Past
Grantees

MAYA CIARROCCHI received support for Overburden, an experimental short video. Every year, 43 million tons of coal are taken from West Virginia through mountaintop removal mining. Most people outside of West Virginia probably imagine this is done by miners working deep underground at tasks they have done for generations. However, since the 1980s, the coal companies have used far fewer miners and far more explosives to blast through the tops of mountains to their coal seams within. In this world, the immediately recognizable rolling tips of the Appalachian range are called overburden. Ciarrocchi decided to create the film Overburden after witnessing mountain top removal firsthand during a research trip to West Virginia last summer. Her work will be a full and split-screen, single channel experimental video comprised of footage of active and abandoned mines from the ground and from the air, juxtaposed with video portraits of activists, local residents, miners, and coal company officials. The video images will reflect the conflicting realities of life in West Virginia: the lushness of the landscape and the desolation of the mines. This work will be documentary in style, but will contain no commentary or interviews. The goal is to create a durational work of open narrative that presents no single agenda other than exposing the complex issues surrounding energy production in the United States.

SCOTT CUMMINGS was awarded a grant for BUFFALO JUGGALOS, a half-hour experimental video portrait of the Juggalo community of Buffalo, New York. Juggalos are a subculture of fans of the band Insane Clown Posse, a clown-themed hardcore hip-hop duo from Detroit known for their controversial lyrics and hardcore following. Juggalos have gained media attention due to several violent episodes that have lead law enforcement in many states to classify them as a street gang. This reputation is augmented by the Juggalos exaggerated style they paint their faces in evil clown make-up for community events and concerts. Behind the make-up, the stereotypical image of the Juggalo stands as white, poor, overweight, unattractive, strung out on drugs, and prone to violence in other words, White Trash. This experimental video portrait will explore that characterization as both true and untrue.

Support was awarded to JEAN-MICHEL DISSARD & GITTE PENG for the documentary, I Learn America. At the international High School at Lafayette, a public school in New York City dedicated to serving newly arrived immigrant teenagers, more than 300 students speaking two-dozen languages from 50 countries come together in a unique educational experience. While they have different stories some have come to live with their parents for the first time in years, some have left their families behind, others have escaped poverty or the brutality of civil war only to live in public housing and confront urban violence here all strive for a good education and a better life while confronting the all-too-real possibility that they may never live the American dream. Who are these children, and what is the America they know? I Learn America weaves together the stories of five of these students, from new arrivals learning their first words of English to high school seniors poised to graduate.

BLAIR DOROSHWALTHER received a grant for Out in the Night, a feature-length, character-driven documentary examining the case against four young, African American lesbians, who defended themselves against an attacker and were sent to prison. On a hot summer evening in 2006, in the gay-friendly West Village neighborhood of New York City, a group of African American women in their late teens were sexually threatened and physically attacked by an older man. Even though no killing took place as they tried to defend themselves, the media reported the event as Attack of the Killer Lesbians. The justice system gave them unprecedentedly harsh prison sentences despite the fact that they had no previous criminal records. The Fire This Time focuses on the four women who went from being victims of a physical assault to being incarcerated as perpetrators. The film examines the events of that night from all sides and scrutinizes how and why these women were immediately criminalized.

ZACHARY HEINZERLING received support for Cutie and the Boxer, a feature-length documentary meditation on companionship, sacrifice and the creative spirit. This love story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of two New York-based Japanese artists, Ushio and Noriko Shinohara. Bound by years of quiet resentment, disappointments, and missed professional opportunities, they are locked in a hard, dependent love. Through candid scenes between the couple, the viewer comes to understand that the stark differences in the Shinoharas art and personalities are the basis for a deep and challenging symbiosis that has kept them together for 40 years. The film is a challenging and moving portrait of a couple wrestling with the eternal themes of sacrifice, unrealized ambitions, and aging, against the background of lives dedicated to art.

DEVIN HORAN was awarded support for RekonGrodek, an experimental film consisting of a prologue and a triptych of sequences structured around themes of trance, derangement, apocalypse, love, and suicide; a maelstrom of imagery about the compounded forces acting on the Austrian poet Georg Trakl. An accelerated, warped, and spectral world, fusing archival documentary footage with broken narrative fragments filmed in digital video. Overlaid by a voice-over bordering on incoherence, Trakl's disordered life and violent death are filtered into an iconographic vortex, re-arranging the consituents of his being in schizoid patterns, and creating a raw canvas of brutality, horror, and disintegration. Like Trakl's poetry itself, RekonGrodek should be seen as "one long uninterrupted visionary image, encompassing complex fusions of dream-like visions and the memory of real events and experiences propelled by an ever-deepening morbid anxiety, wherein existential concerns are sieved through a series of images onto our minds via hallucinatory scenes and settings, rather than through mere telling."  (Will Stone)

A grant was awarded to SUSAN MARKS and JOHN KURTIS DEHN for Murder in a Nutshell: The Frances Glessner Lee Story. This feature-length documentary is about a mysterious and brilliant woman who pioneered the field of legal medicine (later called forensics) in the 1930s, an era when women were rarely accepted in the realms of law enforcement and science. Frances Glessner Lee was a wealthy heiress from the Victorian age, but she was far from the eras picture of femininity. She was no-nonsense in appearance, extremely intelligent, and well read. Still, her father, of the International Harvester fortune, forbade her from going to college, insisting education was wasted on women. Frances married young, had children, and quickly divorced. Without money of her own, she spent much of her adult life under the thumb of her controlling parents. Her brother introduced her to a friend from Harvard, Dr. George McGrath. She and McGrath struck up a close friendship that led to many late nights talking through details of crime scenes and grisly murders. Frances came to understand the need to better educate police detectives in processing crime scenes. Throughout the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, she was considered a pioneer in the budding field of forensics. She went on to become the first woman member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences as well as an honorary police captain in the New Hampshire State Police, with full rights and privileges. Through her accomplishments, she was dubbed, The Patron Saint of Forensics.

KEITH MILLER was awarded support for Primo and Shan (working title), a feature-length narrative set within the world of East New Yorks gangs. The work follows two men as they face the challenges of inner city manhood, although what this means for each is very different. For Primo, it means becoming a father and an honest man. For Shan, a 15-year old who recently joined a gang, it is less clear. He blames Primo for his fathers death and sees the gang and revenge as a path to manhood. Both Primo and Shan struggle with the consequences of gang life. This story is an attempt to understand the complicated nature of gang life and to humanize the people who participate in it.

MOON MOLSON received a grant for THE BRAVEST, THE BOLDEST, a narrative short about Keisha Bailey, an African American mother living in the Marcus Garvey Projects in the Bronx, who does all she can to avoid what she knows will be bad news. On the way back up to her apartment one day from the basement laundry, she discovers that two Army Notification Officers are going to her same floor. Instead of getting off with them, she stays on the elevator and watches to see if they go to her door. They do, and since Keishas son has been fighting in the war in the Middle East, she assumes they can only be bearing news that her son is either seriously injured or dead. Thus begins her journey of avoidance, by doing anything she can to not hear the news that she knows awaits her.

MICHAEL J. PETERSON received support for Insectula!, a feature-length sci-fi horror comedy about a giant alien mosquito-type insect that is drawn to earth in search of blood by high levels of carbon dioxide pollution in the planets atmosphere. The films protagonist, Dell, is a government EPA agent who loses loved ones to the creature and is on a personal vendetta. Dell attempts environmentally friendly methods to dispatch the creature, but his methods and control are eventually replaced by a military solution. The military option also fails to kill the creature, and Dell realizes he must sacrifice himself in the end. The films antagonist is a mad scientist working with Dell, who is captivated by the creature and attempts to help it cleanse the earth. The scientist postulates that since mosquitos are attracted to carbon dioxide, earths increased global levels of it have drawn the large alien creature. He also believes modern mosquitos are actually descendants of an earlier invasion. He is raising a mosquito hatchling to prove his theory as he works to subvert Dell. He views the giant creature as pure and humans as polluters who are the true pests. The beautiful lab assistant of both scientists is caught in the middle of this mess and plays a crucial role in helping the audience discover the true nature of the lead characters as well as provide tense moments of peril and suspense.

JEFF REICHERT received a grant in support of a feature-length documentary, Remote Area Medical. A debate over healthcare has been raging nationwide, but whats been lost in the discussion of mandates, payers, pre-existing conditions, and deficits are the American citizens who live every day without proper access to healthcare, afraid of injury and suffering through minor illnesses in the hopes that they will just get better on their own. Remote Area Medical will document the annual three-day pop-up medical clinic put on by the non-profit Remote Area Medical (RAM) in the NASCAR speedway of Bristol, Tennessee. Even though the small town is only a few hundred miles from the nations capitol, access to proper medical care for many in the region might as well be worlds away. Instead of a film about policy, or which system is better, will cover more, or cost less, Remote Area Medical will be a film about people, about a one-of-a-kind experience and an unlikely community that arises in the same place every year. Remote Area Medical will use the RAM experience as a window through which a vast, unseen swath of American society can be viewed.

DEB SHOVAL received a grant in support of a feature-length narrative called AWOL. Joey, 19, is a recent high school graduate who is working her way slowly toward nothing in rural Northeast Pennsylvania. Physically strong and honest, she lives up to the low expectations of others until she meets Rayna, 28, a sexy, married mother of two who is vivacious, bold, and lonely. Despite the realities of her Appalachian poverty, Rayna exudes a joie de vivre that is addictive. Rayna seduces Joey, and Joey is smitten. But when Joeys Catholic mother announces that its time for Joey to move out, and Rayna makes it clear that their trysts will never become anything more, Joey must make some choices about her future in a post-industrial area with little to offer. With Raynas encouragement and without any other viable options for housing or employment, Joey joins the Army. As summer becomes fall and fall becomes winter, Joey and Rayna exchange letters and fuel their passion once again. Preoccupied by her infatuation with Rayna, Joey concocts big plans to run away to Canada from her home, her family, and the Army with Rayna and Raynas kids. Moments before crossing the Canadian border, Joey finds Rayna with her husband, and realizes shes traveled hundreds of miles northward under a lie. As the reality of Raynas deception becomes clear, Joey decides to continue the journey alone, crossing the border into her new future and new self.

STEFANIE SPARKS was awarded a grant for Cathy Coppola, a neo-realistic, comedic, character-driven narrative feature. The film will present a satirical look at class, ambition and the female experience as seen from the fringes of the contemporary American independent film world. Cathy Coppola will focus on primary character Cathy Klinkmans struggle to get her feature film made while suffering from a loss of confidence. After winning a film competition at North Seattle Community College, Cathy quickly makes her way to Los Angeles. She lands a job on a successful LA television show. She gets caught up in the fast-paced lifestyle of LA and gets fired from her job after just a few months, so she heads to New York and Film School. Five years later she receives her Masters degree from Columbia and is again on her way to the top. She eventually lands an interview with a renowned film producer. The interview goes well, but Cathy is surprised to discover that her job will be taking the producers dogs on the weekends, not assisting on a film as she had hoped. And so begins a long series of mishaps, until Cathy resorts to anything to get ahead, including posing as the illegitimate daughter of Francis Ford Coppola. Suddenly her world is occupied by industry people who cant get enough of her. But where will all this lead? Will Cathy make it in the world of independent film, or will her deception be her final undoing?

MICHÉLE STEPHENSON received support for American Promise, a documentary twelve years in the making that chronicles the school experiences of two African American boys and their families, offering an unprecedented look at the complexities of race, parenting, privilege, and education at the dawn of the 21st century. Stephenson and her husband Joe Brewster turned the camera on themselves and began filming the experiences of their five year-old son Idris and his best friend Seun, as they started kindergarten in 1999. The boys enrolled at the prestigious Dalton School on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, just as the private institution boldly strengthened its commitment to cultivating a diverse student body. Over the 12 years of this film, we see the boys and their families navigate learning differences that later become diagnoses, struggle with stereotypes and identity, and ultimately take increasingly divergent paths on their road to graduation. We also see a rare and vivid portrait of middle-class African American families as the filmmaker parents wrestle with doubt and angst over their sons educational journey. Both sets of parents grapple with how best to support their sons and interact with teachers and administrators. All of this is set against the backdrop of a persistent educational achievement gap that dramatically affects African American boys at all socioeconomic levels across the country. The film puts a face to the unique social and emotional needs of these boys and poignantly calls into question commonly held assumptions about access, resources, and what really influences academic performance.

Homegoings is a feature documentary exploring the African American way of death. Filmed at Owens Funeral Home in Harlem and rural South Carolina, the film takes an up-close and unusual look into the rarely seen world of undertaking, one of the few occupations Black Americans could enter freely after slavery. Combining cinema verit? with intimate interviews and personal photographs, Homegoings tells the stories of several families who have lost loves ones, while painting a vivid portrait of the passionate man behind their funerals.

A grant was awarded to STEPHANIE WANG-BREAL for TOUGH LOVE, a feature-length documentary about the conflicting values, uncertainties and tensions that surround the child welfare system. The film follows 23-year old Hasna Hanna, a first-generation Bangladeshi immigrant who, along with her devoted husband Philly, navigates the child welfare system of New York City to get their children back and out of foster care. By following Hanna and Philly, the film will provide a birds eye view of how the system works from the inside. Viewers will experience, firsthand, the hardships and value judgments Hanna and Philly face, as individuals and as a couple, as they attempt to keep their family together.

MAYA WASHINGTON was awarded a grant in support of Through the Banks of the Red Cedar. A play on the Michigan State University fight song, this work follows the filmmakers father, wide-receiver Gene Washington (College Football Hall of Famer and 50 Greatest Vikings honoree) and notable teammates from the 1965 and 1966 Michigan State National Championship teams, as they change the literal face of college and professional football, impacting the lives of their children and generations to follow. The film unfolds through the eyes of the filmmaker, Maya Washington, as she uncovers the individual journeys of these legends their coaches, spouses, friends, children, and grandchildrenrevealing the ways in which football scholarships impacted the lives of players of color, who were literally dropped into an integrated environment for the first time. This film also looks at the lives of generations that followed at the height of the Civil Rights Movement in America. Ultimately, Through the Banks of the Red Cedar is Maya Washingtons story in that it looks at how winning a Big Ten football scholarship in 1963 changed her fathers life, the face of the game, and her own future.

A grant was awarded to CALEB WOOD in support of his experimental hand drawn animated film, MN: Animated Portrait of Minnesota, which focuses on Minnesotas diverse and unique landscapes, wild life, and humanity. The film will stagger back and forth from nature and wildlife to civilization and human behavior. The juxtaposition of these elements will present the year long observed relationship that Minnesotans have with their seasonal environment, ranging from oblivious to harmonious. It will also highlight the beauty of the state's designated and untouched wildlife. A balance between nature and humanity will be the underlying motif. The overall message of MN: Animated Portrait of Minnesota is to present a series of truths that the state of Minnesota holds. The film will be a didactic look at the environment, as well as a work aiming to push the boundaries of how hand drawn animation can be made and used to share experiences in life. This is not a narrative story with a clear conclusion, it is a collection of moments, found through personal exploration in art and environment, composed in a poetic manner.

A grant was awarded to SAM ZALUTSKYfor How to Make it to the Promised Land, a narrative short about Lizzie Lenthem, a Southern California teenager who struggles with the everyday perils of contemporary adolescence: divorced and bickering parents, sexual exploration, fitting in. But Lizzie, who gets sent to a Jewish camp by her mother, must grapple with larger issues when she is forced to play a Holocaust role-play game at camp. Under the guise of an educational experience, Lizzie and the other campers are divided into SS Officers and Jews in Nazi-occupied Poland in 1941. Lizzie plays Anya Ossevsheva, a 21-year-old mother of four who has to find her husband and escape to America (which in reality is the other side of the summer camp) without getting caught by the SS and being sent to a concentration camp. As the game devolves into chaos, Lizzie tries to avoid the ever-increasing frenzy of the campers and the zealousness of her counselors, ultimately realizing that she can no longer participate in this strange game of memory and identification.

ANGAD BHALLA received $10,000 for The House That Herman Built, a documentary that follows the creative journey of Herman Wallace, one of the Angola 3 (three men who have been held in solitary confinement for 38 years at the notorious Louisiana State Penitentiary known as Angola for a murder they say they did not commit and for speaking out against inhumane prison conditions and racial segregation). Wallace and New Orleans based artist Jackie Sumell developed a friendship and six-year creative collaboration that resulted in The House That Herman Built, a constellation of creative works that were born out of the question: What kind of a house does a man who has lived in a six-foot-by-nine-foot cell for over 30 years dream of? This documentary focuses on the evolving relationship of Wallace and Sumell, starting with Sumell initially writing to Wallace in 2001. The power of that single letter culminated in a travelling exhibition, a book and, ultimately, designs for a 2-story, 3,000 square foot green home that emerged from the imagination of a man who, according to filmmaker Angad Bhalla, has been locked in the darkest dungeon of Americas criminal justice system.