Supported Filmmakers are Soaring at the 62nd Annual SFFILM
The San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM), among the longest running film festivals in the US, unveiled the line-up yesterday for its 62nd annual showcase. Congratulations to the Nest-supported filmmakers who will be soaring to the Bay Area for the festival, which takes place from Wednesday, April 10 to Tuesday, April 23:
American Factory, directed by Julia Reichert (2016 Chicken & Egg Award recipient) and Steve Bognar
Dizzying, hilarious and devastating, this tale of two factories makes for a landmark story of workplace anxiety. Directors Reichert and Bognar have spent a decade documenting the plight of Ohio’s factory workers, and their dedication pays off when they are given astonishing access to Fuyao, a Chinese auto glass manufacturer, as it revives a shuttered General Motors plant in Dayton.*
One Child Nation, directed by Nanfu Wang (also a 2018 Chicken & Egg Award recipient) and Jialing Zhang (2017 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee)
How much control does a person have over their own life? In China, state control begins before a child is even born.
Always In Season, directed by Jacqueline Olive (2018 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee)
When 17-year-old Lennon Lacy is found hanging from a swing set in rural North Carolina in 2014, his mother’s search for justice and reconciliation begins while the trauma of more than a century of lynching African Americans bleeds into the present.
- Thursday, April 18 at 6:00 pm at SFMOMA
- Friday, April 19 at 6:00 pm at Grand Lake Theatre
- Saturday, April 20 at 3:30 pm at Creativity Theater
Hail Satan?, directed by Penny Lane (2017 Chicken & Egg Award recipient)
A look at the intersection of religion and activism, tracing the rise of The Satanic Temple: only six years old and already one of the most controversial religious movements in American history. The Temple is calling for a Satanic revolution to save the nation’s soul. But are they for real?**
Nest-supported Filmmakers at True/False 2019
The True/False Film Festival offers a four-day weekend of creative placemaking in which filmmakers, artists, musicians and others remake the mid-sized college town of Columbia, Missouri.
And we have some egg-cellent news! Four documentaries by Nest-supported filmmakers will be screening at the festival, happening from Thursday, February 28 to Sunday, March 3.
American Factory, directed by Julia Reichert (2016 Chicken & Egg Award recipient) and Steve Bognar
Dizzying, hilarious and devastating, this tale of two factories makes for a landmark story of workplace anxiety. Directors Reichert and Bognar have spent a decade documenting the plight of Ohio’s factory workers, and their dedication pays off when they are given astonishing access to Fuyao, a Chinese auto glass manufacturer, as it revives a shuttered General Motors plant in Dayton.
- Friday, Mar. 1 / 2:30PM / Jesse Auditorium
- Friday, Mar. 1 / 9:15PM / The Globe
- Saturday, Mar. 2 / 6:30PM / Missouri Theatre
- Sunday, Mar. 3 / 6:00PM / The Picturehouse
One Child Nation, (2017 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee), directed by Nanfu Wang (also a 2018 Chicken & Egg Award recipient) and Jialing Zhang
How much control does a person have over their own life? In China, state control begins before a child is even born.
- Friday, Mar. 1 / 4:30PM / Forrest Theater
- Saturday, Mar. 2 / 3:15PM / The Picturehouse
- Saturday, Mar. 2 / 7:00PM / Jesse Auditorium
- Sunday, Mar. 3 / 9:30AM / Missouri Theatre
The Changing Same, directed by Impact & Innovation Initiative grantees Michèle Stephenson (also a 2016 Chicken & Egg Award recipient) and Joe Brewster
In the Florida Panhandle lies the provincial town of Marianna, Florida, where one native resident runs a particular marathon in hopes of lifting the veil of racial terror caused by the town’s buried history.
Chicken & Egg Pictures is supporting the immersive, room-scale virtual reality experience based on their short film. In Changing Same: The Untitled Racial Justice Project, the participant travels through time and space to witness the connected historical experiences of racial terror in America.
Screens before The Commons:
- Thursday, Feb. 28 / 7:30PM / Showtime Theater
- Friday, Mar. 1 / 1:45PM / Forrest Theater
- Sunday, Mar. 3 / 12:00PM / Showtime Theater
- Sunday, Mar. 3 / 4:00PM / Jesse Auditorium
Knock Down the House, directed by Rachel Lears (former Nest grantee for The Hand That Feeds)
What’s more important: charismatic political candidates or the behind-the-scenes machine that works to elect them? Knock Down the House gives us both, breathlessly following a new breed of politician alongside a tireless collective of activists enraged by the state of American governance.
- Thursday, Feb. 28 / 7:00PM / Missouri Theatre
- Friday, Mar. 1 / 1:30PM / Showtime Theater
- Friday, Mar. 1 / 10:00PM / Jesse Auditorium
- Saturday, Mar. 2 / 9:30AM / Showtime Theater
And if you’re not in Columbia, Missouri this weekend, we have some egg-cellent news regarding these women directed documentaries. Netflix has acquired American Factory and Knock Down the House, and Amazon acquired One Child Nation; the three films will be available to stream soon.
2019 Sundance Festival Winners
A huge congratulations to Chicken & Egg Pictures-supported films and filmmakers who won big at Sundance this year:
One Child Nation
Dirs. Nanfu Wang & Jialing Zhang
Grand Jury Prize – US Documentary Competition
Always in Season
Dir. Jacqueline Olive
Special Jury Award for Moral Urgency – US Documentary Competition
American Factory
Dir. Julia Reichert & Steven Bognar
Directing – US Documentary Competition
It was a big weekend for these incredible filmmakers in more ways than one, with Amazon acquiring One Child Nation and Netflix acquiring American Factory. And a special congratulations to former Nest grantees Rachel Lears (dir. of Knock Down the House – US Documentary Competition Audience Award), Alma Har’el (dir. of Honey Boy – US Dramatic CompetitionSpecial Jury Award for Vision and Craft); and Laura Nix (executive producer of Sea of Shadows – World Cinema Documentary Audience Award).
We couldn’t be prouder of our Nest friends. Learn more about American Factory, Always in Season, and One Child Nation—and the amazing women that made them—through these reads:
‘One Child Nation’: How Nanfu Wang Defied China to Expose Its Dark Side – Indiewire
Sundance 2019 Women Directors: Meet Nanfu Wang – “One Child Nation”– Women and Hollywood
Sundance 2019 Women Directors: Meet Jacqueline Olive – “Always in Season”– Women and Hollywood
Sundance 2019: Always in Season an exceptional documentary on communities of memory, history of lynchings – The Utah Review
‘American Factory’: Sundance Review – Screen Daily
Sundance: Netflix Nabs ‘American Factory’ Doc for $3 Million – The Hollywood Reporter