Eight Nest-Supported Films at Sheffield DocFest 2023!
We are thrilled to announce that eight Nest-supported films and four AlumNest filmmakers are included in this year’s lineup for Sheffield DocFest. The festival will take place between Wednesday, June 14 to Monday, June 19, 2023, and will be attended by two of our staff members. We hope to see you there!
Against the Tide
dir. Sarvnik Kaur
prod. Koval Bhatia, Quentin Laurent

Against the Tide is a 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee having its UK Premiere in the Journeys section.
Get your tickets here.

Hummingbirds
dirs. Silvia Del Carmen Castaños, Estefanía “Beba” Contreras
co-dirs. & prods. Jillian Schlesinger, Miguel Drake-McLaughlin, Diane Ng, Ana Rodriguez-Falco
prods. Leslie Benavides, Rivkah Beth Medow

Hummingbirds is a 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab finalist having its UK Premiere in the People & Community section.
Get your tickets here.

Is there Anybody Out There?
dir. Ella Glendining
prod. Janine Marmot

2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee Is There Anybody Out There? is having its UK Premiere in the Journeys section. Director Ella Glendining will also be attending and participating in a conversation about the film.
Get your tickets here.

Milisuthando
dir. Milisuthando Bongela
prod. Marion Isaacs

Milisuthando is a 2019 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee having its UK Premiere in the Memories section.
Get your tickets here.

Razing Liberty Square
dir. Katja Esson
prod. Ann Bennett, Corinna Sager, Ronald Baez

Razing Liberty Square is a 2022 Critical Issues Fund grantee having its European Premiere in the Debates section.
Get your tickets here.

Praying for Armageddon
dir. Tonje Hessen Schei
co-dir. Michael Rowley
prods. Torstein Parelius, Ingrid G. Aune Falch, Christian Aune Falch

Praying for Armageddon was supported through Tonje Hessen Shei’s 2020 Chicken & Egg Award and is having its UK Premiere in the Debates section.
Get your tickets here.

Total Trust
dir. Jialing Zhang
prod. Knut Jäger

Total Trust is supported through Jialing Zhang’s 2021 Chicken & Egg Award and is having its UK Premiere in the Rebellions section. It was nominated for the Tim Hetherington Award at the festival.
Get your tickets here.

Q
dir. & prod. Jude Chehab

Q is a 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab Grantee having its International Premiere in the International First Feature Competition.
Get your tickets here
From the AlumNest
dir. Penny Lane
prod. Gabriel Sedgwick
dir. & prod. Jeanie Finlay
prod. Suzanne Alizart
BAFTA-Winning and Nest-supported filmmaker Kim Longinotto is a 2023 festival edition Jury Member.
MeetMarket Projects
The 18th edition of Sheffield DocFest’s flagship pitching forum, the MeetMarket, will take place on Thursday 15, and Friday 16 of June 2023. The slate includes 48 documentary projects, in development or at production stage, to be pitched in one-to-one meetings to international and UK industry representatives and experts.
Please take a look at the Nest-supported and AlumNest projects below.
- Untitled Teesside Project
dir. & prod. Jeanie Finlay
prod. Charlie Phillips
Supported through Jeanie Finlay’s 2023 Chicken & Egg Award - #WhileBlack
dir. Sidney Fussell, Samantha Knowles, Geeta Gandbhir
prod. Ann Shin, Geeta Gandbhir, David Otelowo
Meet Our Team at Sheffield DocFest
Representing Chicken & Egg Pictures, our Communications Manager Mariana Sanson and Program Assistant Will Tamura will be in attendance at this year’s Sheffield DocFest. They will both be participating in the MeetMarket and watching as many docs as they can!
Over a Dozen Films Screening at Hot Docs Film Festival!
The 30th anniversary edition of Hot Docs will take place across Toronto from Thursday, April 27 to Sunday, May 7. We are egg-static to announce that 13 Nest-supported films are part of the lineup and there are also two AlumNest films featured. Hot Docs is North America’s largest documentary festival, conference, and market, and embodies a deep commitment to gender parity, with 53% female directors in this year’s official selection, according to Variety.
We are sending special congratulations to the 2022 Critical Issues Fund grantee Razing Liberty Square on their World Premiere. See below for more details.

- 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab Grantee Against the Tide | Canadian Premiere | dir. Sarvnik Kaur | prod. Koval Bhatia
- 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab Finalist – Eat Bitter | Canadian Premiere | dirs. Ningyi Sun, Pascale Appora-Gnekindy | prod. Mathieu Faure
- 2021 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Tatiana Huezo’s – The Echo | North American Premiere | dir. & prod. Tatiana Huezo | prod. Dalia Reyes
- 2020 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Maite Alberdi’s The Eternal Memory | Canadian Premiere | dir. & prod. Maite Alberdi | prods. Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín, Rocío Jadue
- 2019 (Egg)celerator Lab Grantee Milisuthando | Canadian Premiere | dir. Milisuthando Bongela | prod. Marion Isaacs
- 2020 Chicken & Egg Award Grantee Mila Turajlić’s Non-Aligned: Scenes From the Labudović Reels | North American Premiere | dir. & prod. Mila Turajlić | prod. Carine Chichkowsky
- 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab Grantee Polaris | Canadian Premiere | dir. Ainara Vera | prods. Clara Vuillermoz, Emile Hertling Peronard
- 2020 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Tonje Hessen Schei’s Praying for Armageddon | North American Premiere | dir. Tonje Hessen Schei | co-dir. Michael Rowley | prods Torstein Parelius, Ingrid G. Aune Falch, Christian Aune Falch
- 2022 Critical Issues Fund grantee Razing Liberty Square | World Premiere | dir. & prod. Katja Esson | prods. Ann Bennett, Corinna Sager, Ronald Baez
- 2021 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Jialing Zhang’s Total Trust | North American Premiere | dir. & prod. Jialing Zhang | prods. Knut Jager, Michael Grotenhoff, Saskia Kress
Special Presentations in the Big Ideas Section
The 2023 Special Presentations program features high-profile subjects, award-winning films and filmmakers, and masterful perspectives on current events and pressing issues. There are 24 films set to screen in this program. Two Nest-supported films are being featured in the Big Ideas section.
Is there Anybody Out There?
dir. Ella Glendining
prod. Janine Marmot

2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee Is There Anybody Out There? is having its Canadian premiere.
Get your tickets here.

It’s Only Life After All
dir. & prod. Alexandria Bombach
prods. Kathlyn Horan, Jess Devaney, Anya Rous

It’s Only Life After All was supported through Alexandria Bombach’s 2019 Chicken & Egg Award and is having its Canadian premiere.
Get your tickets here.
Hot Docs Forum
The Hot Docs Forum, one of the festivals’ flagship industry events, is where filmmakers are able to pitch to international decision makers. This year, they’ve chosen 19 Forum projects representing 16 countries and 23 filmmakers, 12 of whom are women and 11 of whom are BIPOC.
Intercepted
dir. Oksana Karpovych
prods. Giacomo Nudi, Rocío Barba Fuentes, Pauline Tran Van Lieu, Lucie Rego, Darya Bassel

Intercepted is a 2022 Critical Issues Fund grantee.
From the AlumNest
- We Will Not Fade Away
dir. Alisa Kovalenko
prods. Valery Kalmykov, Oleksiy Kobelev
- Confessions of a Good Samaritan
dir. Penny Lane
prod. Gabriel Sedgwick
Meet our Team at Hot Docs

Representing Chicken & Egg Pictures, our Program Director Kiyoko McCrae will be in attendance at Hot Docs. While in Toronto shell be attending the Hot Docs Forum, Deal Maker meetings, and attending the Work in Progress program.
Post written by Spring Intern Tess Caldwell
A Dozen Films Screening at CPH:DOX!
The 20th anniversary of CPH:DOX will take place from Wednesday, March 15 to Sunday, March 26 in Copenhagen, Denmark. We are proud to announce that 12 Nest-supported films are part of the lineup and that our AlumNest is also participating in the CPH:CONFERENCE and CPH:FORUM. If you are attending the festival, please say hi to our team who will participate in person to support our filmmakers. See below for more details.

- 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab Finalist Eat Bitter | World Premiere | Dox:Award section | dirs. Ningyi Sun, Pascale Appora-Gnekindy | prod. Mathieu Faure
- 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee Is There Anybody Out There? | Highlights section | dir. Ella Glendining | prod. Janine Marmot
- 2020 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Mila Turajlić’s Non-Aligned: Scenes from the Labudović Reels | Artists & Auteurs section | dir. & prod. Mila Turajlić | prod. Carine Chichkowsky
- 2020 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Tonje Hessen Schei’s Praying for Armageddon | F:act Award section | dir. Tonje Hessen Schei | co-dir. Michael Rowley
- 2022 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Margreth Olin’s Songs of Earth | World Premiere | Dox:Award section | dir. & prod. Margreth Olin
- 2020 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Maite Alberdi’s The Eternal Memory | Highlights section | dir. & prod. Maite Alberdi | prods. Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín, Rocío Jadue
- 2021 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Elwira Niewira’s The Hamlet Syndrome | Highlights section | dirs. Elwira Niewiera, Piotr Rosolowski | prod. Magdalena Kaminska
- 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee The Tuba Thieves | Next:Wave section | dir. & prod. Alison O’Daniel
- 2021 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Jialing Zhang’s Total Trust | World Premiere | Dox: Award and Rewriting the Future sections | dir. & prod. Jialing Zhang | prods. Knut Jager, Michael Grotenhoff, Saskia Kress
QUEER FUTURES

In partnership with Multitude Films, three short documentaries of the QUEER FUTURES series, directed by Brit Fryer & Noah Schamus, Twiggy Pucci Garçon, and Sasha Wortzel that radically imagine future visions of queer life, will have their world premiere. These films expand the boundaries of nonfiction to explore gender affirming care, fat beauty and liberation, and nonbinary ballroom culture. Transcending the rigidity and oppressions of the current moment, these directors locate, build, and inhabit worlds that offer us new ways of being–in the present and the future.
- How to Carry Water
dir. Sasha Wortzel
prods. Jess Devaney, Anya Rous, Colleen Cassingham
- The Script
dirs. Brit Fryer, Noah Schamus
prods. Jessica Devaney, Colleen Cassingham
- MnM
dir. Twiggy Pucci Garçon
prods. Colleen Cassingham, Jessica Devaney
From the AlumNest
- Body Parts
dir. Kristy Guevara-Flanagan
prod. Helen Hood Scheer
- Kim’s Video
dirs. & prods. Ashley Sabin, David Redmon
prods. Deborah & Dale Smith, Rebecca Tabasky, Francesco Galavotti
- Victim/Suspect
dir. & prod. Nancy Schwartzman
prods. Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, Alice Henty, Amanda Pike, Rachel de Leon
CPH: FORUM

At CPH:FORUM, top producers and highly acknowledged directors from all over the world take the stage to pitch 30 carefully selected projects of documentary features and series in the intersection of nonfiction, fiction, visual art, journalism, and science. Eight Nest-supported filmmakers will present their new projects: Brett Story, Iryna Tsilyk, Jessica Kingdon, Meena Nanji and Zippy Kimundu, Mila Turajlić, Oksana Karpovych, and Vaishali Sinha.
CPH: CONFERENCE
A 5-day industry event offering a range of inspiring talks with visionary thinkers, investigating current themes in documentary filmmaking, and creating an interactive and hands-on platform for exchange with other professionals of our documentary community. Our Nest is well represented across the different activities from Monday, March 20 to Friday, March 24.

A DIALOGUE ON CRAFT WITH MAITE ALBERDI AND ANNA HINTS
Monday, March 20
With 2020 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Maite Alberdi
THE TRUST POLICY
Tuesday, March 21
With Chicken & Egg Pictures CEO Jenni Wolfson, Shanida Scotland (Doc Society), Jess Kwan (Concordia Fellowship), and Sean Flynn (Points North Institute).
A DIALOGUE ON CRAFT WITH ALISON O’DANIEL, AXEL DANIELSON & MAXIMILIEN VAN AERTRYCK
Tuesday, March 21
With 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab recipient Alison O’Daniel
A DIALOGUE ON CRAFT WITH JIALING ZHANG, PUK DAMSGÅRD AND SØREN KLOVBORG
Wednesday, March 22
With 2021 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Jialing Zhang
A DISCUSSION WITH JESSICA KINGDON
Thursday, March 23
With 2019 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee Jessica Kingdon
CITIZEN FILMMAKERS
Friday, March 24
With 2021 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Elwira Niewira, 2018 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Nanfu Wang, 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee Volia Chajkouskaya, and 2023 Critical Issues Fund recipient Alisa Kovalenko
SONGS OF EARTH – LISTENING TO CARE
Friday, March 24
With 2022 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Margreth Olin, Diego Galafassi, Cara Mertes, Bo Øksnebjerg, and Danielle Turkov Wilson
RISE OF INSTITUTIONS
Friday, March 24
With our Senior Creative Consultant Yvonne Welbon, 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee Volia Chajkouskaya, and Anne Marie Borsboom.
Meet our Team at CPH:DOX

Our CEO Jenni Wolfson is participating in the CPH: CONFERENCE, and our Associate Director of Program Sabine Fayoux Cantillo will be taking 1:1 meetings with filmmakers.
We are sending huge congratulations to our International Program Consultant Tereza Simikova, CPH:DOX Head of Industry & Training, and to her team, for putting together this fantastic edition.