Mija by Isabel Castro
Last Friday, the Sundance Institute announced its latest cohort of Documentary Fund Grantees, composed of twenty three nonfiction film projects representing twenty one countries of production, including a handful of U.S. Latinx and Latin American projects. The grantees will benefit from unrestricted support totaling $540,000, permitted to be used by the grantees across various stages of production from development to post-production.
This year’s slate represents a strong year for more dynamic diversity in the field, with several new projects by U.S. Latinx and Latin American directors being supported by the Documentary Film Fund in the areas of development and post-production.
Selected for assistance in the preliminary development of their projects are the Chilean duo Carola Fuentes and Rafael Valdeavellano with their documentary Breaking the Brick, an investigation into Chile’s post-neoliberal awakening; Argentine filmmaker Alessandra Sanguinetti with her project The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer, an intimate portrait of two girls growing up in rural Argentina; and Mexican-American filmmaker Isabel Castro with her project Mija, profiling a 26-year-old music manager working to launch the career of Chicanx pop stars.
Selected for production support by the Institute are Peruvian director Augusto Zegarra Pineda-Arce with his project Hakuchu Munyata, a portrait of a young indigenous voice artist trying to save his language from extinction, and the collaborative team of Silvia Castaños, Estefanía Contreras, Miguel Drake-McLaughlin, Diane Ng, Ana Rodriguez-Falco, Jillian Schlesinger with their project Hummingbirds, a coming-of-age film that follows two friends in the summer heat of their Texas border town.
“During a time of shared crisis, it is essential that Sundance continue its steadfast support of artists across the globe,” said Carrie Lozano, Director of the Documentary Film Program in a statement. “These films creatively assert our common quests, conditions and resilience as they interrogate notions of individual and collective power.”
“Creative support for nonfiction storytellers feels especially urgent at the present moment,” added Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs, Director of the Documentary Film Fund. “These documentarians are helping us make sense of our collective history and reality, and through innovative approaches on diverse topics, helping us imagine a collective future.”
Founded in 1981 by Robert Redford, the Sundance Institute is a champion and curator of independent stories for the stage and screen. As a nonprofit organization, it provides and preserves the space for artists in film, theatre, film composing, and digital media to create and thrive.
