AwardsWatch

2019 DOCUMENTARY FILM FUND WINNERS
 
Apolonia, Apolonia
Lea Glob, director; Sidsel Lønvig Siersted, producer; Thor Ochsner, editor – $25,000
Underground rebels meet money and high society in the art scenes of the world—with bohemian Paris, Brussels, Copenhagen, New York, and Los Angeles as backdrops, this coming-of-age story portrays a French-Polish female painter’s personal and artistic development, from the maturing of a talent to the leap into the commercial art scene.
 
Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project
Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, co-directors/producers; Fiona Otway, editor – $25,000
Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project pushes the boundaries of biographical documentary film to reveal the enduring influence of one of America’s greatest living artists and social commentators. Combining parallel cinematic story editing with visually innovative treatments of Nikki Giovanni’s poetry, along with intimate vérité, rich archival footage, and her own captivating contemporary performances, this film recounts the story of the artist and her works of resistance through the tumultuous historical periods in which she lived—from the Civil Rights Movement, to the Black Arts Movement, to present-day Black Lives Matter.
 
Light Darkness Light
Landon Van Soest, director/producer; Paul Trillo, Tom Yellin, and Jo Budzilowicz, producers – $25,000
Ian Nichols, a 76-year-old blind Anglican priest, becomes one of the first people in the world to attempt sight with an implanted bionic eye. Through Ian’s extraordinary odyssey, the film explores timely, provocative questions about perception, memory, faith, technology, and the nature of human reality that have broad implications for us all.
 
Mayor
David Osit, director/producer; Eric Daniel Metzgar, editor – $25,000
Mayor follows a charismatic leader’s quest to build the city of the future in a land paralyzed by its past. 
 
The Neutral Ground
CJ Hunt, director; Darcy McKinnon, producer; Jane Geisler, editor – $25,000
The Neutral Ground is a feature-length documentary about New Orleans’ fight over monuments and America’s centuries-long relationship with the Lost Cause. The film follows writer and comedian CJ Hunt as he documents the struggle to remove and the struggle to preserve New Orleans’ confederate monuments. After witnessing this fight in his adopted city, Hunt then explores how we understand a collective history as a nation with a contentious past. 
 
SFFILM Documentary Film Fund grants are awarded once each year. The exact amounts of individual grants and the total number of grants are determined on an annual basis. As with all SFFILM grants, in addition to the cash awards, recipients will gain access to numerous benefits through SFFILM Makers, the organization’s comprehensive and dynamic artist development program. These benefits, customized to every individual production, can include one-on-one project consultations, creative development, additional fundraising assistance, resource and service recommendations, and networking opportunities, among many others. For more information visit sffilm.org/makers.

SFFILM Makers
SFFILM Makers (formerly "Filmmaker360"), the organization’s artist development program, provides significant financial and creative resources to independent filmmakers through grants, fellowships, residencies, fiscal sponsorship, and more. Since 2009, over $7 million has been disbursed to more than 200 film projects in various stages of production. Highlights include the SFFILM Rainin Grant and the SFFILM Westridge Grant, which together distribute the most nonprofit funding for narrative features in the United States; a joint effort with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to cultivate stories rooted in science and technology; and the Documentary Film Fund, a partnership with the Jenerosity Foundation. For more information, visit sffilm.org/makers.
 
SFFILM
SFFILM is a nonprofit organization with a mission to champion the world's finest films and filmmakers through programs anchored in and inspired by the spirit and values of the San Francisco Bay Area. Presenter of the San Francisco International Film Festival, SFFILM is a year-round organization delivering screenings and events to more than 75,000 film lovers and media education programs to more than 12,000 students and teachers annually. In addition to its public programs, SFFILM supports the careers of independent filmmakers from the Bay Area and beyond with grants, residencies, and other creative development services. For more information visit sffilm.org.
 
This press release is available online at sffilm.org/press
 
###