Half a Dozen Nest-Supported Films at Camden International Film Festival!
We are thrilled to announce that six Chicken & Egg Pictures-supported films and two AlumNest filmmakers are included in this year’s lineup for Camden International Film Festival. The festival opens today and runs through Sunday, September 17, 2023. Part of our Program team will be in attendance, we hope to see you there!
Joonam
dir. Sierra Urich
prod. Keith Wilson
Joonam is a 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee.
Get your tickets here.
Machtat
dir. Sonia Ben Slama
prods. Tania El Khoury, Cécile Lestrade, Elise Hug
Machtat is a 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee.
Get your tickets here.
Milisuthando
dir. Milisuthando Bongela
prod. Marion Isaacs
Milisuthando is a 2019 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee.
Get your tickets here.
Non-Aligned: Scenes From the Labudović Reels
dir. & prod. Mila Turajlić
prod. Carine Chichkowsky
Non-Aligned: Scenes From the Labudović Reels was supported through Mila Turajlić’s 2020 Chicken & Egg Award.
Get your tickets here.
Q
dir. & prod. Jude Chehab
Q is a 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab Grantee.
Get your tickets here.
Suddenly TV
dir. & prod. Roopa Gogineni
prods. Reem Haddad, Trevor Snapp, Fiona Lawson-Baker
Suddenly TV is a participant of Project: Hatched 2023.
Get your tickets here.
Chicken & Egg Pictures | POV Shorts Co-Production Fund
POV Shorts and Chicken & Egg Pictures announced today via DEADLINE the five recipients of the inaugural Chicken & Egg Pictures | POV Shorts Co-Production Fund, which granted $120,000 for development and production funding to three short documentary projects helmed by women and non-binary filmmakers. The initiative marks the two organizations’ first joint content development project, and all films are co-productions of POV Shorts and Chicken & Egg Pictures. In partnership with Points North, the institute will welcome the grantees as an official fellowship cohort at the 2023 Camden International Film Festival (CIFF2023).
Chicken & Egg Pictures and POV Shorts each contributed $60,000 to finance the fund which awarded three non-recoupable $40,000 grants to new nonfiction short-form works in progress or already in production. In addition to financial support, each project will receive creative, strategic, and editorial advice from the Chicken & Egg Pictures and POV Shorts teams. The completed shorts will be considered for launch on PBS via national linear broadcast and PBS Digital, which reaches an audience of 44.7 million people monthly.
Chicken & Egg Pictures | POV Shorts Co-Production Fund Grantees
En Travesti
dirs. Brit Fryer, Lydia Cornett
En Travesti explores the entangled relationship between voice, gender, and opera through those who contend with these connections daily––a trans opera singer switching voice types, a musicologist delving into the legacy of Castrati singers, a cisgender vocalist challenging conventional voice categorizations, and an otolaryngologist specializing in vocal procedures for performers. From the history of trouser roles to breakthroughs in vocal feminization surgery, the film weaves together a tapestry of present-day stories while recognizing a long history of gender nonconformity in an art form bound by the binary.
Hold Me Close
dirs. Aurora Brachman, LaTajh Weaver
As winter gives way to spring, and spring to summer, two Queer Black women in love experience rituals of care, joy, and unavoidable pain, and a season of life together.
The Roost (working title)
dir. Imani Dennison
The Roost (working title) is an experimental documentary exploring the rich history of a roller skate community in Louisville, KY. Through an intimate video lens, we delve into key community members’ personal recollections of the sport and its role in navigating life amidst the challenges of a gun-violence-affected city.
En Travesti explores the entangled relationship between voice, gender, and opera through those who contend with these connections daily––a trans opera singer switching voice types, a musicologist delving into the legacy of Castrati singers, a cisgender vocalist challenging conventional voice categorizations, and an otolaryngologist specializing in vocal procedures for performers. From the history of trouser roles to breakthroughs in vocal feminization surgery, the film weaves together a tapestry of present-day stories while recognizing a long history of gender nonconformity in an art form bound by the binary.
From the AlumNest
- Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa
dir. Lucy Walker
prods. Charlie Corwin, Michael D. Ratner, Miranda Sherman, Dalia Burde, Christopher Newman
- The Lady Bird Diaries
dir. & prod. Dawn Porter
prod. Kim Reynolds
Meet Our Program Team at Camden International Film Festival
Representing Chicken & Egg Pictures, our Program Director Kiyoko McCrae, Senior Program Manager Elaisha Stokes and Industry & Artist Development Manager Tobi Phang-Lyn will be in attendance at this year’s Camden International Film Festival. They will be bringing the Chicken & Egg Pictures | POV Shorts Co-Production Fund grantees to the festival, supporting our alumni and hosting a gathering, meeting with new filmmakers during 1-on-1 meetings, and watching as many docs as they can!
Post written by Communications Intern Tess Caldwell
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!
Half a Dozen Nest-supported Films at the 2023 SFFILM Festival
Chicken & Egg Pictures is proud to see six Nest-supported and two AlumNest films screening at the 66th San Francisco International Film Festival. The festival will take place from Thursday, April 13 to Sunday, April 23 across theaters in San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley.
We are sending special congratulations to the 2022 Critical Issues Fund grantee Sol in the Garden for their World Premiere.
Against the Tide
dir. Sarvnik Kaur
prod. Koval Bhatia, Quentin Laurent
Against the Tide is a 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee having its California Premiere as a part of the Documentaries: International section.
Get your tickets here.
How to Carry Water
dir. Sasha Wortzel
prod. Jess Devaney, Anya Rous, Colleen Cassingham
How to Carry Water was supported in partnership with Multitude Films as a part of the QUEER FUTURES series and will take part in the “Shorts 3: The Body” section of the festival.
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 California premiere in the Documentaries: USA and GGA Documentary Competition sections.
Get your tickets here.
Milisuthando
dir. Milisuthando Bongela
prod. Marion Isaacs
Milisuthando is a 2019 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee having its California premiere in the Documentaries: International and GGA Documentary Competition sections.
Get your tickets here.
Sol in the Garden
dirs. & prods. Emily Cohen Ibañez and Débora Souza Silva
Sol in the Garden is a 2022 Critical Issues Fund grantee having its World Premiere as a part of the Bay Area Short Film category as well as a three-part shorts program.
Get your tickets here.
The Tuba Thieves
dir. & prod. Alison O’Daniel
The Tuba Thieves is a 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee having its California Premiere as a part of the Documentaries: USA section.
Get your tickets here.
From the AlumNest
- King Coal
dir. & prod. Elaine McMillion Sheldon
prods. Shane Boris, Diane Becker, Peggy Drexler - Confessions of a Good Samaritan
dir. Penny Lane
prod. Gabriel Sedgwick
Post written by Spring intern Tess Caldwell
Milisuthando Bongela: Dozen Days of Filmmakers — Day 9
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.
Milisuthando Bongela is an award-winning writer, editor, and cultural worker with experience in the media, publishing, fashion, art, and film industries in South Africa. Over the last 12 years, her written and cultural work has explored the post-apartheid condition, concerned with the intimate manifestations of race and racism in the everyday and shared intimate spaces. She is currently directing her first feature length documentary on race, love and growing up in the new South Africa—Milisuthando (working title).
It’s 1992 and Milisuthando is enjoying her sheltered childhood in “The Republic of the Transkei”, a dodgy ethnic homeland where, even though apartheid is raging 100 km away, she has no idea of the impending racial calamity beyond her hometown. When Transkei is suddenly dissolved at the end of apartheid, 8-year-old Milisuthando becomes a member of the first generation of black kids to attend “Whites Only” schools in South Africa. Through her probing, often naive journey with a cast of contrary characters, we revisit the old interiors of the “New South Africa”, exploring how racial prejudice and interracial bonding played out in the everyday. And why today, South Africa seems to be making a U-turn towards its ugly racial past.
Milisuthando’s project participated in the 2019 (Egg)celerator Lab and received the 2019 The Whickers/Chicken & Egg Pictures Award.
The Nest at the 41st Annual IFP Week
IFP (Independent Filmmaker Project) recently announced the 2019 IFP Project Forum slate, which includes 143 feature-length and series projects in both development and production. And we were egg-cited to see the following Nest-supported projects and filmmakers will be participating in the upcoming edition of IFP Week, September 15 – 19 in Brooklyn, New York.
Commuted (working title), directed by Nailah Jefferson, tells the story of Danielle Metz, a 52-year-old woman trying to find her footing after spending nearly half of her life in prison. In 2016, Danielle’s was one of 568 life sentences President Obama overturned. Commuted participated in the 2018 Diversity Fellows Initiative (past program).
Frank Bey: You’re Going to Miss Me, directed by Marie Hinson, is a feature documentary about an aging blues singer’s return to the stage 17 years after music broke his heart. Frank Bey: You’re Going to Miss Me is a participant of the 2019 Nest Knight Fellowship, a pilot initiative generously supported by Knight Foundation for filmmakers from Philadelphia, PA.
Milisuthando (working title), directed by Milisuthando Bongela, is a coming-of-age story, in which 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. Milisuthando (working title) is a participant of the 2019 (Egg)celerator Lab.
Also participating in the upcoming IFP week is a project directed by Chicken & Egg Pictures Senior Creative Consultant Yvonne Welbon, The Spies Who Loved Me, a thrilling exposé on citizen-surveillance and the impact of fake news. Along with being a member of the Chicken & Egg Pictures team, Yvonne is an award-winning independent filmmaker, producer, educator, entrepreneur, and consultant. She has successfully produced and distributed over 20 films including Living With Pride: Ruth Ellis @100 (winner of ten best documentary awards) and Sisters in Cinema, a documentary on the history of black women feature film directors.
Celluloid Dreams, directed by Ilinca Calugareanu, a documentary series that tells five staggering stories of courage and wonder and shows us how movies can change us, and sometimes, the world. Chicken & Egg Pictures did not support Celluloid Dreams, but did support Illinca’s project A Cops and Robbers Story, which was a participant in the 2018 (Egg)celerator Lab.
Other AlumNest filmmakers participating in IFP include Rebecca Haimowitz (Made in India) for Next Generation Sex, David Osit (co-director of Thank You For Playing and Games You Can’t Win) for Mayor, Sharon Shattuck (From This Day Forward) for The Eyes to See, Amber Fares (Speed Sisters) for Dearborn.
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), 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.
An 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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.