Past
Grantees

Isabel Sandoval received $15,100 for Lingua Franca, a narrative feature about an undocumented Filipina transwoman who works as a caregiver to Olga, an elderly Russian-Jewish woman with dementia. She becomes involved with Alex, Olga’s adult grandson, who is unaware that Olivia is transgender. This film, inextricably linked to Sandoval’s intensely personal journey, explores the nuanced and layered contemporary issues of immigration and transgender rights through the lens of a romantic drama.

Mónica Savirón received $30,000 for The Ledger Line. This experimental film enacts what ledger lines do, bringing voices difficult to be heard and be accounted for into the musical score. Shifting from archival and found footage to original imagery filmed by Savirón, this work extends the space for what one can hear and express, especially when it comes to sexism, racism, and climate crisis. Sound is the guiding force for the images to move and evolve, tracing lines of cause and effect between our actions and the world.

Peter Nelson received $30,000 for Whiteness at Work, which weaves together five narratives of individuals reflecting on their whiteness. Historically, race has been viewed as a non-white issue, and the burden to understand race and racism in recent years has been overwhelmingly put on people of color. This project seeks to engage white people in a self-examination of their whiteness. Nelson will use stop motion animation and recorded interviews to reveal white perspectives, biases, and blind spots as individuals consider their roles in white privilege, white solidarity, and white fragility.

Xiaolu Wang received $30,000 for Wet Togetherness. The film follows the spirit of a drowned child who leads the filmmaker on a pilgrimage to dismantle their fear of water. By visiting with the humans and marine mammals who explore interdependence and collective organizing, new forms of engaging with the water and each other emerge.

Flavio Alves received $20,000 in support of The Garden Left Behind, a feature-length narrative film about a Mexican trans woman struggling to build a life for herself as an undocumented immigrant in New York City.

Nira Burstein received $30,000 in support of Charm Circle. Catalyzed by her sister’s upcoming wedding, filmmaker Nira Burstein delves into the most significant partnership she’s been witness to thus far- that of her parents. Uri & Raya's relationship began as a whirlwind romance, beget three children, and currently, is in a state of constant chaos. Father and artist Uri juggles bills that are past due, a house falling apart, and a wife struggling for his attention.  A meditation on love and family, dreams and sacrifice,  Charm Circle explores what a marriage might be at the midnight hour.

Benjamin May received $30,000 in support of Wet House. Wet House documents life in Minneapolis' Wet House, where chronic alcoholics live, are cared for, are allowed to drink.

Nicholas Nerburn received $29,764 in support of The Great American Think-Off. This documentary film is centered on a public philosophy contest held every year in New York Mills, Minnesota, population 1,199. Four “thinkers” who have submitted essays on an agreed-upon philosophical question are brought to New York Mills, where they are invited to make their arguments before the town, who chooses a “Great American Thinker” by vote in their elementary school’s gym.