Past
Grantees

SUSAN YOUSSEF received support for Marjoun and the Flying Headscarf, a feature-length narrative film. With her father imprisoned on terrorist-related charges, an Arab-American teenager in Arkansas searches for identity in the headscarf and a motorcycle. The rider is Marjoun: seventeen, small in stature, large dark eyes. She is dressed in all black from her shoes to her headscarf. The headscarf is held together with metal safety pins, lining the right side of her head, towards the nape of her neck. The scarf flaps in the wind as she rides into a James Dean inspired quest for her identity. In Marjoun and the Flying Headscarf, she is left cleaning up the mess in the household after her father Aabid’s life as a convenience store owner transforms into the life of a prisoner. As her choices get more limited, and as the world around her identifies her as a Muslim, she comes to explore her relationship with God, and specifically her relationship with Islam through the hijab. In this film, Marjoun is featured as a ‘liberated’ muhajiba who takes her life into her own hands. The filmmaker hopes this unorthodox approach to telling the story of a young Arab-American teenager will help change how non-Muslims perceive the often misunderstood hijab.

THE FIELD, New York City, as fiscal sponsor for choreographer LUCIANA ACHUGAR, Brooklyn, New York, received $10,000 in support of the development and production of Otro Teatro.  Founded by artists for artists, The Field is dedicated to providing strategic services to performing artists and companies in New York City and beyond.  It fosters creative exploration, stewards innovative management strategies, and helps artists reach their fullest potential.  achugar’s work exposes the viewer to the unavoidability of the body and consequently arrives at dancing as a necessary and unquestionable act, as catharsis and/or celebration.  Her work pays homage to the classical forms of dance and theater that continue to be relevant, yet questions a civilized standard of beauty and order that puts the body under the tyranny of the intellect.  Otro Teatro examines the role of dance as a form within the context of theater, proposing another kind of theater, a theater of the other, giving voice to the arcane spirit, instincts, and desires of bodies. 

MITCHELL ARENS received $17,500 for Muzhik, a feature-length Super 16-mm documentary about Sergei Anatolievich Leonov, a recovering alcoholic living in rural Siberia, who fights to maintain the wellbeing of his family in the face of nearly immeasurable odds.  Sergei lives in Ust-Barguzin, a small town on the eastern coast of Lake Baikal in the Russian province of Buryatia. He lives with his wife, mother, sister, nephew, and brother-in-law, all of whom, with the exception of his mother and nephew, are self-abusive alcoholics. They share a single room home and are supported solely by Sergei and his work as a logger.  In Russia it’s important to note whether or not an individual has depth in his/her soul. This is true of Sergei. He is patient and firm, suppressed but energized, gentle but calloused, and foulmouthed but honest. He exists at the center of his family serving as its life support. In doing so, he displays a capacity for sacrifice that demands faithful documentation.  The goal of the filmmaker is to see Sergei’s will, his strengths and weaknesses, his hardships, and his love and affection for his family exposed plainly and honestly.

CORINNE BOTZ was awarded funding for Bedside Manner, an experimental documentary that will use the construction/deconstruction of a standardized patient simulation to explore the performative aspect of doctor-patient encounters.  Focusing on a neuropsychology case (delirium), the piece will be shot in a manner that references the history of psychiatric photography and how the camera has been used to represent and construct medical interactions. Bedside Manner will enact a reversal of the traditional medical gaze from the patient onto the doctor.  Ethical and aesthetic issues that result from who is looking, how and in what context will be addressed.  This film examines issues related to empathy and medical relationships. 

AARON BROOKNER, received a grant in support of Uncle Howard, an intimate character-driven documentary about the life of filmmaker Howard Brookner, who died of AIDS making his breakthrough Hollywood feature at age 34. Howard Brookner was an incendiary unknown artist who, in the space of his short lifetime, managed to make three astonishing feature films. In Uncle Howard, Aaron Brookner – his nephew and the maker of this film – seeks to resurrect the memory of his beloved uncle, and to spark emulation of Howard’s inspirational approach to filmmaking and art. Aaron Brookner’s quest leads us into a labyrinth of old guard artists, unreliable narrators, secrets, and lies in a tale of power, control, and ultimately, love. As he pieces together the story of his uncle’s life journey, the figure of an artist who championed artistic struggle in a hostile world emerges. Aaron Brookner also explores Howard’s dance with death, set in motion by the “devil’s bargain” he entered in the making of his acutely perceptive film portrait of William Burroughs.

JUXTAPOSITION ARTS, Minneapolis, Minnesota, as fiscal sponsor for choreographer Kenna-Camara Cottman, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received $8,000 in support of the development and production of Takk.  Juxtaposition Arts develops community by engaging and employing young urban artists in hands-on education initiatives that create pathways to self-sufficiency while actualizing creative power.  It combines design education and youth empowerment with a social-enterprise business model.  Cottman has been dancing, studying, teaching, and organizing in the Minneapolis area for over 20 years.  Her main area of focus is Black Dance, with an emphasis on West African and Hip Hop Dance and culture.  Takk is an exploration of relationships placed in the shifting sand of a Senegalese wrestling ring.  The work will investigate the ambiguity that comes from expressing emotions and desire, the effects of commentary by outsiders on a romance, and the way the sand affects movement.  Jerome support will subsidize, in part, three productions of the work in 2013.

OPEN EYE FIGURE THEATRE, Minneapolis, Minnesota, as fiscal sponsor for Annie Enneking, received $8,000 in support of the development and production of what i want now i will want later. Open Eye’s mission is to create original figure theatre, animate the inanimate on an intimate scale, train the next generation of figure theatre artists, and advance adventurous artist-driven programming. Enneking is a singer-songwriter, actor, dancer, fight director, and teaching artist. what i want now i will want later will be a performance installation that blends music, video, and live performance based on the mythology surrounding sirens, sea nymphs who bewitched sailors and lured them to their deaths with their songs. Enneking is creating a walking tour through a “gallery of loss”, with a theatrical song structure around the pathos of suffering, the violence of heroism, and the allure of situations where to love invites death. The stories investigate how the body and soul surrender to song, how music is a method of murder, and how art brings life and destroys it.

 KIERA FABER received $7,500 for Obscurer, an experimental film about the fragile microcosm of a children's author and her invented companions.  It tells the story of an isolated female author living an existence that intermingles dream and reality. She writes compulsively, working on a children’s book in an invented script that mimics human language but is indecipherable. Scenes from the book are enacted on marionette stages, orchestrated by two grotesque and masked female armatured puppeteers. It is unclear if the puppeteers act out the author’s wishes, playing out scenes from the book, or if through their actions they orchestrate the author’s writing itself.  The film will weave stop motion animation and live action together to question perceptions of reality, characters intentions, and what is malevolent or benevolent.

ANNA FAHR received a grant for Transit Game, a narrative short about eleven-year-old Palestinians Saad and Nada who spend their days peddling newspapers and candy to drivers who pass by on a stretch of highway along the eastern Mediterranean.  Some of those drivers engage in conversation, while others hurriedly drive on.  On one particular day, Saad and Nada encounter a Syrian man named Mohammad who runs out of gas and leaves his car stranded on the side of the road.  This film is about the brief exchange of Saad and Nada with this refugee of the Syrian war.

FRACTURED ATLAS, New York City, as fiscal sponsor for REID FARRINGTON, Brooklyn, New York, received $12,000 in support of the development, production, and installation of The Return.  Fractured Atlas empowers artists, arts organizations, and other cultural sector stakeholders by eliminating practical barriers to artistic expression, so as to foster a more agile and resilient cultural ecosystem.  Reid Farrington is a new media artist, theater director, and stage designer.  The performance installation for which support was awarded will be presented at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and based on Tullio Lombardo’s Adam. This sculpture has undergone a decade-long, painstaking analysis and unprecedented restoration project by the Metropolitan Museum conservators, scholars, and scientists to restore the piece following its accidental destruction in 2002 when its plywood-base buckled.    The work blends live performance with digital characters to create an interactive story of the sculpture for visitors to the Museum.  Farrington envisions that visitors will initiate virtual reenactments and time-behind encounters between Tullio Lombardo, Museum conservators, and Adam.

SAM FEDER, received a grant in support of Kate Bornstein is a Queer & Pleasant Danger, a documentary feature about the original gender outlaw, transgender pioneer, former Scientologist, world-renowned author and performer, Kate Bornstein. Kate pioneered the idea that one can choose to be neither man nor woman. According to filmmaker Sam Feder, this is a notion that continues to save thousands of gender nonconforming people’s lives worldwide. This film is a study of a human being, and an exploration of form and content that reflects the complexities of Bornstein, her life, and the LGBT community. The film leads the viewer through Kate’s public and personal life, revealing how she has become a queer hero and cultural trailblazer, through her performances, writing, and lectures.

DAVID FIGUEROA received support for Gloom, a narrative short that tackles social class structure by studying the psyche of Lazarus, a driver dealing with his obsession with his late boss’s daughter, Lucia. Along with two other servants, Lazurus is left to run the home of his late boss as Lucia grieves over the loss of her father.  Lazurus has always been a voyeuristic observer of Lucia and dared not go beyond his station in life as her servant. Now things are different. He decides to confront the solitude and frustration that prevented him from pursuing her heart.  Stagnated in the midst of languor, decadence, and nostalgia, the film is about recognizing one’s own solitude and searching for comfort in others.

JENNIFER GRAUSMAN & SAM CULLMAN were awarded funding for ART AND CRAFT, a documentary that uncovers the story of a prolific art forger just as his 30-year con is publicly revealed.  Mark Landis has been called one of the most prolific art forgers in US history.  His impressive body of work covers a wide range of painting styles and periods that includes 15th century icons, the Hudson River School, Picasso, and even Walt Disney Studios. While the copies would certainly fetch impressive sums in the open market, Mark Landis was never in it for the money.  Filmed over an intense transformative period during which his ruse was discovered and his forgeries publicly displayed, ART AND CRAFT combines elements of humor, investigation, confession, and classic observation to uncover one of the most intriguing cases of deception in art history.

STEPHEN GUREWITZ received $15,000 for You Take Care, a comedic drama about Jane and Matt, a young couple pulled apart by life's responsibilities as they transition into adulthood. The fallout leads to the question: How long should we hold on to the past before it’s time to move on? Jane, a baker, and Matt, a customer service representative, are a couple in their mid-twenties living a social, outgoing lifestyle in New York City. All seems well until the city’s demands begin to dwarf their aged relationship. As the two grow apart they distance themselves from the relationship in their own way – both putting up their own façade to give the idea they’ve moved on. Matt buries himself in his creative writing and a series of fruitless relationships.  Jane, on the other hand, makes the more drastic change, by moving across the world, to Hong Kong. She claims the move is signaled by a once in a lifetime opportunity to develop her cooking techniques studying with a master. In reality, she’s a host at an American restaurant in the Central District.  Soon, Matt is visiting Jane in Hong Kong. It’s a trip of murky intentions; are they trying to build a new foundation to their relationship or prove to each other that they’ve both moved on? In a bittersweet ending, Jane and Matt go their separate ways. They move on to new experiences, but are able to credit their relationship together as what helped form the person that each has become. You Take Care is a film about relationships, growing into adulthood, the regret that stems from missed opportunities, and the difficulties of figuring it out.

The NEW YORK FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS, Brooklyn, New York, as fiscal sponsor for MARIA HASSABI, New York City, received $10,000 in support of the creation, development, and production of the new work Premiere.  The mission of the New York Foundation for the Arts is to empower artists at critical stages in their creative lives.  Hassabi is a director, choreographer, and performer.  Premieres are widely considered special, even more prestigious than later performances, which is a paradox given that they are often imbued with fragility, even awkwardness.  Hassabi is interested in exploring this first encounter.  Essentially, this public moment is what validates the existence of any creation as a work of art.  Premiere is composed of five solos occurring simultaneously.  The material features a precise, sculpturesque approach to movement, creating images that are recognizable to the viewer, and placing them in extended duration.

LASKA JIMSEN received $15,000 for the feature-length documentary essay Deer of North America, which explores the contradictory and mythologized relationships between human beings and deer. The film documents spaces where lines between artificial and natural, domesticated and wild, are blurred. People and deer encounter each other in the context of research, conservation, tourism, facilities management, agriculture, and hunting. From Port Townsend, Washington, where some residents plant deer-friendly gardens in front of their Victorian homes to encourage the packs of white tails to confidently stroll the streets and sidewalks every twilight, to Chicago’s O’Hare airport where a wildlife management team keeps errant bucks from sprinting down runways, our national relationship with deer is paradoxical and complex. This film examines the nuances of those complexities.

ADAM KELEMAN was awarded a grant for Easy Living, a feature-length narrative.  Pulling up to the side of the road, Sherry, a pale-skinned woman wearing a powder blue suit, steps out of her beat-up yellow Chevy and urinates on the gravel beside her.  She pulls up her white underwear and grabs a cigarette from her purse located on the passenger seat. Leaning against the car, she takes a few puffs from the cigarette, observing the passersby on the road.  Thus begins Easy Living, a portrait of a down-and-out makeup saleswoman trying to get her life back on track.  The film utilizes nonfiction strategies within an intimate, fictionalized story arc to provide a nuanced glimpse into the routine obstacles and emotional turmoil of this troubled character.

YUKI KOKUBO was awarded a grant for a documentary entitled Kasamayaki. Set in the rural artists’ community of Kasama, just 90-miles south of the Fukushima nuclear reactors, this is the story of one family’s journey to heal old wounds.  Katsuji and Shigeko, parents of the filmmaker, make their living as potters in Kasama.  They have lived there since the early 1970s, with the exception of several years spent in New York City where they left their daughter Yuki behind at age 16.  Reeling from the disasters, Yuki realizes how far she has drifted from her parents and decides to travel back to Japan to reconnect with her roots and find out why the family fell apart.  Through the camera, Yuki patiently observes her parents in order to better understand them as people and to learn what it means to be Japanese in a time of crisis. 

THE FIELD, New York City, as fiscal sponsor for AARON LANDSMAN, received a two-year grant of $20,000 in support of the development and production of two works, Perfect City and Running Away from the One with the Knife.  Founded by artists for artists, The Field is dedicated to providing strategic services to performing artists and companies in New York City and beyond.  Landsman makes performances about urban intimacy and absence, civic life, and the structures of government.  Some pieces are staged in places where people perform their lives, like homes, offices, and meeting rooms.  Others use established performance venues.  Running Away from the One with the Knife is a three-character stage work that is a memorial, an exorcism, and an act of faith.  Written in a prismatic structure that moves between past and present through the eyes of three unreliable narrators, the play asks what anyone can do to stall a loved one’s morbid determination.  Perfect City engages communities, researchers, multi-player game designers, and other artists.  It continues Landman’s interest in the way cities function, or don’t, and individual agency in the face of institutions, power structures, and the American myth of reinvention.  Perfect City takes many forms.  

The Field, New York City, as fiscal sponsor for Loan Wolf Tribe, Brooklyn, New York, received $8,000 in support of the development and production of The God Projekt by Kevin Augustine.  Founded by artists for artists, The Field is dedicated to providing strategic services to thousands of performing artists and companies in New York City and beyond.  It fosters creative exploration, stewards innovative management strategies, and helps artists reach their fullest potential.  Lone Wolf Tribe, under the artistic direction of Kevin Augustine, is a puppet theatre ensemble blending history, sociology, and psychology into brutally poetic contemporary narratives.  Its visceral and fantastical productions explore the edges of theatrical style and human experience.  The God Projekt is described as a raucous investigation into the mysteries of the universe.  Featuring a tour-de-force solo performance by the Man Upstairs himself, bloody puppetry, and Catskill-style stand-up comedy, the show daringly takes on two subjects not to be discussed in polite company: religion and politics.