SUNDANCE ANNOUNCES 2010 DOCUMENTARY FILM FELLOWS

The Sundance Institute announced its 12 Documentary Film Fellows and their five projects in the seventh Documentary Edit and Story Laboratory. Taking place from June 19-27 at a resort in Sundance, Utah, this Lab supports visionary filmmakers and their projects.

Fellows are selected from a pool of 60 active, Sundance-funded documentary projects.

Lab Fellows are:

Ra’anan Alexandrowicz (Directing Fellow), Michael Collins (Directing Fellow), Heather Courtney (Directing Fellow), Ramona Diaz (Directing Fellow), Ron Goldman (Editing Fellow), Kyle Henry (Editing Fellow), Stephen Maing (Directing Fellow), Leah Marino (Editing Fellow), Eric Daniel Metzgar (Editing Fellow), Jonathan Oppenheim (Editing Fellow), Trina Rodriquez (Editing Fellow), Marty Syjuco (Directing Fellow).

The 5 films selected for the 2010 Sundance Institute Documentary Editing and Story Lab are:

GIVE UP TOMORROW (U.S.)

After languishing for 12 years on death row in a Philippine prison, Paco Larrañaga finds hope when the international human rights community upholds his innocence and launches a grass-roots campaign that triggers the total abolishment of the death penalty.

HIGH TECH, LOW LIFE (U.S./China)

High Tech, Low Life follows the personal journey of two of China’s most well-known roving citizen reporters as they travel the country chronicling under-reported news and social issues stories.

THE LAW IN THESE PARTS (Israel / Palestinian Territories)

What happens to the rule of law when a democracy enforces military rule over a neighboring population in a territory one third of its size?

THE LEARNING (U.S.)

The Learning follows four Filipino teachers recruited to from the Philippines to teach in Baltimore City. Across the school year’s changing seasons, the film chronicles the sacrifices they make as they try to maintain a long-distance relationship with their children and families, and begin a new one with the mostly African-American students whose schooling is now entrusted to them.

WHERE SOLDIERS COME FROM (U.S.)

Looking for money for college, a group of childhood friends join the National Guard when they graduate from their rural high school. Thus begins their 4-year-journey from teenagers stuck in their town, to soldiers looking for bombs in Afghanistan, to 23-year-old combat veterans trying to restart their civilian lives.… Read the rest

GLOBAL FILM INITIATIVE ANNOUCES SPRING GRANT RECIPIENTS

By Admin

The Global Film Initiative, the New York-based not-for-profit distributor specializing in independent films from the developing world, has announced the nine films that will receive finishing-fund grants this spring. The projects are:

99% Murdered, Esteban Schroeder, Chile/Uruguay

Asleep In The Sun, Alejandro Chomski, Argentina

Dark Legend, Zhang Ming, China

The Gaze, Sepideh Farsi, Iran

To Get To Heaven First You Have To Die, Djamshed Usmonov, Tajikistan

I Am From Titov Veles, Teona Mitevska, Macedonia

Nasreen, Sabine El Gemayel, Lebanon

The Sacred Lake, Zeka Laplaine, Congo/Senegal

Waiting, Rashid Masharawi, Palestine

The Global Film Initiative granting program is a semi-annual event with grants given out in the spring and the fall. The next submission deadline is September 15, 2005. This year three films from The Global Film Initiative grants roster were screened at the Cannes Film Festival, including Cinema, Aspirin and Vultures (Marcelo Gomes, Brazil).
.… Read the rest