Six Supported Films at Hot Docs

The 31st edition of Hot Docs will take place across Toronto this year from Thursday, April 25 to Sunday, May 5. We are thrilled to announce that 2020 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Nishtha Jain’s film, Farming the Revolution, is having its world premiere along with 5 other supported films and 5 films from supported filmmakers are on the lineup this year! 

Hot Docs is North America’s largest documentary festival, conference, and market, and embodies a deep commitment to gender parity, with 54% female directors in this year’s official selection, according to their press release. Two of our staff members will be in attendance so be sure to stay in touch via our social media channels for some exclusive content at the festival!

Farming the Revolution

dir. & prod. Nishtha Jain

prod. Valérie Montmartin

Still from Farming the Revolution
Still from Farming the Revolution

Farming the Revolution was supported through Nishtha Jain’s 2020 Chicken & Egg Award and is having its World Premiere in the International Competition

graphic of a film reel

7 Beats Per Minute

dir. Yuqi Kang

prod. Ina Fichman, Anita Lee

Long shot of a diver clenching her knees under water
Still from 7 Beats Per Minute

7 Beats Per Minute was a 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee having its Canadian Premiere in the Canadian Spectrum Competition.

graphic of a film reel

A Photographic Memory

dir. & prod. Rachel Elizabeth Seed

prods. Sigrid Dyekjær, Beth Levison, Matt Perniciaro, Michael Sherman, Danielle Varga

Still from A Photographic Memory

A Photographic Memory was a 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee having its International Premiere in the Persister section.

graphic of a film reel

Intercepted

dir. Oksana Karpovych 

prods. Giacomo Nudi, Rocío Barba Fuentes, Pauline Tran Van Lieu, Lucie Rego, Darya Bassel

Still from Intercepted. A lake is shown from the shoreline. Various people in bathing suits are shown wading in the far left and right of the frame. Two women and their grandson are in the middle, with their backs to the camera. In the far background, across the lake, recently bombed buildings are visible.
Still from Intercepted

Intercepted is a 2022 Critical Issues Fund grantee having its Canadian Premiere in the Festival Favorites section.

graphic of a film reel

Look Into My Eyes

dir. & prod. Lana Wilson

prod. Kyle Martin

Still from Look Into My Eyes
Still from Look Into My Eyes

Look Into My Eyes was supported through Lana Wilson’s 2019 Chicken & Egg Award and is having its Canadian Premiere in the Special Presentations section.

graphic of a film reel

Wilfred Buck

dir. & prod. Lisa Jackson

prod. Alicia Smith, Lauren Grant

Still from Wilfred Buck. A person sits on a chair.
Still from Wilfred Buck

Wilfred Buck was supported through Lisa Jackson’s 2023 Chicken & Egg Award and is having its North American Premiere in the Canadian Spectrum Competition.


Spotlight on Brett Story

This is a headshot of Brett Story, a white woman with freckles and long brown hair and bangs. She is sitting at a table against a white wall, wearing a black turtleneck and jeans.

2022 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Brett Story will be engaging in an illuminating conversation with author and organizer Astra Taylor. Learn more about Astra Taylor in Conversation with Brett Story here.


From the AlumNest

  • Xixi – World Premiere
    dir. & prod. Fan Wu
    prods. Sona Jo, Venice De Castro Atienza, Yoonsoo Her

Meet Our Team at Hot Docs

Black and white stills of Elaisha Stokes and Will Tamura

We are exhilarated that our Senior Program Manager Elaisha Stokes and Program Assistant Will Tamura will be in attendance at the festival. They will be attending Chicken & Egg Pictures-supported screenings and industry events. Make sure to say hi!


Four Supported Films at Full Frame Documentary Festival

We were proud to see Light of the Setting Sun have its world premiere at Full Frame Documentary Festival. There were also three supported films and three alumni filmmakers in this years’ lineup. This edition marked the festival’s return to in-person activities and took place in Durham, North Carolina from April 3 to 6.

We would like to highlight the world premiere of Julia’s Stepping Stones, directed by our beloved Julia Reichert and her partner and longtime co-director Steven Bognar during the final months of Julia’s life. 

Light of the Setting Sun

dir. & prod. Vicky Du

prod. Danielle Varga

A young Taiwanese couple stands on a stage in front of a red curtain with their parents on either side of them. It's their wedding day.
Still from Light of the Setting Sun

Light of the Setting Sun was a 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab Finalist and had its World Premiere.

graphic of a film reel

A Photographic Memory

dir. & prod. Rachel Elizabeth Seed

prods. Sigrid Dyekjær, Beth Levison, Matt Perniciaro, Michael Sherman, Danielle Varga

Still from A Photographic Memory

A Photographic Memory was a 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee. 

graphic of a film reel

Look Into My Eyes

dir. & prod. Lana Wilson

prod. Kyle Martin

Still from Look Into My Eyes
Still from Look Into My Eyes

Look Into My Eyes was supported through Lana Wilson’s 2019 Chicken & Egg Award.

graphic of a film reel

Union

dir. & prods. Brett Story, Stephen Maing

prod. Samantha Curley, Mars Verrone, Martin Dicicco

Still from Union. A group of people wearing red walk in front of the camera. It is night time. Some of them wear facemasks.

Still from Union

Union was supported through Brett Story’s 2023 Chicken & Egg Award.


From the AlumNest


Supported Filmmakers at CPH:DOX 2024!

The 21st edition of CPH:DOX took place from Wednesday, March 13 to Sunday, March 24 in Copenhagen, Denmark. We are proud to see that 4 supported films and 13 supported filmmakers were part of the lineup and that many of our supported filmmakers also participated in the CPH:CONFERENCE and CPH: FORUM. Some of our team was also there to participate in person to support our filmmakers. See below for more details.

Stills from Wilfred Buck and Intercepted (Credit: Christopher Nunn)
  • 2023 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Lisa Jackson’s Wilfred Buck | World Premiere | Dox:Award & BIPOC sections | dir. & prod. Lisa Jackson | prod. Alicia Smith, Lauren Grant
  • 2022 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Brett Story’s Union | International Premiere | F:act Award & Nine to Five sections | dirs. Brett Story, Stephen Maing | prods. Samantha Curley, Mars Verrone
  • 2019 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Lana Wilson’s  Look Into My Eyes | International Premiere | Special Premieres & Stranger Than Fiction sections | dir. Lana Wilson | prod. Kyle Martin
  • 2022 Critical Issues Fund Grantee Intercepted | Urgent Matters & Battlefields sections | dir. Oksana Karpovych | prods. Rocío B. Fuentes, Giacomo Nudi

From the AlumNest


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. Seven films from our community of filmmakers were presented.

2023 Research & Development Grant recipient Cinderella Unbound, UK/RO
dir. & prod Ilinca Calugareanu | prod. Anamaria Antoci

Freedom (WT), DK
dir. Camilla Nielsson | prod. Signe Byrge Sørensen

In Praise of Invasive Species, CA
dir. Mila Aung-Thwin | prod. Bob Moore

Powwow People, US
dir. Sky Hopinka (2018 Art of Nonfiction fellow) | prod. John Cardellino

The Dirty Dream, IN
dirs. & prods. Rintu Thomas, Sushmit Ghosh

The Listeners, UK/US/FR
dir. & prod. Lindsey Dryden | prod. Samantha Steele

Victor, US
dir. Stephani Victor | prods. Diane Becker, Melanie Miller, Matt Radecki


CPH: CONFERENCE

A 4-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. The theme this year was Re:Building Narratives – Accessibility And Equity In Documentary. Our filmmakers were well represented across the different activities from Tuesday, March 19 to Friday, March 22.

SOCIETY: STORIES OF OUR LIFETIMES

Tuesday, March 19

With Lizzie Gillett and Sigrid Dyekjær, producers of supported film Merkel, as keynote speakers for the Viva Independent Feature Docs section. Clara Vuillermoz, producer of 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab Grantee Polaris was a speaker in the A Conflict of Interest or an Interest in Conflict? section. Lindsey Dryden, supported through the QUEER FUTURES program, also participated in the LGBTQIA panel. Curated by 2023 Development grant recipient Derren Lawford

FILM:MAKERS IN DIALOGUE

Wednesday, March 20

With 2022 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Brett Story, Stephen Maing, producer of supported film Union, and Yance Ford, director of supported film Strong Island.

SCIENCE: WAYS OF KNOWING AND SEEING

Thursday, March 21

With 2023 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Lisa Jackson as a keynote speaker in the Stars: Indigenous Ways of Knowing section, and Mila Aung-Thwin, producer of 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab participant Midwives, as a speaker in the Action: Legacies of science, cinematic justice section.

2022 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Margreth Olin is also considered an expert at the conference.


Meet our Team at CPH:DOX

Our Senior Program Manager Elaisha Stokes and Program Director Kiyoko McCrae attended and took 1:1 meetings with filmmakers.

We are proud to congratulate a longtime collaborator and advisor in our labs, Carla Gutierrez, for the international premiere of her new documentary, Frida.


Post written by Communications Assistant Tess Caldwell

Six Chicken & Egg Pictures-supported films and filmmakers at True/False Fest!

We were extremely proud to see two (Egg)celerator Lab premieres in the lineup of this years’ True/False festival. The lineup also included two films supported through the Chicken & Egg Award and two shorts by supported filmmakers featuring in the lineup of this years’ True/False festival! The festival took place between February 29 and March 3, in Colombia, Missouri. Congratulations to all of the films featured!

A Photographic Memory

dir. & prod. Rachel Elizabeth Seed

Still from A Photographic Memory

A Photographic Memory was a participant of the 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab and had its World Premiere at True/False Fest.

graphic of a film reel

Look Into My Eyes

dir. & prod. Lana Wilson

prod. Kyle Martin

Still from Look Into My Eyes
Still from Look Into My Eyes

Look Into My Eyes was supported through Lana Wilson’s 2019 Chicken & Egg Award.

graphic of a film reel

There Was, There Was Not

dir. Emily Mkrtichian

prod. Mara Adina

Four women stand on a mountain at sunrise gathering flowers
Still from There Was, There Was Not

There Was, There Was Not was a 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab finalist and had its World Premiere at True/False Fest.

graphic of a film reel

Union

dirs. Brett Story, Stephen Maing

prods. Samantha Curley, Mars Verrone

Still from Union. A group of people wearing red walk in front of the camera. It is night time. Some of them wear facemasks.

Still from Union

Union was supported through Brett Story’s 2022 Chicken & Egg Award.


From the AlumNest


Post written by Communications Assistant Tess Caldwell

Five Supported and AlumNest Films at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival!

We are proud to have two Chicken & Egg-supported films and three films from our filmmaker community at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Additionally, we are thrilled to see 2020 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Maite Alberdi being honored with the annual Vanguard Award during the Opening Night Gala at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. The festival’s US documentary competition slate is made up of 50% women, and the World Competition slate is made up of 67% women. Chicken & Egg Pictures is committed to supporting women and non-binary filmmakers and we’re proud to see so much representation in this years’ competitions. The festival will take place from Thursday, January 18 through Sunday, January 28, 2024, in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah. We hope to see you there!

Look Into My Eyes

dir. & prod. Lana Wilson

prod. Kyle Martin

Still from Look Into My Eyes
Still from Look Into My Eyes

Look Into My Eyes was supported through Lana Wilson’s 2019 Chicken & Egg Award.

Get your tickets here.

graphic of a film reel

Union

dirs. Brett Story, Stephen Maing

prods. Samantha Curley, Mars Verrone

Chris Smalls appears in Union by Brett Story and Steve Maing, an official selection of the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute. | Photo by Martin DiCicco
Still from Union

Union was supported through Brett Story’s 2022 Chicken & Egg Award and is participating in the U.S. Documentary Competition.

Get your tickets here.


From the AlumNest


Shoutouts

We are thrilled to see 2020 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Maite Alberdi being honored with the annual Vanguard Award during the Opening Night Gala. The award annually honors artists whose work highlights the art of storytelling and creative independence. In an interview with Variety about receiving the award, Maite said, “The Eternal Memory is a film that has taught me so much about the infinite ways of telling, looking at and working with real-life stories and I am proud and humbled to be among such an extraordinary group of filmmakers who have been given this recognition.” Congratulations, Maite! 

We are also proud to have two longtime collaborators featuring films in the lineup this year. An Eggspert on our team, Joslyn Barnes is executive producing Conbody VS Everybody, and Carla Gutierrez, an advisor in our labs, is directing FRIDA. Congratulations!


Meet Our Staff

We are also excited that our Chief Executive Officer Jenni Wolfson, Program Director Kiyoko McCrae, and Associate Director of Development Rebecca Celli will be in attendance at the festival. They will be attending Chicken & Egg Pictures-supported screenings and industry events. Make sure to say hi! 


Post written by Communications Intern Tess Caldwell