31 Oscar-eligible films from our community!

Congratulations to the 14 Chicken & Egg-supported films and 17 from our Alumni community on the list of documentary features and shorts eligible for the 96th Academy Awards®! We encourage you to catch these films in theaters and on streaming platforms. The Oscars® Shortlist will be announced on Thursday, December 21, so stay tuned.

Against the Tide

dir. Sarvnik Kaur 

prod. Koval Bhatia, Quentin Laurent

Still of Against the Tide. Two men go through the content of their fishing net, there are a fish and plastic trash.
Still from Against the Tide

Against the Tide is a 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee.

Find about upcoming screenings here.

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Bad Press

dirs. Rebecca Landsberry-Baker, Joe Peeler

prods. Conrad Beilharz, Garrett F. Baker, Tyler Graim

Indigenous journalist Angel Ellis sits in front of Mvskoke Media wearing a bandana , sunglasses and a "I Voted" sticker on her blue T-shirt. She's smoking a cigarette while scrolling through her cell phone on a warm summer evening.
Still from Bad Press

Bad Press is a participant of Project: Hatched 2023.

Find out about upcoming screenings here.

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Eat Bitter

dirs. Ningyi Sun, Pascale Appora-Gnekindy

prod. Mathieu Faure

The upper half is characters Luan and Thomas' faces and Thomas prays to the left of their faces; and the lower half is the back of Thomas' head and him getting ready to dive in the yellowish river.
Stills from Eat Bitter

Eat Bitter is a 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab finalist.

Find out about upcoming screenings here.

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El eco / The Echo

dir. & prod. Tatiana Huezo

prod. Dalia Reyes

Still from El Eco. Two young kids sit on a large rock jutting out from the side of a grassy hill. They are facing away from the camera. In front of them is a grassy valley with sheep grazing in it.
Still from El Eco/The Echo

El eco / The Echo was supported through Tatiana Huezo’s 2021 Chicken & Egg Award.  

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Joonam

dir. Sierra Urich

prod. Keith Wilson

A mother and daughter stand under opposite ends of a grape arbor together, harvesting grape leaves. A grandmother is seen sitting in the background with a walker in front of her. Each woman appears to be separately lost in thought.
Still from Joonam

Joonam is a 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee.

Find out about upcoming screenings here.

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MnM

dir. Twiggy Pucci Garçon

prods. Colleen Cassingham, Jess Devaney

Still from MnM. Close up to the face of a person while a hand is using a brush to paint their eyelids.
Still from MnM

MnM was supported in partnership with Multitude Films as a part of the QUEER FUTURES (2022) series and is eligible for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film.

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PAY OR DIE

dirs. & prods. Rachael Dyer, Scott Alexander Ruderman

prod. Yael Melamede

PAY OR DIE
Still from PAY OR DIE

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

Now streaming on Paramount +

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Plan C

dir. & prod. Tracy Droz Tragos

PLAN C strategy meeting 2021. A group of people gathers around a table with plates and drinks while a person writes on a whiteboard.
Still from Plan C

Plan C is a 2022 Critical Issues Fund grantee.

Find out about upcoming screenings here or watch on demand here.

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Razing Liberty Square

dir. Katja Esson

prods. Ann Bennett, Corinna Sager, Ronald Baez

A young person is reclined in a thin column. There is a construction behind them.
Still from Razing Liberty Square

Razing Liberty Square is a 2022 Critical Issues Fund grantee.

The film will open theatrically in Miami on January 26 and the Broadcast Premiere will be on Independent Lens on January 29.

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Reality Winner

dir. & prod. Sonia Kennebeck

prod. Ines Hofmann Kanna

Still from United States vs. Reality Winner. A young woman, Reality Winner, is standing in a field in front of a house. She has a serious expression. The light is low and the background is out of focus.
Still from Reality Winner

Reality Winner was supported through Sonia Kennebeck’s 2023 Chicken & Egg Award.

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Songs of Earth

dir. & prod. Margreth Olin

prod. Lena Faye-Lund Sandvik

Still from Songs of Earth

Songs of Earth was supported through Margreth Olin’s 2022 Chicken & Egg Award.

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The Eternal Memory

dir. & prod. Maite Alberdi

prod. Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín, Rocío Jadue

Still from the Eternal Memory
Still from The Eternal Memory

The Eternal Memory was supported through Maite Alberdi’s 2020 Chicken & Egg Award.

Now streaming on Paramount +.

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Total Trust

dir. Jialing Zhang

prod. Knut Jäger

Main characters in The Total Trust standing in front of the ocean.
Still from Total Trust

Total Trust was supported through Jialing Zhang’s 2021 Chicken & Egg Award.

Check out their list of upcoming New York screenings here

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Twice Colonized

dir. Lin Alluna

prods.  Emile Hertling Péronard, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, Stacey Aglok, Bob Moore

The main character of Twice Colonized, Aaju Peter, in a close-up shot holding her hands in front of her face so her traditional tattoos on her hands and her chin are visible.
Still from Twice Colonized

Twice Colonized is a participant of Project: Hatched 2023.

Find out about upcoming screenings here.


Alumni filmmakers eligible for Best Documentary Feature

  • Anonymous Sister
    dir. & prod. Jamie Boyle
    prods. Marilyn Ness, Elizabeth Westrate
  • The Lady Bird Diaries 
    dir. & prod. Dawn Porter
    prod. Kim Reynolds
  • Victim/Suspect
    dir. & prod. Nancy Schwartzman
    prods. Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, Alice Henty, Rachel de Leon, Amanda Pike
  • Who I Am Not
    dir. Tunde Skovran
    prods. Andrei Zinca, Danielle Turkov, Paul Cadieux, Patrick Hamm, Amy Shepherd, Edith Weil, Daniel Szandtner, Janos Kovacs 
  • You Were My First Boyfriend
    dirs. Cecilia Aldarondo, Sarah Enid Hagey
    prod. Ines Hofmann Kanna (prod. of Reality Winner)

Alumni filmmakers eligible for Best Documentary Short Film

  • Bone Black: Midwives vs the South 
    dir. Rebecca Richman Cohen
    prod. Yoruba Richen
  • Rest Stop
    dir. Crystal Kayiza
    prods. Brit Fryer, Jalena Keane-Lee
  • The Recall
    dir. Imani Dennison (POV Shorts Co-Production Fund Grantee)
    prod. Flor Tejada
  • The Feeling of Being Close to You
    dir. & prod. Ash Goh Hua

Post written by Communications Intern Tess Caldwell

Academy Invitations to AlumNest Filmmakers

Chicken & Egg Pictures is extremely proud to share some big news: Five AlumNest filmmakers have been invited to become members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The new members include Project: Hatched 2020 grantee Erika Cohn (Belly of the Beast), 2022 Critical Issues Fund grantee Katja Esson (Razing Liberty Square), 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee Violet Du Feng (Hidden Letters), 2023 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Sonia Kennebeck, and Nest-supported filmmaker Nancy Schwartzman (Roll Red Roll, One Shot One Kill). 

We also want to congratulate Lindsey Dryden (producer of Nest-supported Unrest) and Melanie Miller (producer of Project: Hatched 2021 grantee On The Divide) for their invitations!   

Of the 2023 Class, 40% identify as women, 34% belong to underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 52% are from 50 countries and territories outside the United States.

Congratulations to the Class of 2023!

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

Still of Against the Tide. Two men go through the content of their fishing net, there are a fish and plastic trash.
Still from Against the Tide

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

Get your tickets here.

graphic of a film reel

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

Silvia and Beba smile as they point their middle finger at the fire-work lit sky. There is a red light on Beba's middle finger, and a green light on Silvia's.
Still from Hummingbirds

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

Get your tickets here.

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Is there Anybody Out There?

dir. Ella Glendining

prod. Janine Marmot

Still from Is There Anybody Out There? Ella Glendining is on a a medical bend with her belly uncovered
Still from Is There Anybody Out There?

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.

graphic of a film reel

Milisuthando

dir. Milisuthando Bongela

prod. Marion Isaacs  

Still from Milisuthando. Aerial shot of a person braiding their hair.
Still from Milisuthando

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

Get your tickets here.

graphic of a film reel

Razing Liberty Square

dir. Katja Esson

prod. Ann Bennett, Corinna Sager, Ronald Baez

A young person is reclined in a thin column. There is a construction behind them.
Still from Razing Liberty Square

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

Get your tickets here.

graphic of a film reel

Praying for Armageddon

dir. Tonje Hessen Schei

co-dir. Michael Rowley

prods. Torstein Parelius, Ingrid G. Aune Falch, Christian Aune Falch

Still from Praying for Armageddon
Still from Praying for Armageddon

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.

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Total Trust

dir. Jialing Zhang

prod. Knut Jäger

Main characters in The Total Trust standing in front of the ocean.
Still from Total Trust

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.

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Q

dir. & prod. Jude Chehab

Still from Q
Still from Q

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

Dreamcatcher Kim LonginottoBAFTA-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

Mariana Sanson headshot Will Tamura looks directly at the camera and smiles. Portrait in black and white.

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 (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

Still from Is There Anybody Out There? Ella Glendining is on a a medical bend with her belly uncovered
Still from Is There Anybody Out There?

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

Get your tickets here.

graphic of a film reel

It’s Only Life After All

dir. & prod. Alexandria Bombach

prods. Kathlyn Horan, Jess Devaney, Anya Rous

Still from It’s Only Life After All

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

Still from Intercepted. A dark road is lit by a vehicle's headlights. A rural landscape can be seen; some vegetation on the left and right of the road; there are hills in the background and the sky's horizon is in the distance.
Still from Intercepted

Intercepted is a 2022 Critical Issues Fund grantee.


From the AlumNest


Meet our Team at Hot Docs

Kiyoko McCrae looks directly at the camera. Portrait in black and white.

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

Announcing our 2022 Critical Issues Fund Grantees!

Graphic with eight stills from films of the Critical Issues Fund

We are proud to present the twelve grantees selected for the 2022 Critical Issues Fund. The Critical Issues Fund supports filmmakers, with more than $250,000 in funding, whose work is focused on important and topical issues that are currently having a decided and material impact on communities domestically and internationally. The 2022 grant awardees have projects exploring some of the most pressing issues of the moment: the war in Ukraine, gun violence, reproductive justice, and climate emergencies

“Through the Critical Issues Fund, we have identified films that have the potential to drive social change by sharing these stories with the world now—not years down the line. Chicken & Egg Pictures cares deeply about these issues and believes that a more equitable and just world can be shaped by the power of documentary films. Our hope is that through highlighting these stories told by talented women filmmakers, others will be motivated to action to support the films and the issues they highlight,” said CEO of Chicken & Egg Pictures, Jenni Wolfson. “We live in a world that’s not doing enough to prevent war, gun violence, climate change, or advance reproductive justice. We firmly believe these films can help in the fight for these issues.” 

We are thrilled to give these filmmakers a warm welcome to the Nest. The 2022 Critical Issues Fund grantees are: 

After Roe (Working title)
Directors: Amber Fares, Geeta Gandbhir (US/CANADA)
After Roe explores the ongoing nationwide battle playing out after the Supreme Court left the fate of tens of millions of women in the hands of politicians across the country.

Breaking the News
Directors: Heather Courtney, Chelsea Hernandez, Princess Hairston (US)
Producer: Diane Quon
Breaking the News follows a group of women and non-binary journalists, bucking the white male status quo, to launch The 19th*—a digital news startup that asks who has been omitted from mainstream coverage and how they can be included.

Displaced 
Director: Olha Zhurba (UKRAINE)
Producer: Darya Bassel 
Displaced captures a collective portrait of Ukrainians fleeing the grindstones of war, and those who stayed and are forced to adapt to life under constant shelling.

Frontline 
Director: Alisa Kovalenko (UKRAINE)
Producer: Katarzyna Kuczyńska 
Co-producers: Monica Hellström, Valeryi Kalmykov
Frontline is a diary from the frontline of the Russian invasion of Ukraine by a director and mother turned soldier.

Hollywood Does Abortion (Working title)
Directors & Producers: Barbara Attie, Mike Attie, Janet Goldwater (US)
Producer: Eliza Licht 
Hollywood Does Abortion explores descriptions of abortion in film and television, revealing how Hollywood both reflects and distorts this safe but controversial medical procedure.

Intercepted 
Director: Oksana Karpovych (UKRAINE/CANADA)
Producer: Les Films Cosmos
Intercepted is a journey through Ukraine that reveals the banality of evil behind the Russian invasion.

Plan C
Director & Producer: Tracy Droz Tragos (US)
Plan C follows the journey of a grassroots network, with a controversial visionary at the helm, as they fight to expand access to abortion pills across the United States, and keep hope alive during a global pandemic and the fall of Roe v. Wade.

Razing Liberty Square 
Director: Katja Esson (GERMANY/US)
Razing Liberty Square features Miami as ground zero for sea level rise. When residents of the Liberty Square public-housing community learn about a $300-million revitalization project in 2015, they soon discover that this sudden interest comes from the fact that their neighborhood is located on the highest and driest ground in the city. Now they must prepare to fight a new form of racial injustice: climate gentrification.

Red Zone
Director: Iryna Tsilyk (UKRAINE)
Producer: Darya Bassel 
Red Zone shares Tsilyk’s very intimate and female perspective on the question—what does it mean to be a woman in the war times?

Sol in the Garden 
Directors: Emily Cohen Ibañez, Débora Souza Silva (US/COLOMBIA/BRAZIL)
Sol in the Garden features Sol—who is released from prison after 16 years of incarceration—and follows her journey as she discovers that coming into her own freedom can be as challenging as living behind bars. Through a community gardening collective of formerly incarcerated horticulturalists in East Oakland, Sol strives to recover her humanity and sense of self.

Untitled Baby Doe Film 
Director: Jessica Earnshaw (CANADA)
Producer: Holly Meehl Chapman
Untitled Baby Doe Film intimately explores the phenomena of pregnancy denial through the stories of two women, a generation apart, given life sentences for the deaths of their newborns.

Untitled Uvalde Documentary 
Director & Producer: Anayansi Prado (PANAMA/US)

Note: The parentheses next to the directors’ names indicate the directors’ country or countries of origin.