The Nest at the Margaret Mead Film Festival

The American Museum of Natural History’s Margaret Mead Film Festival will run from Thursday, October 17 to Sunday, October 20 in New York City. The festival, which is inspired by anthropologist Margaret Mead, celebrates documentary media that increases our understanding of the complexity and diversity of peoples’ cultures around the world, and you can catch three Nest-supported films there:

Freedom Fields, directed by Naziha Arebi
New York Premiere | Filmmaker in Attendance
Thursday, October 17 at 7:00 PM

Encouraged by the utopian hopes of the Arab Spring, the members of a women’s soccer club in Libya heroically fight for their right to play. Their community refuses to support the team, forcing them to disband. Some women move on, becoming mothers and professionals, while others hold on to their soccer dreams.

The Guardian of Memory, directed by Marcela Arteaga (2017 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee)
New York Premiere | Filmmaker in Attendance
Friday, October 18 at 4:00 PM

Stunning, quiet landscapes from Mexico’s Juarez Valley are juxtaposed with horrifying, intimate tales of mass murder. In 2008, the Mexican government sent an army to the rugged border region, ostensibly to fight drug trafficking. As locals from Juarez and Chihuahua tearfully recount the stories of their murdered or disappeared children, parents, and siblings, a Texas-based lawyer argues asylum seekers from the area are victims of a genocide.

Made In Boise, directed by Beth Aala
New York Premiere | Filmmakers in Attendance | Protagonists in Attendance
Saturday, October 19 at 5:30 PM

While the ethical questions that surround the commercial surrogacy industry remain unresolved, hundreds of women are choosing to be paid surrogates in Boise, Idaho. Follow four surrogates as they navigate relationships with their families and the future parents while experiencing the emotional and physical hurdles of being pregnant with someone else’s baby.

We will see you at the Mead!

Nest-supported Films at IDFA

The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam kicked off yesterday, celebrating their 31st year offering an independent meeting place for audiences and film industry professionals to see film projects from all over the world. IDFA runs from Wednesday, November 14 to Sunday, November 25 at cultural centers and cinemas across Amsterdam.

We are very excited to say Chicken & Egg Pictures-supported projects Freedom Fields, A Thousand Girls Like Me, and Survivors will have their Dutch premieres at IDFA this year.

Freedom Fields, directed by Naziha Arebi

Filmed over five years, Freedom Fields follows three women and their football team in post-revolution Libya, as the country descends into civil war and the utopian hopes of the Arab Spring begin to fade. Through the eyes of these accidental activists, we see the reality of a country in transition, where the personal stories of love and aspirations collide with History. A love letter to sisterhood and the power of ‘team’.

Freedom Fields will run in the Best of Fests program which showcases prize-winners, public favorites, and high-profile documentaries from the past year. For tickets to one of six screenings of Freedom Fields at IDFA, see here.

Survivors, co-directed by Anna Fitch, Banker White, Arthur Pratt, and Barmmy Boy

Through the eyes of Sierra Leonean filmmakers, Survivors presents a portrait of their country during the Ebola outbreak, exposing the complexity of the epidemic and the socio-political turmoil that lies in its wake. The film chronicles the remarkable stories of Sierra Leonean heroes during what is now widely regarded as the most acute public health crisis of the modern era.

Survivors is nominated for the inaugural Amsterdam Human Rights Award, for films with strong cinematography and that best present the theme of human rights. For tickets to IDFA screenings of Survivors, see here.

A Thousand Girls Like Me, directed by Sahra Mani (2016 Diversity Fellows Initiative)

In Afghanistan where systematic abuses of girls rarely come to light, and seeking justice can be deadly, one young woman says “Enough.” Khatera was brutally raped by her father since the age of nine and today she raises two precious and precocious children whom he sired. Against her family’s and many Afghanis’ wishes, Khatera forces her father to stand trial. This is her incredible story of love, hope, bravery, forgiveness, and truth.

A Thousand Girls Like Me will run in the Best of Fests program and also received a nomination for the inaugural Amsterdam Human Rights Award. See here for tickets to screenings.