31 Oscar-eligible films from our community!

Congratulations to the 14 Chicken & Egg-supported films and 17 from our Alumni community on the list of documentary features and shorts eligible for the 96th Academy Awards®! We encourage you to catch these films in theaters and on streaming platforms. The Oscars® Shortlist will be announced on Thursday, December 21, so stay tuned.

Against the Tide

dir. Sarvnik Kaur 

prod. 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.

Find about upcoming screenings here.

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Bad Press

dirs. Rebecca Landsberry-Baker, Joe Peeler

prods. Conrad Beilharz, Garrett F. Baker, Tyler Graim

Indigenous journalist Angel Ellis sits in front of Mvskoke Media wearing a bandana , sunglasses and a "I Voted" sticker on her blue T-shirt. She's smoking a cigarette while scrolling through her cell phone on a warm summer evening.
Still from Bad Press

Bad Press is a participant of Project: Hatched 2023.

Find out about upcoming screenings here.

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Eat Bitter

dirs. Ningyi Sun, Pascale Appora-Gnekindy

prod. Mathieu Faure

The upper half is characters Luan and Thomas' faces and Thomas prays to the left of their faces; and the lower half is the back of Thomas' head and him getting ready to dive in the yellowish river.
Stills from Eat Bitter

Eat Bitter is a 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab finalist.

Find out about upcoming screenings here.

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El eco / The Echo

dir. & prod. Tatiana Huezo

prod. Dalia Reyes

Still from El Eco. Two young kids sit on a large rock jutting out from the side of a grassy hill. They are facing away from the camera. In front of them is a grassy valley with sheep grazing in it.
Still from El Eco/The Echo

El eco / The Echo was supported through Tatiana Huezo’s 2021 Chicken & Egg Award.  

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Joonam

dir. Sierra Urich

prod. Keith Wilson

A mother and daughter stand under opposite ends of a grape arbor together, harvesting grape leaves. A grandmother is seen sitting in the background with a walker in front of her. Each woman appears to be separately lost in thought.
Still from Joonam

Joonam is a 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee.

Find out about upcoming screenings here.

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MnM

dir. Twiggy Pucci Garçon

prods. Colleen Cassingham, Jess Devaney

Still from MnM. Close up to the face of a person while a hand is using a brush to paint their eyelids.
Still from MnM

MnM was supported in partnership with Multitude Films as a part of the QUEER FUTURES (2022) series and is eligible for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film.

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PAY OR DIE

dirs. & prods. Rachael Dyer, Scott Alexander Ruderman

prod. Yael Melamede

PAY OR DIE
Still from PAY OR DIE

PAY OR DIE is a participant of Project: Hatched 2023.

Now streaming on Paramount +

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Plan C

dir. & prod. Tracy Droz Tragos

PLAN C strategy meeting 2021. A group of people gathers around a table with plates and drinks while a person writes on a whiteboard.
Still from Plan C

Plan C is a 2022 Critical Issues Fund grantee.

Find out about upcoming screenings here or watch on demand here.

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Razing Liberty Square

dir. Katja Esson

prods. Ann Bennett, Corinna Sager, Ronald Baez

A young person is reclined in a thin column. There is a construction behind them.
Still from Razing Liberty Square

Razing Liberty Square is a 2022 Critical Issues Fund grantee.

The film will open theatrically in Miami on January 26 and the Broadcast Premiere will be on Independent Lens on January 29.

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Reality Winner

dir. & prod. Sonia Kennebeck

prod. Ines Hofmann Kanna

Still from United States vs. Reality Winner. A young woman, Reality Winner, is standing in a field in front of a house. She has a serious expression. The light is low and the background is out of focus.
Still from Reality Winner

Reality Winner was supported through Sonia Kennebeck’s 2023 Chicken & Egg Award.

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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.

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The Eternal Memory

dir. & prod. Maite Alberdi

prod. Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín, Rocío Jadue

Still from the Eternal Memory
Still from The Eternal Memory

The Eternal Memory was supported through Maite Alberdi’s 2020 Chicken & Egg Award.

Now streaming on Paramount +.

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Total Trust

dir. Jialing Zhang

prod. Knut Jäger

Main characters in The Total Trust standing in front of the ocean.
Still from Total Trust

Total Trust was supported through Jialing Zhang’s 2021 Chicken & Egg Award.

Check out their list of upcoming New York screenings here

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Twice Colonized

dir. Lin Alluna

prods.  Emile Hertling Péronard, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, Stacey Aglok, Bob Moore

The main character of Twice Colonized, Aaju Peter, in a close-up shot holding her hands in front of her face so her traditional tattoos on her hands and her chin are visible.
Still from Twice Colonized

Twice Colonized is a participant of Project: Hatched 2023.

Find out about upcoming screenings here.


Alumni filmmakers eligible for Best Documentary Feature

  • Anonymous Sister
    dir. & prod. Jamie Boyle
    prods. Marilyn Ness, Elizabeth Westrate
  • The Lady Bird Diaries 
    dir. & prod. Dawn Porter
    prod. Kim Reynolds
  • Victim/Suspect
    dir. & prod. Nancy Schwartzman
    prods. Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, Alice Henty, Rachel de Leon, Amanda Pike
  • Who I Am Not
    dir. Tunde Skovran
    prods. Andrei Zinca, Danielle Turkov, Paul Cadieux, Patrick Hamm, Amy Shepherd, Edith Weil, Daniel Szandtner, Janos Kovacs 
  • You Were My First Boyfriend
    dirs. Cecilia Aldarondo, Sarah Enid Hagey
    prod. Ines Hofmann Kanna (prod. of Reality Winner)

Alumni filmmakers eligible for Best Documentary Short Film

  • Bone Black: Midwives vs the South 
    dir. Rebecca Richman Cohen
    prod. Yoruba Richen
  • Rest Stop
    dir. Crystal Kayiza
    prods. Brit Fryer, Jalena Keane-Lee
  • The Recall
    dir. Imani Dennison (POV Shorts Co-Production Fund Grantee)
    prod. Flor Tejada
  • The Feeling of Being Close to You
    dir. & prod. Ash Goh Hua

Post written by Communications Intern Tess Caldwell

28 Nominations for the Cinema Eye Honors Awards!

Cinema Eye recently announced the nominees for the 17th edition of the Cinema Eye Honors Awards. We are proud to see 28 nominations within the Chicken & Egg Pictures community! The awards ceremony will take place on Friday, January 12 at the New York Academy of Medicine in East Harlem. Congratulations and good luck to all of the nominees.

  • Project: Hatched 2023 participant Bad Press | dirs. Rebecca Landsberry-Baker, Joe Peeler | prods. Conrad Beilharz, Garrett F. Baker, Tyler Graim | Nominated in the Spotlight section
  • 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee Against the Tide | dir. & prod. Sarvnik Kaur | prods. Koval Bhatia, Quentin Laurent | Nominated in the Spotlight section
  • 2022 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Margreth Olin’s Songs of Earth | dir. & prod. Margreth Olin | Nominated for Outstanding Original Score, Outstanding Cinematography, and Outstanding Production
  • 2021 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Tatiana Huezo’s The Echo | dir. & prod. Tatiana Huezo | prod. Dalia Reyes | Nominated in the Heterodox section
  • 2020 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Maite Alberdi’s The Eternal Memory | dir. & prod. Maite Alberdi | prods. Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín, Rocío Jadue | Nominated for Outstanding Editing, Outstanding Direction, Outstanding Nonfiction Feature, The Unforgettables Honorees, and Audience Choice Prize – Sharp
  • 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee The Tuba Thieves | dir. & prod. Alison O’Daniel | Nominated for Outstanding Debut and Outstanding Sound Design
  • Project: Hatched 2023 participant Twice Colonized | dir. Lin Alluna | prods. Emile Hertling Péronard, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, Stacey Aglok, Bob Moore | Nominated for The Unforgettables Honorees
  • 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee Q | dir. & prod. Jude Chehab | Nominated in the Spotlight section
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From the AlumNest

  • Black Girls Play: The Story Of Hand Games | Nominated for Outstanding Nonfiction Short and Shorts List Semifinalists
    dirs. & prods. Michéle Stephenson, Joe Brewster
  • Confessions of a Good Samaritan | Nominated for The Unforgettables Honorees and Audience Choice Prize
    dir. Penny Lane
    prod. Gabriel Sedgwick
  • Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project | Nominated for Outstanding Visual Design, Outstanding Original Score, Outstanding Nonfiction Feature, and The Unforgettables Honorees
    dirs. & prods. Michéle Stephenson, Joe Brewster
  • King Coal | Nominated for Outstanding Cinematography
    dir. & prod. Elaine McMillion Sheldon
    prods. Shane Boris, Diane Becker, Peggy Drexler
  • Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power  | Nominated in the Broadcast Film Nominees section
    dir. Geeta Gandbhir
    prod. Jess Devaney
  • Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields | Nominated in the Broadcast Film Nominees and Broadcast Editing Nominees sections
    dir. Lana Wilson
    prods. Jack Turner, Christine O’Malley

Post written by Communications Intern Tess Caldwell

Three Chicken & Egg-supported Films at RIDM!

We are proud to see three Chicken & Egg-supported films and two Alumni films in the lineup for this year’s Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM). The festival takes place between Wednesday, November 15 to Sunday, November 26 in Montreal, Canada. Our Associate Director of Program Sabine Fayoux Cantillo is attending the festival to participate in the Expert Roundtable, take one on one meetings, and watch many films! 

Onlookers

dir. & prod. Kimi Takesue

co-prod. Richard Beenan

People sit waiting on the street early in the morning in Luang Prabang, Laos to give alms to the monks.
Still from Onlookers

Onlookers will be participating in the “Panorama- Horizons” section and was supported through Kimi Takesue’s 2018 Chicken & Egg Award.  

Get your tickets here.

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El eco / The Echo

dir. & prod. Tatiana Huezo

prod. Dalia Reyes

Still from El Eco. Two young kids sit on a large rock jutting out from the side of a grassy hill. They are facing away from the camera. In front of them is a grassy valley with sheep grazing in it.
Still from El Eco/The Echo

El eco / The Echo will be participating in the “Panorama – Essentials” section and was supported through Tatiana Huezo’s 2021 Chicken & Egg Award.  

Get your tickets here.

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Hummingbirds

dirs. & prods. 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

Silvia and Beba smile as they point their middle finger at the fire-work lit sky. There is a red light on Beba's middle finger, and a green light on Silvia's.
Still from Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds is a 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab finalist participating in the “Panorama – Horizons” section.

Get your tickets here.


From the AlumNest


Meet our team at RIDM

Sabine Fayoux Cantillo looking directly at camera and smiling. Black and white photo.

Our Associate Director of Program, Sabine Fayoux Cantillo, will be in attendance at the festival. She is participating in a networking event called the Expert Roundtable, held in the Forum RIDM.This activity consists of several 30-minute sessions with groups of 5 professionals, during which she can provide detailed insights into Chicken & Egg Pictures’ activities and discuss our project selection process. She will also be taking one-on-one meetings with filmmakers and watching as many films as possible! 


Post written by Communications Intern Tess Caldwell

Over a Dozen Films Screening at Hot Docs Film Festival!

The 30th anniversary edition of Hot Docs will take place across Toronto from Thursday, April 27 to Sunday, May 7. We are egg-static to announce that 13 Nest-supported films are part of the lineup and there are also two AlumNest films featured. Hot Docs is North America’s largest documentary festival, conference, and market, and embodies a deep commitment to gender parity, with 53% female directors in this year’s official selection, according to Variety.

We are sending special congratulations to the 2022 Critical Issues Fund grantee Razing Liberty Square on their World Premiere. See below for more details.

  • 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab Grantee Against the Tide | Canadian Premiere | dir. Sarvnik Kaur | prod. Koval Bhatia
  • 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab Finalist – Eat Bitter | Canadian Premiere | dirs. Ningyi Sun, Pascale Appora-Gnekindy | prod. Mathieu Faure
  • 2021 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Tatiana Huezo’s – The Echo | North American Premiere | dir. & prod. Tatiana Huezo | prod. Dalia Reyes
  • 2020 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Maite Alberdi’s The Eternal Memory | Canadian Premiere | dir. & prod. Maite Alberdi | prods. Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín, Rocío Jadue
  • 2019 (Egg)celerator Lab Grantee Milisuthando | Canadian Premiere | dir. Milisuthando Bongela | prod. Marion Isaacs
  • 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab Grantee Polaris | Canadian Premiere | dir. Ainara Vera  | prods. Clara Vuillermoz, Emile Hertling Peronard
  • 2020 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Tonje Hessen Schei’s Praying for Armageddon | North American Premiere | dir. Tonje Hessen Schei | co-dir. Michael Rowley | prods Torstein Parelius, Ingrid G. Aune Falch, Christian Aune Falch
  • 2022 Critical Issues Fund grantee Razing Liberty Square | World Premiere | dir. & prod. Katja Esson | prods. Ann Bennett, Corinna Sager, Ronald Baez
  • 2021 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Jialing Zhang’s Total Trust | North American Premiere | dir. & prod. Jialing Zhang | prods. Knut Jager, Michael Grotenhoff, Saskia Kress

Special Presentations in the Big Ideas Section

The 2023 Special Presentations program features high-profile subjects, award-winning films and filmmakers, and masterful perspectives on current events and pressing issues. There are 24 films set to screen in this program. Two Nest-supported films are being featured in the Big Ideas section.

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? is having its Canadian premiere.

Get your tickets here.

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It’s Only Life After All

dir. & prod. Alexandria Bombach

prods. Kathlyn Horan, Jess Devaney, Anya Rous

Still from It’s Only Life After All

It’s Only Life After All was supported through Alexandria Bombach’s 2019 Chicken & Egg Award and is having its Canadian premiere.

Get your tickets here.


Hot Docs Forum

The Hot Docs Forum, one of the festivals’ flagship industry events, is where filmmakers are able to pitch to international decision makers. This year, they’ve chosen 19 Forum projects representing 16 countries and 23 filmmakers, 12 of whom are women and 11 of whom are BIPOC.

Intercepted

dir. Oksana Karpovych 

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

Still from Intercepted. A dark road is lit by a vehicle's headlights. A rural landscape can be seen; some vegetation on the left and right of the road; there are hills in the background and the sky's horizon is in the distance.
Still from Intercepted

Intercepted is a 2022 Critical Issues Fund grantee.


From the AlumNest


Meet our Team at Hot Docs

Kiyoko McCrae looks directly at the camera. Portrait in black and white.

Representing Chicken & Egg Pictures, our Program Director Kiyoko McCrae will be in attendance at Hot Docs. While in Toronto shell be attending the Hot Docs Forum, Deal Maker meetings, and attending the Work in Progress program.


Post written by Spring Intern Tess Caldwell

Four Nest-supported Films at Berlinale 2023

Chicken & Egg Pictures is proud to see three Nest-supported films in Berlinale 2023 lineup. El eco/The Echo and Hummingbirds will have their world premiere, and the recent Sundance winner of the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary The Eternal Memory will have its European premiere. The festival takes place from Wednesday, February 16 to Sunday, February 26.

El eco / The Echo

dir. & prod. Tatiana Huezo

prod. Dalia Reyes

Still from El Eco. Two young kids sit on a large rock jutting out from the side of a grassy hill. They are facing away from the camera. In front of them is a grassy valley with sheep grazing in it.
Still from El eco/The Echo

El eco / The Echo will have its world premiere in the Encounters section and was supported through Tatiana Huezo’s 2021 Chicken & Egg Award.  
Get your tickets here.

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The Eternal Memory

dir. & prod. Maite Alberdi

prods. Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín, Rocío Jadue

Still from The Eternal Memory. Augusto and Paulina reading from a magazine on a sofa.
Still from The Eternal Memory

The Eternal Memory will have its European Premiere in the Panorama Section and was supported through Maite Alberdi’s 2020 Chicken & Egg Award
Get your tickets here.

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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

Silvia and Beba smile as they point their middle finger at the fire-work lit sky. There is a red light on Beba's middle finger, and a green light on Silvia's.
Still from Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds will have its world premiere in the Generation 14plus section and is a 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab finalist.   
Get your tickets here.


From the AlumNest