Three of the eleven projects selected for the IDA’s 2022 Enterprise Documentary Fund are from WMM-sponsored filmmakers! These three projects were selected from a pool of 248 applicants to receive a total of $600,000 in production grants. The filmmakers at the helm of the selected projects represent a diverse slate: 70% are women or gender-non-conforming filmmakers, 70% are filmmakers of color, and 40% identify as members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Congratulations to our WMM-sponsored projects:
- MADE IN ETHIOPIA (dir. Xinyan Yu and Max Duncan), which follows three pioneering women navigating the bumpy expansion of the biggest Chinese industrial zone in Ethiopia;
- MY MIDWIFE (dir. Elaine Epstein), an examination of the battle between medicine and midwifery and its impact on maternal child health;
- SUGARCANE (dir. Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie), a gripping investigation into unmarked graves at an Indian residential school, which ignites a reckoning in the lives of the survivors and their descendants, including the film’s co-director.
This year’s selection panel remarked: “As we confront a restructured world, the jurors were impressed by these documentary filmmakers’ deep commitment to telling stories of resistance and resilience while maintaining care for the relationships with the participants and communities centered in their work. The projects collectively push the boundaries of journalistic engagement with the art of nonfiction as they craft compelling and starkly unique narratives. We hope they will be an inspiration to the field at large.”
A complete list of grantees can be found here.
