Leave a comment Dec 01, 2023

Six Supported Films at Verzió Film Festival!

We are thrilled to announce that six Chicken & Egg-supported films and one AlumNest film were included in this year’s lineup for the Verzió International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival! The festival took place between Wednesday, November 22 to Wednesday, November 29, 2023 in Budapest, Hungary.

Against the Tide

dir. & prod. Sarvnik Kaur

prods. 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 that had its Hungarian Premiere in the Anthropocene section.

graphic of a film reel

Cine Guerrillas: Scenes From the Labudović Reels

dir. & prod. Mila Turajlić

prod. Carine Chichkowsky

Stevan Labudović in the archives of the Yugoslav Newsreels surrounded by reels of films he shot during the Algerian Liberation War.
Still from Cine Guerrillas: Scenes From the Labudović Reels

Cine-Guerrillas: Scenes From the Labudović Reels was supported through Mila Turajlić’s 2020 Chicken & Egg Award and had its Hungarian Premiere in the Viewfinder section.

graphic of a film reel

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? had its Hungarian Premiere in the Student Verzió section.

graphic of a film reel

The Mind Game

dirs. & impact prods. Eefje Blankevoort, Els van Driel, Sajid “SK” Khan Nasiri

prod. Laura Verduijn

We see a young man (Sajid Khan) on his bed, in the sunlight, eating a meal by himself.
Still from The Mind Game

Project: Hatched 2023 participant The Mind Game had its Hungarian Premiere in the Student Verzió section.

graphic of a film reel

The Golden Thread

dir. Nishtha Jain

prod. Irena Taskovski

A workers hand on jute threads as they pass through the spinning machine
Still from The Golden Thread

The Golden Thread was supported through Nishtha Jain’s 2020 Chicken & Egg Award that had its Hungarian Premiere in the Work/Dream/Work section.

graphic of a film reel

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 and had its Hungarian Premiere in the Anthropocene section.

From the AlumNest

  • We Will Not Fade Away
    dir. Alisa Kovalenko
    prods. Valery Kalmykov, Oleksiy Kobelev

Post written by Communications Intern Tess Caldwell

Leave a comment Oct 30, 2023

15 Chicken & Egg Supported films at IDFA!

We are extremely proud to see 15 Chicken & Egg Supported films and 17 films from our community of alumni featured in the lineup and Forum sections of this year’s International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). The festival will take place between Wednesday, November 8 to Sunday, November 19 in Amsterdam. If you are attending the festival, feel free to say hi to our team who will participate in person to support our filmmakers. See below for more details. 

  • 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab Participant Against The Tide | Dutch Premiere | Best of Fests | dir. & prod. Sarvnik Kaur | prod. Koval Bhatia
  • 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab Finalist Alis | Online Program | dirs. & prods. Clare Weiskopf, Nicolas van Hemelryck
  • Project: Hatched 2023 Participant Bad Press | Dutch Premiere | Best of Fests | dir. & prod. Rebecca Landsberry-Baker, Joe Peeler | prods. Conrad Beilharz, Garrett Baker, Tyler Graim
  • Nest-supported film Blue ID | School Program | dirs. & prods. Burcu Melekoglu, Vuslat Karan
  • 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab Grantee Machtat | Dutch Premiere | Best of Fests | dir. Sonia Ben Slama | prods. Tania el Khoury, Elise Hug, Cécile Lestrade
  • 2022 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Margreth Olin’s Songs of Earth | Dutch Premiere | Signed | dir. & prod. Margreth Olin | prod. Lena Faye-Lund Sandvik 
  • 2021 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Tatiana Huezo’s The Echo | Dutch Premiere | Signed | dir. & prod. Tatiana Huezo Sánchez | prods. Dalia Rocío Reyes Campos, Viviana Zuñiga
  • 2020 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Maite Alberdi’s The Eternal Memory | Dutch Premiere | Signed | dir. & prod. Maite Alberdi | prods. Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín, Rocío Jadue
  • 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee The Tuba Thieves | Dutch Premiere | Best of Fests |  dir. & prod. Alison O’Daniel | prods. Su Kim, Maya E. Rudolph

IDFA Forum

At the IDFA Forum, innovators, including filmmakers, creators, producers, and industry professionals, unite to present their pioneering creative feature documentaries and new media projects. Over its 30-year history, this event has evolved into a global hub for discussing co-production, co-financing, and distribution strategies. The IDFA Forum offers backing to film and XR production teams at various production stages across four presentation categories. We take pride in having Chicken & Egg Pictures Supported films featured in three out of these four categories.

  • 2022 Critical Issue Fund Grantee Displaced (working title) | Rough Cut Project | In Production | dir. Olha Zhurba | prods. Darya Bassel, Anne Köhncke, Kerstin Übelacker
  • 2022 Critical Issue Fund Grantee Red Zone | Producers Connection Project | Development | dir. Darya Bassel | prod. Iryna Tsilyk
  • 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab Finalist There Was, There Was Not | Rough Cut Project | In Post-Production | dir. & prod. Emily Mkrtichian | prod. Brock Williams

From the AlumNest

In the program: 

In the forum:

Meet our Team at IDFA

Our Program Director Kiyoko McCrae and Senior Program Manager Elaisha Stokes will be in attendance at the festival. They will be speaking at the IDFA academy (a training program for 110 selected emerging filmmakers coming to IDFA), taking 1:1 meetings and giving presentations on our programs and funding opportunities at the Industry Hub. They will also be hosting an IDFA industry lunch as an opportunity for us to celebrate our 2023 Chicken & Egg Award recipients. 

Leave a comment Oct 31, 2022

Nest-supported Films at IDFA 2022

The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam will take place from Wednesday, November 9 through Sunday, November 20. We are proud to see five Nest-supported films and seven AlumNest films in the line-up, and a retrospective dedicated to AlumNest filmmaker Laura Poitras. Multiple supported projects are also participating in the IDFA Forum from Saturday, November 12 to Wednesday, November 16. 
IDFA is home to the second and last Chicken & Egg Award program retreat of the year, where 2022 Award recipients will be taking meetings about their films, which are currently in development and production. 
Check out the Nest-supported films screening at IDFA including:

Alis

dirs. & prods. Clare Weiskopf, Nicolas van Hemelryck 

prods. Alexandra Galvis, Radu Stancu

A young woman is on her knees, with her hands on top of them, her eyes are closed and behind here there are shelfs
Still from Alis

Alis is a 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab finalist and is part of the Best of Fests section.  

Get your tickets with this link.

BEBA

dir. & prod. Rebeca Huntt

prod. Sofia Geld

Low angle shot of Beba, placing her arm behind her head and wearing a black top
Still from BEBA

BEBA is a Project: Hatched 2022 grantee and is part of the Best of Fests section.

Get your tickets with this link.

Blue Id

dirs. & prods. Burcu Melekoglu, Vuslat Karan

Blue ID Vuslat Karan & Burcu Melekoglu
Still from Blue Id

Blue Id is a Nest-supported film and is having its World Premiere in the Luminous section. 

Get your tickets with this link.

Dear Mother, I Meant to Write about Death

dir. & prod. Siyi Chen

People’s Hospital Siyi Chen Accelerator Lab 2018
Still from Dear Mother, I Meant to Write about Death

Dear Mother, I Meant to Write about Death is a 2018 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee. 

Get your tickets with this link.

The Hamlet Syndrome

dirs. Elwira Niewiera, Piotr Rosolowski 

prod. Magdalena Kaminska

In a dimly lit dressing room, a person dresses a mannequin.
Still from The Hamlet Syndrome

The Hamlet Syndrome was supported through Elwira Niewira’s 2021 Chicken & Egg Award and is part of the Best of Fests section. 

Get your tickets with this link.

Midwives

dir. & prod. Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing

prods. Bob Moore, Ulla Lehmann, Mila Aung-Thwin

Still from Midwives. A young boy sleeps on the shoulder of a woman wearing a headscarf.
Still from Midwives

Midwives is a 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee and is part of the Best of Fests section. 

Get your tickets with this link.

Non-Aligned: Scenes from the Labudović Reels

dir. & prod. Mila Turajlić

prod. Carine Chichkowsky

Poster of Non-Aligned: Scenes from the Labudović Reels. An overlapped image of a photography of journalists taking photographs to men behind a table, and a man holding a film reel inside of a metallic box.
Image courtesy of Non-Aligned: Scenes from the Labudović Reels

Non-Aligned: Scenes from the Labudović Reels was supported through Mila Turajlić’s 2020 Chicken & Egg Award and is having its World Premiere in the International Competition.

Get your tickets with this link.

The Golden Thread

dir. & prod. Nishtha Jain

prods. Irena Taskovski, Irena Taskovski

Still from The Golden Thread.
Still from The Golden Thread, courtesy of Taskovski Films LTD.

The Golden Thread was supported through Nishtha Jain’s 2020 Chicken & Egg Award and is having its World Premiere in the Masters section. 

Get your tickets with this link.

Polaris

dir. Ainara Vera

prod. Clara Vuillermoz

Still from Polaris

Polaris is a 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee and is part of the Best of Fests section.

Get your tickets with this link.

From the AlumNest

A woman with shoulder length black hair stands next to a stone wall.Nest-supported and Academy Award®-winning director Laura Poitras was named Guest of Honor at IDFA. She will be honored in the Retrospective and the Top 10 programs. The retrospective includes all seven films directed by Poitras from 2003 to today, and the Top 10 program includes Laura’s curation of ten films key to the human condition.

 

 

IDFA Forum

The IDFA Forum gathers some of the strongest documentary projects currently being developed and produced globally, and presents them in a five-day program of public presentations and one-on-one meetings. 

Chicken & Egg Pictures is proud to co-host the IDFA Forum Lunch.

Check out the list of Nest-supported projects below:

The Tuba Thieves

dir. Alison O’Daniel

Still from The Tuba Thieves

Between 2011 and 2013, tubas were stolen from high schools across Southern California. The Tuba Thieves begins with one of the heists, but it is not a mystery about the thefts. Nyke, a Deaf drummer and Geovanny, a hearing marching band student, play fictionalized versions of their lives within a Los Angeles soundscape: helicopters hover, highway tunnels absorb radio signals, and working-class neighborhoods are overwhelmed by the cacophony of highways and airplane flight paths. Finally, three historical ‘silent’ concerts are re-enacted. By the end of the film, as the last tubas are stolen, portraits of Nyke and Geovanny emerge from all the noise.

The Tuba Thieves is a 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee.
Learn more about the film with this link.

The Eternal Memory

dir. & prod. Maite Alberdi

Still from The Eternal Memory

The Eternal Memory was supported through Maite Alberdi’s 2020 Chicken & Egg Award.
Learn more about the film with this link.

The Phantom Pain of Rojava

dir. Maryam Ebrahimi

prod. Stina Gardell

A woman in a military uniform and colorful headdress gazes into the scope of a gun leaning on a cement barrier. There are other people behind her doing the same thing.
Still from The Phantom Pain of Rojava

The Phantom Pain of Rojava was supported through Maryam Ebrahimi’s 2021 Chicken & Egg Award.
Learn more about the film with this link.

Meet our Team at IDFA

Yvonne Welbon & Tereza Simikova look directly at the camera and smile. Portraits in black and white.
To the left, Yvonne Welbon, and to the right Tereza Simikova.

Senior Creative Consultant Yvonne Welbon and International Program Consultant Tereza Simikova will coordinate the Chicken & Egg Award retreat, organize meetings with filmmakers, and attend the IDFA Forum Lunch.

Leave a comment Dec 31, 2020

Nishtha Jain: Dozen Days of Filmmakers — Day 12

Chicken & Egg Pictures is celebrating the holiday season and saying farewell to 2020 by featuring a dozen Nest-supported women and gender nonconforming filmmakers. For more Dozen Days of Filmmakers, see here.

Nishtha Jain is a multi-award-winning filmmaker based in Mumbai. She’s best known for her films Gulabi Gang (2012), Lakshmi and Me (2007), and City of Photos (2004). She’s been exploring the human condition in its myriad states. Politics of image making and self-representation, complexities of social hierarchies, women’s movements, and workers’ struggles have been some of the themes that her films have dealt with. She’s a graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune and A.J.K. Mass Communication Research Centre, New Delhi. She’s a Fulbright Scholar (2019), Global Media Maker (2019) at Film Independent, Los Angeles, and Chicken & Egg Award Recipient (2020). 

Still from Gulabi Gang, directed by Nishtha Jain

A recipient of two Indian National Film Awards and over 23 international awards, her films have been extensively shown in international film festivals and art-house cinemas and broadcast on international TV networks. She has served as a juror at several international festivals including IDFA and Zurich Film Festival. In 2020, Nishtha joined the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

She has given master classes and/or made artist presentations at universities including Stanford, NYU, Wellesley, Cambridge, St. Andrews, University of London, Heidelberg, Concordia, Danish Film School, and Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. When she’s not making films, she’s teaching, writing, and actively participating in social and political movements in India.

Leave a comment Jan 21, 2020

Announcing our 2020 Chicken & Egg Award Recipients!

Chicken & Egg Pictures is proud to announce the fifth cohort of our Chicken & Egg Award, which recognizes and elevates five experienced documentary makers. This is the first year the Award has been opened to internationally-based filmmakers, and the six recipients hail from Canada, Chile, India, Serbia, Norway, and the US and have explored such diverse subjects as aging, artificial intelligence, and Indigenous rights.

In addition to a $50,000 unrestricted cash award and a year-long mentorship program, recipients also receive dedicated support from the Chicken & Egg Pictures creative team geared toward the development of new documentary projects.

Maite Alberdi is a Chilean director whose particular style is characterized by an intimate portrait of small worlds. She is one of the most important voices in Latin American documentaries. Her films include The Lifeguard (2011), Tea Time (2014), I Am Not From Here (2016), The Grown-Ups (2016), and The Mole Agent (2020).   

Tonje Hessen Schei is an award-winning Norwegian filmmaker and director of iHuman (2019), Drone (2014), Play Again (2010), and Independent Intervention (2005)—films that have received awards like The Golden Nymph Award and Norway’s national film awards, the Amanda and Gullruten awards for best documentary. 

Nishtha Jain is a multi-award-winning filmmaker best known for her films Saboot (2019), Gulabi Gang (2012), Lakshmi and Me (2007) and City of Photos (2004); her films are self-reflexive and explore the political in the personal, a recurring theme in her films being work or travail. She is a 2019 Fulbright Scholar and Film Independent Global Media Make. 

Michelle Latimer is a Métis/Algonquin filmmaker, actor, and producer; her goal is to use film and new media as a tool for social change. Her recent projects include Rise (Viceland, Sundance 2017) and Nuuca (TIFF, Berlinale, Sundance 2017). Her Indigenous heritage informs her filmmaking perspective.

Kimberly Reed is the director of Dark Money and Prodigal Sons, the first documentary by a transgender filmmaker to be theatrically released, which won 14 international awards. She is one of Filmmaker’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film” and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Mila Turajlić is an award-winning director and archive scholar born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Her films include The Other Side of Everything and Cinema Komunisto. In 2018, she was commissioned by MoMA to create archive-based video installations for their landmark exhibition on Yugoslav modernist architecture.