Read on for the latest and greatest from our AlumNest community.
Awards & Fellowships
NAACP Image Awards
This awards ceremony honors outstanding performances and contributions by people of color in film, television, music, literature, and podcasts and takes place on February 28.
✦ Contessa Gayles’s Songs from the Hole is nominated for Outstanding Directing in a Documentary (Television or Film) and Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Motion Picture)
Oscar Nominations
The award ceremony takes place on March 15.
✦ Sara Khaki and Mohammedreza Eyni’s Cutting Through Rocks is nominated for Best Documentary Feature ✦ Geeta Gandbhir and Christalyn Hampton’s The Devil Is Busy is nominated for Best Documentary Short Film
Sundance Film Festival Winners
The 2026 festival’s award winners were announced on January 30.
✦ Biljana Tutorov and Petar Glomazić’s To Hold a Mountain won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary
Sundance 2026 Honorees
Sundance’s annual fundraiser, Celebrating Sundance Institute: A Tribute to Founder Robert Redford, features honorees whose work highlights the art of storytelling and creative independence.
✦ Geeta Gandbhir received the annual Vanguard Award Presented by Acura for Nonfiction
FIFDH 2026 Impact Lab
An in-person international training program that supports filmmakers combining storytelling with advocacy, hosted by the Geneva International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights. ✦ Maris Saluments’ War on Women
2026 United States Artists Fellowship
This fellowship supports artists and collaboratives across disciplines with $50,000 in unrestricted funding and access to tailored professional services.
BAFTA nominations
This independent arts charity and institution hosts prestigious annual awards honoring excellence in film, television, and games. The ceremony takes place on February 22.
✦ Petra Costa’s Apocalypse in the Tropics ✦ Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus’ Cover-Up ✦ Geeta Gandbhir’s The Perfect Neighbor
Palestine Film Fund
This fund provides financial and professional support for Palestinian filmmakers worldwide to support their narrative agency. ✦ Yasmine Fedda’s Make Things Grow
Catapult Film Fund Development Grant
This fund supports films in the development stage.
✦ Alejandra Vasquez and Sam Osborn’s Crystal City ✦ Tracy Heather Strain’s Survival Floating ✦ Carla Gutiérrez and Kristofer Ríos’ Young Lords ✦ Anupama Srinivasan and Anirban Dutta’s Metropolis ✦ Marlén Viñayo’s The Hell of the Holy Spirit ✦ Petra Costa’s Untitled Project
Festivals & Screenings
Santa Barbara International Film Festival
The festival’s 41st edition takes place February 4–14.
✦ Volia Chajkouskaya’s Not Made for Politics (US premiere) ✦ Tia Lessin and Carl Deal’s Steal This Story, Please!
Berlinale
The Berlin International Film Festival takes place February 12–22.
✦ Efraín Mojica and Rebecca Zweig’s Jaripeo ✦ Viv Li’s Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest (World Premiere) ✦ Alisa Kovalenko and Marysia Nikitiuk’s Traces (World Premiere) ✦ Maite Alberdi’s Un hijo propio (A Child of My Own) (World Premiere)
Talent Project Market ✦ Alina Simone’s Fear Zone
CPH Forum
CPH:DOX’s flagship financing and co-production event takes place from March 16–19.
✦ Sharon Yeung and Natalie Chao’s We Are Volcanoes ✦ Radu Ciorniciuc’s Director’s Cut ✦ Hansen Lin and Siyi Chen’s Queens Ballroom ✦ Maris Saluments’ War on Women (CPH:ROUGHCUT)
SXSW
The festival’s 40th anniversary takes place March 12–18.
✦ Dano García's Mickey (World Premiere)
Big Sky Film Festival
The 23rd edition takes place February 13–22.
✦ Efraín Mojica and Rebecca Zweig’s Jaripeo ✦ Brittany Shyne’s Seeds ✦ Ainara Vera’s Memento Mori ✦ Hao Zhou’s 如你所願 (Correct Me If I’m Wrong) ✦ Michèle Stephenson’s True North ✦ Tia Lessin and Carl Deal’s Steal This Story, Please! ✦ Vaishali Sinha’s Give It A Shot
True False Film Festival
The 23rd edition takes place March 5–8
✦ Efraín Mojica and Rebecca Zweig’s Jaripeo ✦ Biljana Tutorov and Petar Glomazić’s To Hold a Mountain ✦ Leah Galant’s Landscapes of Memory ✦ Michèle Stephenson’s True North
Streaming
✦ Jasmin Mara López’ Silent Beauty is available on PBS ✦ Sierra Urich’s JOONAM is available to rent and buy on Apple TV, Prime Video, and Grasshopper Watch, streaming on The Criterion Channel, Docunight, and through your local library on Projectr.
Getting the Job Done
✦ Julia Bacha is bringing Zohran Mamdani to the big screen ✦ Siku Alloolloo’s first solo exhibition Singing Water Stone, connected to her supported film INDIGENA, is open at Access Gallery in Vancouver.
Press praise
✦ IndieWire named Jaripeo as one of the 17 best films at Sundance: “Filmmakers Efraín Mojica and Rebecca Zweig reframe the Mexican archetype of masculinity with their beautifully lensed, hybrid documentary.” ✦ Robert Ebert describes Jaripeo as “dreamlike and frank,” in their Sundance dispatch.
