The Ford Foundation announced its overall funding for independent documentary films for 2021, providing over $20.29 million to support 122 organizations and filmmakers, and twenty-four WMM filmmakers and Program alum are among the recipients!
The list of WMM filmmakers who received grants and their new projects are below:
- Paula Eiselt (dir. 93QUEEN) – AFTERSHOCK
- Abby Ginzberg (dir. WAGING CHANGE) – WAGING CHANGE
- Lisa Jackson (dir. THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO) – WILFRED BUCK
- Grace Lee (dir. THE GRACE LEE PROJECT) – MAY 19 PROJECT; VIEWERS LIKE US
- Michèle Stephenson (dir. STATELESS) – GOING TO MARS: THE NIKKI GIOVANNI PROJECT
- Pascale Appora-Genekindy & Ningyi Sun – EAT BITTER
- Miguel Araoz Cartagena & Stephanie Boyd – KARUARA, PEOPLE OF THE RIVER
- Stephanie Black – UNTITLED JAMAICA KINCAID PROJECT
- Lisa Cortes – THE EMPIRE OF EBONY
- Robie Flores – THE IN BETWEEN
- Hazel Gurland-Pooler – STORMING CAESARS PALACE
- Sarah Jones – SELL/BUY/DATE
- Maia Lekow & Christopher King – HOW TO BUILD A LIBRARY
- Alex Rivera – BANISHMENT
- Sasha Wortzel – RIVER OF GRASS
Congratulations to Program alums Maisie Crow (AT THE READY), Catherine Gund (MEANWHILE), Kristi Jacobson (NO ACCIDENT), Meena Nanji (w.t. TESTAMENT), PJ Raval (MAY 19 PROJECT), Brett Story (JFK8), and former staff member Pamela Yates (BORDERLAND)!
“The stories we tell will define the world we live in, with documentarians holding a mirror to our humanity in their works,” said Chi-hui Yang, senior program officer for JustFilms at the Ford Foundation. “We are committed to supporting Independent filmmaking that offers a slow approach to storytelling where the makers spend time entrenched in subject matter and craft and are rooted in the perspective of the communities that are seen in their films.”
More information about the Ford Foundation JustFilm grants can be found here.
