The Sundance Institute’s storied artist programs for directors from historically excluded backgrounds just added another major benefit.
Nine narrative filmmakers have been chosen to receive a $25,000 unrestricted grant, courtesy of Sundance and The Walt Disney Studios’ new Project Advancement and Completion Fund, along with access to other Sundance programs such as the digital classroom Sundance Collab and professional development track Sundance Elevate.
“Diverse communities often encounter formidable barriers when striving to break into the industry,” Sundance Institute founding senior director of artist programs Michelle Satter said in a statement. “We are thrilled to join forces with The Walt Disney Studios to champion the essential work of nurturing underrepresented voices. We’re honored to create this pioneering program in support of nine exceptional filmmakers during the inaugural year of this initiative.”
Added Mahin Ibrahim, director of Creative Talent Pathways, representation and inclusion strategies at Disney, “After working with several Sundance filmmakers, we know how important it is for directors to develop their first independent feature films in order to take on larger projects at the studio level. At Disney, we believe in the power of diverse voices and storytelling, and this initiative reaffirms our commitment to empowering underrepresented talent in the industry.”
The nine inaugural grantees are:
Ramzi Bashour, a New York-based Syrian American filmmaker whose project Tomahawk Springs is about a teenage boy on a cross-country road trip with his Lebanese mother.
Dania Bdeir, a Lebanese-Canadian filmmaker whose first feature, Pigeon Wars, was selected for the Sundance Screenwriters Lab.
Caledonia Curry, a contemporary artist whose project, Sibylant Sisters, takes place in the world of ogres, gnomes, toads, paper dolls, witches and magic.
Rashad Frett, a New York-based Caribbean American filmmaker whose project Ricky is about a formerly incarcerated man looking to regain a sense of normalcy in life.
Masami Kawai, a Los Angeles-born descendant of Japan’s Ryukyu Islands whose feature, Valley of Tall Grass, follows a discarded TV/VCR combo set as it passes through the hands of various working-class Indigenous people in an Oregon town.
Walter Thompson-Hernández, a southeast Los Angeles native who is adapting his Sundance Film Festival-winning short If I Go Will They Miss Me, about a 12-year-old boy who sees mysterious people, into a feature.
Sean Wang, a Bay Area-based filmmaker whose project Dìdi (弟弟) is a coming-of-age story set in his Fremont hometown in 2008.
Keisha Rae Witherspoon, a Miami-born filmmaker whose first feature, ABC, is a mystery involving a hurricane, possible extraterrestrial life and an ex-government operative.
Yuan Yuan, an NYU Tisch Grad Film alumna whose project Late Spring is about a Chinese factory worker who comes to New York for her daughter’s college graduation and discovers that the girl is missing.
