk (2016), which won the Hot Docs Audience Award and was also named one of Canada’s Top Ten feature films of 2016. She was awarded the Canadian Meritorious Service Cross in 2017.

 

 

 

 

The producer of Twice Colonized, Stacey Aglok MacDonald, looking into the camera. She an Inuit woman with dark brown hair, and around 40 years of age. Black and white portrait.Stacey Aglok (she/her) is an Inuit Producer/Writer/Director based in Iqaluit, Nunavut. Raised in Kugluktuk, Aglok got her start as a documentary production assistant in a documentary, and produced the drama Throat Song (2013). She has also helped produce and direct one of the most well-known Inuit language television shows, Qanurli.

 

 

 

A photo of Producer Bob Moore. Black and white portrait.

Bob Moore (he/him) is a creative producer at EyeSteelFilm in Montreal, where he has produced more than 40 feature documentaries since 2008. He has been the recipient of more than 100 international awards, including Emmys, Cinema Eyes, Golden Horses, Owls, Phoenixes, and a variety of other celebratory animal-themed prizes. Moore is currently an advisor working with the Sundance Institute, IDFA, QUMRA, Tokyo Docs, Hot Docs, and others.