Ten films receive $30,000 each towards completion and impact campaigns. First year the program includes international films.
Chicken & Egg Pictures announced today, via Variety, the newest grantees of Project: Hatched, a program designed to support directors as they develop and launch strategic impact campaigns. Ten films will receive $30,000 each toward their completion funding and impact campaigns. This was the first year that the grant’s criteria were expanded to include international projects and an increase in the number of projects supported, raising total funds disbursed from $240,000 in 2022 to $300,000 in 2023.
Project: Hatched 2023 films showcase the work of courageous filmmakers who have uncovered powerful stories, through artful visual storytelling, and who have a clearly articulated impact plan to reach broad audiences. Chicken & Egg Pictures believes all nonfiction films, from the overtly political to the abstract or personal, hold the power to impact their viewers, their communities and beyond, and to continue conversations around important and timely topics.
“We are seeking filmmakers with a strategic vision for the impact they wish to achieve. However, we also value a willingness to embrace diverse interpretations of what constitutes impact and engagement for each individual filmmaker, and how this work can evolve throughout the life of a film,” said Associate Director of Program Sabine Fayoux Cantillo.
Fayoux Cantillo continued, “All the films supported in this year’s cohort have the potential to create meaningful and specific impact on the lives of the people most affected by the issues being portrayed. Each of them has thought deeply about developing their goals and strategies in collaboration with their film’s core audiences and participants, informed by mutually beneficial opportunities. We are proud to contribute to the larger ecosystem that enables filmmakers to carry this important work forward.”
Please click the film titles for more information on each project, and give these passionate and committed directors a warm welcome to the Nest!
Project: Hatched 2023 grantees
Bad Press (US) co-dirs. Rebecca Landsberry-Baker, Joe Peeler prods. Rebecca Landsberry-Baker, Joe Peeler When the Muscogee Nation censors its free press, a rogue reporter races to expose her government’s corruption in a historic battle with ramifications for all of Indian Country. Sundance U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award: Freedom of Expression
Big Fight in Little Chinatown (CANADA) dir. Karen Cho prods. Bob Moore, Katie McKay Residents, businesses, and community organizers fight to save their Chinatown neighborhoods from erasure in this story of resistance and resilience. Premiered at DOC NYC 2022, Montreal International Documentary Film Festival (RIDM) Women Inmate Jury Award 2022, Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival Honourable Mention Best Canadian Feature Film 2022
Freedom Hill (US) dir. & prod. Resita Cox In North Carolina, residents of Princeville—the first town in America incorporated by formerly enslaved freed Africans—resist the steady erosion of both flooding and environmental racism. Premiered at Full Frame Documentary Festival 2022; acquired by WORLD
From the Shadows #missingirls (INDIA) dir. & prod. Miriam Chandy Menacherry prods. Sheena Matheiken, Aalia Furniturewala, Anand Ramayya, Gary Byung-Seok Kam impact prod. Triparna Banerjee An artist and an activist find glimmers of hope as they seek justice for survivors of India’s rampant child sex trafficking. International premiere as a special International Women’s Day 2023 screening hosted by South Asian House and Film Independent’s Global Media Makers in Austin, acquired by TV2 Denmark and KBS (Korea)
Liquor Store Dreams (US) dir. & prod. So Yun Um prod. Eddie Kim Two Korean American children of liquor store owners in Los Angeles set out to bridge generational divides with their immigrant parents. Premiered at Tribeca Festival 2022, CAAMFest 2023 Honorable Mention for Best Documentary; acquired by POV
Now That We Are Together (MEXICO) dir. & prod. Patricia Balderas Castro co-prod. Claudia Ruiz Capdevielle impact prods. Merle Iliná, Michelle Plascencia After an unexpected encounter with a group of women taking back the streets, a filmmaker begins an intimate-yet-collective journey to understand her own experience with violence. Premiered at Morelia International Film Festival 2022, where it won Best Movie Directed by a Woman and Audience Favorite
PAY OR DIE (AUSTRALIA, CANADA, US) dirs. & prods. Rachael Dyer, Scott Alexander Ruderman prod. Yael Melamede Three families facing life-or-death decisions reveal the harrowing reality of America’s insulin affordability crisis, where 2 million people are being held ransom to pharmaceutical profits. Premiered at SXSW 2023, acquired by MTV Documentary Films, streaming premiere launch on Paramount+
Suddenly TV (US) dir. & prod. Roopa Gogineni At a besieged protest in Khartoum, young revolutionaries create an imaginary television station to confront the violence of the regime and conjure a new Sudan. Premiered at IDFA 2022, SXSW 2023 Documentary Short Competition Special Jury Award, IndieLisboa Short Film Grand Prize
The Mind Game (AFGHANISTAN, CANADA, NETHERLANDS) dirs. Eefje Blankevoort, Els van Driel, Sajid Khan Nasiri prod. Laura Verduijn impact prods. Els van Driel, Eefje Blankevoort, Tina Farifteh, Nienke Huitenga, Lara Aerts, Khadidja Benouataf An Afghan teenager’s first-hand, cell-phone filmed perspective reveals the psychological pressure facing unaccompanied minor refugees. Premiered at Movies that Matter Festival 2023, upcoming broadcast on Dutch public television KRO-NCRV
Twice Colonized (DENMARK)dir. Lin Alluna prods. Emile Hertling Péronard, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, Stacey Aglok MacDonald Renowned Inuit lawyer Aaju Peter, who has led a lifelong fight for the rights of Indigenous people, delves into her own origins to mend the wounds of dislocation, colonization, and loss. Premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2023, Movies that Matter Festival 2023 Camera Justitia Award
