Past
Grantees

The artist will travel to Windhoek, Tsumeb, Etosha National Park, and Seringkop farm, Namibia and Nantes, Notre-dame-des-landes, and the Zone-a-defendre (Zad), France for 33 days. Arnold plans to explore land disputes in two different cultural contexts (occupation as resistance to development in La Zone-de-Défendre, France and occupation as indigenous land reclamation near Tsumeb, Namibia) as research for a documentary on the nature of land ownership struggles.

The artist will travel to Haiti for 31 days. In preparation for a feature-length experimental film about women, family, and land in Haiti, Bruno will conduct research and collect individual stories, particularly from matriarchs, which deal with common generational land disputes that violently and deeply divide families across the Caribbean.

The artist will travel to Bukhara, Samarkand, and Tashkent, Uzbekistan and Moscow, Russia for 21 days to conduct research around her familial legacy for a new video project centered on her family's story of the Bolshevik revolution and the Perestroika.

The artist will travel to Kathmandu, Nepal for 30 days. Joshi plans to research the internationally infamous “Royal Hotel” in Kathmandu, Nepal and the role it played in Nepal’s transformation from a closed kingdom to a colonial fantasy land in the 1950s. He is working on a new film that features the Hotel’s rise to fame and it’s eventual demise.

The artist will  travel to Seoul and Gwangju, South Korea for 31 days. Key will research the false national media coverage and news suppression during the Gwangju Uprising (a historic revolt in 1980 against South Korea's militarized regime that sparked the nation’s democratization movement), as well as collect oral histories from surviving members of her family in Gwangju who witnessed the event.

The artists will travel to Northwestern Ontario for research and development on a feature film about the groundbreaking and turbulent life of legendary Ojibway artist Norval Morrisseau (1931 - 2007).

The artist will travel to Port-au-Prince, Haiti for 60 days. Saintonge’s trip will be a investigation of the punk kids of Port-au-Prince as research for the upcoming feature film Erzili. The film, titled after the voduo spirit family of Loa, will be an exploration of young Haitians as they embark on a road trip looking for one of the group’s mother, who is hiding somewhere in the north.

The artist will travel to Santa Marta, El Banco, Santa Cruz Mompox and Barranquilla, Colombia for 15 days. Tavera will travel the Magdalena municipality in Colombia to study, document, conduct interviews and capture the migration of Cumbia music and the culture of this region. Tavera is working on a new project about the Cumbia rhythm, a blend of African, Spanish and Indigenous sounds, which transcends Colombia as it has immigrated to Latin America and the world.

Ram Devineni, New York City, received $5,000 to travel to Kolkata and Dehli, India to meet with organizations, artists, and writers to research the story, art, and concept for the next chapter of Priya's Shakti, an augmented reality mythological comic book and multimedia exhibition/film focused on sexual violence issues.

Jennifer Kramer, Minnesota, received $4,360 to travel to Juárez, Mexico to observe and investigate the life and work of Alma Gonzales, founder of a renowned music school for impoverished children, as the foundation for a new narrative screenplay of her life.

Jehra Patrick, Minnesota, received $1,500 to travel to New York City to meet with new media field leaders from Rhizome and the New Museum, New York Foundation for the Arts, Artsy.net, and ArtSpace.com, and attend Rhizome's annual Seven on Seven conference.

Elise Rasmussen, New York City, received $5,000 to travel to South Africa to research and gather resource material for a new project on the rhinoceros in its natural habitat, the effects of colonialism and post-apartheid on poaching and how communities are getting involved to prevent the extinction of this animal.

Reilly Tillman, Minnesota, received $4,476 to travel to Los Angeles, California to attend Film Independent’s annual independent filmmaker conference (FIND Forum); spend time with FIND staff to debrief the Forum and learn more about their cutting-edge education programs; reconnect with Los Angeles-based film producers who’ve participated in IFP MN’s Filmmaker Conference; and form new alliances with other champions of independent film.

Livia Ungur and Sherng-Lee Huang, New York City, received $5,000 to travel to Bucharest, Romania to conduct research for a feature-length essay film about pop culture under totalitarian rule; gather newsreel, television, and movie footage from the National Film Archives; and interview people involved in the original productions.

Tony Whitfield, New York City, received $5,000 to travel to Paris to establish relationships and conduct research with members of that city's LGBTQ community and find collaborators for a new multi-year, multi-platform transmedia project exploring a century of queer life in public.

Sen-I Yu, New York City, received $5,000 to travel to Taipei, Taiwan to conduct research and gather visual references for a new narrative feature project My Beauty Queen Mom, a comedy-drama that explores mental health issues, family relationships, and the beauty pageant culture in Taiwan.

CARRINGTON, BLAKE, New York City, will travel to Japan: Tokyo, Gifu, Kyoto, Nara, Awa and Yamaguchi to research the creative possibilities of cutting-edge video/media arts in Japan and so-called “traditional” forms of technology: sumi-e (ink painting) and washi (Japanese handmade paper). Combining old and new technology – digital and analog – Carrington will explore new techniques for his work.

CHANDLER, TODD, New York City, will gather research for his next feature film while traveling from Boston to Los Angeles and back on a Greyhound bus. Over the course of the 12-day journey Chandler will shoot video and photo documentation, conduct interviews at bus stations and rest stops, and scout locations for his new film, The Scenic Route. 

CUMMINGS, SCOTT, New York City, to travel to Buffalo, New York to do research for a new feature film with members of a Juggalo community. Juggalo subculture are fans of the Insane Clown Posse, an clown-themed hip hop duo from Detroit, Michigan, known for their controversial lyrics and hardcore following. Through his research, Cummings is looking beyond the make-up and the stereotypical image of the Juggalos as white, poor, overweight, unattractive, strung out on drugs, and prone to violence young people, for something deeper. 

FERGUSON, JIMMY, New York City, to travel to Nicaragua (Léon, Chinandega, Managua, Masaya, Matiguás, Mosquitía) to immerse himself in cultural traditions, celebrations, and landscapes as research for his feature film Miskito.  Ferguson’s work incorporate both documentary and narrative-fiction techniques, constructing fictional stories out of real-world characters, locations, events, and/or environments. This research will provide the real world details for his new film, which is set against the complex cultural and historical identities of Nicaragua.