Ilse Fernández, Jorge Villalobos, and Carlos Hagerman
The International Documentary Association (IDA) has announced filmmakers Ilse Fernández, Carlos Hagerman and Jorge Villalobos as recipients of their latest round of grants. Colombian-born US documentary filmmaker and Emmy nominated producer Fernández was named winner of the 2021 Logan Elevate Grant, and Mexican filmmakers Carlos Hagerman and Jorge Villalobos were the winners of the Pare Lorentz Documentary Fund on the theme ‘Challenging White Supremacy.’
Fernández received the Logan Elevate grant consisting of $25,000—provides to emerging women filmmakers of color directing feature-length documentary films that explore original, contemporary stories and integrate journalistic practice into the filmmaking process—for Exodus Stories, her feature debut as a director. The film follows the high-stakes journeys of three immigrants fleeing violence.
Hagerman and Villalobos were awarded the Pare Lorentz Documentary Fund for their animated 2D feature documentary project Home Is Somewhere Else. Accessing the American Dream is still not possible for all, much less those who come from immigrant backgrounds; for undocumented youth, their hopes for the future coexist with permanent fear of possible deportation. Marginalized within the country they call “home”, they continue to lack adequate government representation and protections, often as a result of historical injustice and systemic racism. Home Is Somewhere Else is a window inside the hearts and minds of these young Dreamers and the undocumented, amplifying and giving intimate voice to a growing community, still widely unrepresented in American mainstream media.
