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

Reflection of Maria Ressa talking on the phone on a rearview mirror.
Still from A Thousand Cuts via Variety

Nominated for: 

  • Outstanding Social Issue Documentary
  • Best Documentary

Supported through Ramona’s 2018 Chicken & Egg Award


Coded Bias

dir. & prod. Shalini Kantayya

Still from Coded Bias

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

Still from Picture a Scientist

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

Still from Pray Away

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

Simple As Water still
Still from Simple As Water  

Nominated for:

  • Outstanding Direction: Documentary 

Simple As Water was a 2018 Nest-supported project


Storm Lake

dirs. Beth Levison & Jerry Risius

prod. Beth Levison

Still from Storm Lake

Nominated for:

  • Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary

Storm Lake was a Project: Hatched 2021 grantee


Takeover

dir. Emma Francis-Snyder

prod. Tony Gerber

A photography of a demonstration, there are men an women, some of them wear berets, some raise their fists up, some hold signs, many are screaming something
Still from Takeover

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

A digitally constructed environment in which a cabin is surrounded by enlightened particles. A woman in a bigger scale than the house is in the back.
VR still from The Changing Same: An American Pilgrimage via Creative Capital

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.

Nest-supported Films on the SIMA 2022 Finalists’ List

Congratulations to the two Nest-supported films and four AlumNest projects for being finalists for  the 10th Annual Social Impact Media Awards (SIMA 2022). The SIMA Awards recognize storytelling that ignites social change and portrays the most pressing social issues. Chicken & Egg Pictures was the proud recipient of the SIMA Vanguard Award in 2020 and we’re thrilled to see so many supported films recognized this year.

Winners will be announced on Thursday, February 10, in the meantime take a look at the 2022 finalists from our community and check the full list with this link.

Writing With Fire

dirs. & prods. Rintu Thomas & Sushmit Ghosh

Writing With Fire, directed by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh 2018 Accelerator Lab

Documentary Feature finalist

Pray Away

dir. & prod. Kristine Stolakis

prods. Jessica Devaney and Anya Rous

Still from Pray Away

Documentary Feature finalist


From the AlumNest

Documentary Feature

A Thousand Cuts 
dir. & prod. Ramona S. Diaz
prod. Leah Marino

Documentary Shorts 

Lost World
dir. Kalyanee Mam
prods. Emmanuel Vaughn-Lee, Adam Loften, Kalyanee Mam  

Witness – Reckoning With Laughter
dirs. Amber Fares
prods. Rhana Nator, Samantha Adler de Oliveira, Rachel Leah Jones, Aine Pennello, Maria Costea, Reem Haddad, Fiona Lawson-Baker

Impact Videos

Video Visit
dir. & prod. Malika Zouhali-Worrall

Ascension Receives Six Critics Choice Nominations

The Critics Choice Association has announced the nominees for the Sixth Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards. The winners will be revealed at a gala on Sunday, November 14, in Brooklyn, New York. 

At Chicken & Egg Pictures, we are egg-cited to learn that three (Egg)celerator Lab grantees were nominated: Pray Away, Enemies of the State, and Ascension. Ascension is one of the two documentaries leading the Awards with six nominations each. 

Ascension

dir. & prod. Jessica Kingdon

prods. Kira Simon-Kennedy and Nathan Truesdell

Still from Ascension
Still from Ascension

Nominated for Best Documentary Feature, Best Director, Best First Documentary Feature, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Score


Pray Away

dir. & prod. Kristine Stolakis

prod. Jessica Devaney and Anya Rous

Still from Pray Away
Still from Pray Away

Nominated for Best First Documentary Feature


Enemies of the State

dir. Sonnia Kennebeck

prod. Ines Hofmann Kanna

Enemies of the State Sonia Kennebeck 2018 Accelerator Lab
Still from Enemies of the State

Nominated for Best Political Documentary


Special Congratulations

Listening to Kenny G, directed by 2017 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Penny Lane, and produced by Gabriel Sedgwick, received a nomination for Best Music Documentary.

A special congratulations to our Board member Susan Margolin, producer of A Crime on the Bayou (dir. & prod. Nancy Buirski, prods. Claire L. Chandler & Susan Margolin). The film was nominated for Best Documentary Feature and Best Historical or Biographical Documentary.

Post by Communications Intern Mariana Sanson. 

We’re Back to the Cinemas at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival!

The Tribeca Film Festival is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a return to the cinemas in 2021. The festival runs from Wednesday, June 9 to Sunday, June 20 with programming that can be accessed in person and virtually.

At Chicken & Egg Pictures, we are looking forward to the shared experience of film, as New Yorkers head back to the movies again. Viewers within the US can access Tribeca’s virtual programming through $15 online stream tickets.

We are also thrilled to let you know that films slated to premiere at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival, but postponed due to COVID-19, will also screen at this year’s edition. Granted films featured in the festival include four (Egg)celerator Lab grantees from 2018 and 2019, one Project: Hatched grantee, one Chicken & Egg Award recipient film, three films from the AlumNest, and one VR project. Learn more about the films below, and get your tickets here

Ascension, dir. 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.

World Premiere │ Tribeca Documentary Competition │ 2019 (Egg)celerator Lab

Enemies of the State, dir. Sonia Kennebeck


Enemies of the State Sonia Kennebeck 2018 Accelerator Lab

An American family becomes entangled in a bizarre web of secrets and lies when their hacker son is targeted by the U.S. government, making them all Enemies of the State.

US Premiere │ 2018 (Egg)celerator Lab

Pray Away, dir. Kristine Stolakis


Former leaders of the “pray away the gay” movement contend with the aftermath unleashed by their actions, while a survivor seeks healing and acceptance from more than a decade of trauma.

World Premiere │ 2019 (Egg)celerator Lab

Through the Night, dir. Loira Limbal


To make ends meet, Americans are working longer hours across multiple jobs. This modern reality of nonstop work has resulted in an unexpected phenomenon: the flourishing of 24-hour daycare centers. Through the Night is a verité documentary that explores the personal cost of our modern economy through the stories of two working mothers and a child care provider, whose lives intersect at a 24-hour daycare center in New Rochelle, NY.

New York Premiere │ 2018 (Egg)celerator Lab

Landfall, dir. Cecilia Aldarondo


Through shard-like glimpses of everyday life in post-Hurricane María Puerto Rico, Landfall examines a ruined world at the brink of transformation, spinning a cautionary tale for our times.

Project: Hatched 2020

Stateless, dir. Michèle Stephenson


Through the grassroots campaign of electoral hopeful Rosa Iris, director Michèle Stephenson’s new documentary reveals the depths of racial hatred and institutionalized oppression that divide Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

2016 Chicken & Egg Award

Simple as Water, dir. Megan Mylan


A look at war and displacement through the lens of parenthood from Megan Mylan, Academy-Award winning director of Lost Boys of Sudan and Smile Pinki. This feature documentary unfolds as a sequence of cinematic short stories revolving around Syrian families living in Turkey, Greece, the US, Germany, and Syria. Each chapter is an intimate portrait of parents—often mothers alone—as they work to rebuild their children’s lost sense of security and possibility. It is a story that is both urgent and timeless.

World Premiere │ 2018 Grant


VR Experience

The Changing Same: Episode 1, dirs. Michèle Stephenson, Joe Brewster & Yasmin Elayat


AlumNest Films

The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Show, dir. Yoruba Richen (2016 Chicken & Egg Award recipient)
Selected for the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival

Women In Blue, dir. Deirdre Fishel (AlumNest for Care)
Selected for the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival

Untitled Dave Chappelle Documentary, dirs. Julia Reichert (2016 Chicken & Egg Award recipient) and Steve Bognar
Egg-citing news! This world premiere will be Tribeca’s closing night film.

See you at the cinema! Post by 2021 Summer Communications Intern Mariana Sanson. 

A Full Nest at Tribeca Film Festival

The 2020 Tribeca line-up for feature films is out! And there’s plenty to see from the Nest. Making their world premieres at Tribeca Film Festival this year are three films (Enemies of the State, Pray Away, and Through the Night) from our (Egg)celerator Lab program in 2018 and 2019, one film supported through our Chicken & Egg Award (Stateless), and one film supported through a grant in 2018 (Simple As Water).

AlumNest filmmakers screening at Tribeca include directors such as Chicken & Egg Award recipients Dawn Porter (premiering John Lewis: Good Trouble) and Yoruba Richen (premiering The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Show).

Here is your Nest guide to the upcoming Tribeca Film Festival, from Wednesday, April 15 to Sunday, April 26: 

Nest-supported films

Enemies of the State, directed by Sonia Kennebeck
2018 (Egg)celerator Lab

An average American family becomes entangled in a bizarre web of espionage and corporate secrets when their hacker son is targeted by the US government.

Pray Away, directed by Kristine Stolakis
2019 (Egg)celerator Lab

Former leaders of the “pray away the gay” movement contend with the aftermath unleashed by their actions, while a survivor seeks healing and acceptance from more than a decade of trauma

Simple As Water, directed by Megan Mylan
2018 Grant

Megan Mylan’s closely observed fragments of lives cut between Turkey, Greece, Germany, and the US. Each unfolding scene portrays the elemental bonds holding together Syrian families pulled apart by war, searching for a new life.

Stateless (Apátrida), directed by Michèle Stephenson
2016 Chicken & Egg Award

Through the grassroots campaign of electoral hopeful Rosa Iris, director Michèle Stephenson’s new documentary reveals the depths of racial hatred and institutionalized oppression that divide Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Through the Night, directed by Loira Limbal
2018 (Egg)celerator Lab

Through the Night is a verité documentary that explores the personal cost of our modern economy through the stories of two working mothers and a child care provider, whose lives intersect at a 24-hour daycare center in New Rochelle, NY.

AlumNest films

John Lewis: Good Trouble, directed by Dawn Porter (2017 Chicken & Egg Award recipient)

The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Show, directed by Yoruba Richen

Picture a Scientist, directed by Ian Cheney and Sharon Shattuck (From This Day Forward)

Women in Blue, directed by Deirdre Fishel (Care)

Also premiering at Tribeca is Athlete A, directed by Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk, which is produced by our Co-Founder Julie Parker Benello, along with Serin Marshall and Jen Sey.

Congratulations to these filmmakers on their premieres!

Kristine Stolakis: Dozen Days of Filmmakers — Day 11

Chicken & Egg Pictures is celebrating the holiday season by featuring a dozen Nest-supported women and gender non-conforming filmmakers. For more Dozen Days of Filmmakers, see here.

PRAY AWAY Kristine StolakisKristine Stolakis is a BAFTA nominated documentary director whose films explore American systems of power and the people in them.

Her debut feature Pray Away chronicles the history and continuation of the “pray the gay away” movement and is a co-production of Multitude Films. Her directorial debut The Typist  (Hot Docs 2015) was released by KQED and is a Vimeo Staff Pick. Her documentary  Where We Stand (DOC NYC 2015) was released by The Atlantic and nominated for a BAFTA.

PRAY AWAY Kristine Stolakis
Pray Away, directed by Kristine Stolakis

She also produced ATTLA (Independent Lens), a co-production of ITVS and Vision Maker Media. Her films have received supported from the Catapult Film Fund, Tribeca Film Institute, SFFilm, Hartley Film Foundation, as well as the Chicken & Egg Pictures’ (Egg)celerator Lab for Pray Away.

She holds an MFA in Documentary from Stanford University, where she currently lectures, and a BA in Cultural Anthropology from New York University. She proudly hails from North Carolina and central New York.

Three (Egg)celerator Lab Films Land a Spot at the Sundance Institute Creative Producing Labs

Egg-cellent news from Sundance Institute today, as they announced the Fellows and Advisors for the five-day 2019 Creative Producing Labs, as well as the three-day Creative Producing Summit which immediately follows.

We are proud to announce that three out of the five projects participating in the 2019 Sundance Documentary Film Program of the Labs and Summit are also participants of the Chicken & Egg Pictures (Egg)celerator Lab. Thank you, Sundance Institute, for your unwavering recognition of women nonfiction filmmakers.

“We recognize the importance of a space for meaningful dialogue and discovery between producers and forward-thinking industry. Creating a sustainable future where independent producers can continue to develop bold storytelling and take risks is a key priority for the Lab and Summit.” — Anne Lai, Director, Creative Producing and Artist Support and Kristin Feeley, Director, Labs & Artist Support, Creative Producing at Sundance Institute 

Find the rest of the Fellows on the Sundance Institute blog, and read about the Nest-supported projects participating below.

An Act of Worship Nausheen Dadabhoy Diversity Fellows Initiative 2018 Accelerator Lab 2019

An Act of Worship, directed by Nausheen Dhadabhoy (2019 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee, 2018 Diversity Fellows Iniative grantee [past program])
Produced by 2019 Creative Producing Summit Fellow Sofian Khan

An Act of Worship follows a new generation of young Muslim-American female activists at a time when anti-Muslim sentiments in the United States are sharply on the rise.

PRAY AWAY Kristine Stolakis

Pray Away, directed by Kristine Stolakis (2019 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee)
Produced by 2019 Creative Producing Summit Fellow Anya Rous

Pray Away tells the story of the history and continuation of the “pray the gay away” or ex-gay movement.

Through the Night Loira Limbal 2018 Accelerator Lab

Through the Night, directed by Loira Limbal (2018 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee)
Produced by 2019 Creative Producing Summit Fellow Jameka Autry

To make ends meet, Americans are working longer hours across multiple jobs. This modern reality of non-stop work has resulted in an unexpected phenomenon: the flourishing of 24-hour daycare centers. Through the Night is a verité documentary that explores the personal cost of our modern economy through the stories of Marisol Valencia, Shanona Tate and Delores “Nunu” Hogan – two working mothers and a childcare provider – whose lives intersect at a 24-hour daycare center in New Rochelle, NY.

Announcing our 2019 (Egg)celerator Lab!


Chicken & Egg Pictures is proud to announce the fourth cohort of our (Egg)celerator Lab—previously known as Accelerator Lab—for emerging filmmakers. The (Egg)celerator Lab program is focused on identifying and supporting women and gender non-conforming nonfiction directors working on their first or second feature-length documentary.

This year’s (Egg)celerator Lab cohort is made up of 90% women directors of color; six first-time filmmakers and four second-time filmmakers; includes three directors telling LGBTQ stories; hails from seven different countries, including Colombia, Pakistan, and South Africa; and consists of women who have worked across the documentary landscape—from audio producers to cinematographers.

Loglines of the 2019 (Egg)celerator Lab grantees’ projects are below. Click on the project title to get to know these filmmakers and the projects they will be working on during their program year.

 

Milisuthando (Working Title) Milisuthando Bongela

Milisuthando (Working Title), directed by Milisuthando Bongela (SOUTH AFRICA)

In this coming-of-age story, Milisuthando—a black South African unaware of apartheid until it ended—explores how blacks and whites first lived together after 342 years of racial segregation.

 

Nausheen Dadabhoy An Act of Worship Chicken & Egg Pictures Diversity Fellows Initiative 2018 unnamed-5.jpgAn Act of Worship, directed by Nausheen Dadabhoy (US/PAKISTAN)

An Act of Worship follows a new generation of Muslim-American women activists who have been galvanized into action while anti-Muslim sentiments are on the rise.

 

#Mickey Betzabé García 2019 Accelerator Lab#Mickey, directed by Betzabé García (MEXICO)

Born in Sinaloa, Mickey found in internet a platform where she can explore her transgender identity and deal with her homophobic environment.

 

 

Paths of Fire and Water, directed by Viviana Gómez Echeverry (COLOMBIA)

Camilo is a young black man adopted by an indigenous family, who is now looking for his biological mother to understand who he really is.

 

We Are Inside Farah Kassem 2019 Eggcelerator LabWe Are Inside, directed by Farah Kassem (LEBANON)

Returning to Mustapha’s house in radicalised Tripoli, Farah decides to join her father’s all male poetry club: a living memorial of past times.

 

 

Untitled PRC Project Jessica Kingdon 2019 Accelerator LabUntitled PRC Project, directed by Jessica Kingdon (US)

Untitled PRC Project is a kaleidoscopic journey through China’s industrial supply chain, revealing paradoxes born from prosperity of the world’s emergent superpower.

 

MAMA BEARS DARESHA KYI 2019 Eggcelerator LabMama Bears, directed by Daresha Kyi (US)

Mama Bears explores the many ways in which the lives of conservative, Christian mothers are utterly transformed when they decide to accept their LGBTQ children.

 

Silent Beauty Jasmin Mara LópezSilent Beauty, directed by Jasmin López (MEXICO/US)

Silent Beauty is an autobiographical exploration of one woman’s family history with child sexual abuse and a culture of silence.

 

 

PRAY AWAY Kristine StolakisPray Away, directed by Kristine Stolakis (US)

Pray Away tells the story of the history and continuation of the “pray the gay away” or ex-gay movement.

 

 

Sara: A Fearless Dream Sara Khaki Mohammad Reza Eyni (Egg)celerator Lab 2019

 

Sara: A Fearless Dream, co-directed by Sara Khaki (pictured above) and Mohammad Reza Eyni (pictured below) (IRAN/US)

 

 

Sara takes the first council seat as the first female in her native male-dominated Iranian village. Sara: A Fearless Dream captures her as she takes a dangerous road to success.

 

 

Our next Open Call for the (Egg)celerator Lab will take place in the spring of 2020. For additional information on the program, including application criteria, please visit our Programs page.

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