IFP, the nation’s largest membership organization of independent filmmakers, announced today the recipients of its annual IFP Independent Filmmaker Lab Finishing Grants.
The $90,000 package in post-production and artistic services will be split equally between two grantees, one each from the 2009 narrative and documentary Labs: Stranger Things directed by Eleanor Burke and Ron Eyal, and War Don Don directed by Rebecca Richman Cohen. Each will receive a package valued at $45,000, providing the IFP Lab alumni with the creative, technical and legal assistance necessary to complete their films and properly launch them on the festival circuit. Specifically, recipients will receive post-production services from Goldcrest Post New York, post-graphic services from Edgeworx, Inc., legal consultation from Gray Krauss LLP, publicity consultation from International House of Publicity, test screening space courtesy of The Tank, and promotional materials from 4over4.
In Stranger Things, a young woman burdened with the task of clearing out her dead mother’s home discovers a vagrant has broken into the house. Gradually the two overcome their mutual suspicion, and their surprising friendship surmounts the differences between them and offers unexpected hope and strength. The storyline of Stranger Things was influenced by the experiences of the filmmakers, who worked with the homeless at a shelter in London. Directors Burke and Eyal were among filmmakers selected as Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 Faces of Independent Film 2009.
War Don Don tells the story an international war crimes trial in Sierra Leone in which Issa Sesay, a young rebel commander and a key player in the peace process, stands accused of crimes against humanity. The trial’s story – and the country’s reconciliation – is told through Sesay’s passionate defense team. As they race to defend a man accused of heinous crimes, truth and justice remain ever-elusive. The film seeks to illuminate the political, legal, and moral questions behind holding individuals responsible for collective violence. For her work on War Don Don, Cohen previously received the Harvard Law School Cravath fellowship and the Garrett Scott Documentary Development Grant.
A national program launched in 2005, IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Labs connect mentors and projects before they are submitted to festivals. This highly immersive, free mentorship program focuses on low-budget (<$1million), first features that have shot all or a substantial amount of footage but have not yet completed post-production. It is currently the only program in the U.S. created specifically to assist projects in post-production reach completion and to provide the tools necessary for filmmakers to successfully promote, platform and launch their projects into the marketplace. Twenty projects (equally divided between documentaries and narratives) are selected annually for this year-long fellowship.
"The current landscape for low budget feature films is more challenging than ever," says Amy Dotson, Deputy Director of IFP. "Thanks to our generous partners, IFP is thrilled to be able to provide the resources necessary to help bring these projects to completion, and ensure that new voices that might not otherwise be heard reach audiences at festivals – and beyond."
Additional award finalists included narrative projects City on a Hill, directed by Amy Seimetz, and The Tested, directed by Russell Costanzo, and documentary projects Land of Opportunity, directed by Luisa Dantas, and Twelve Ways to Sunday, directed by Anna Farrell.
The jury members for these awards were:
Narrative grant: producer Lisa Cortes (Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire); Warrington Hudlin, filmmaker and founder of DV Republic and Black Filmmakers Foundation; and filmmaker Paola Mendoza (Entre Nos). Documentary grant: filmmakers Almudena Carracedo (Made in LA), Marshall Curry (Racing Dreams; Street Fight), Jeremiah Zagar (In a Dream), and Andrea Meditch, Director, Film and Media Arts Initiative, Michigan State University.
Applications for 2010 IFP Independent Filmmaker Labs are available now http://Labs.ifp.org. The Documentary Lab Deadline for submission is February 12; Narrative Lab Deadline for submission is March 26.
About IFP
After debuting with a program in the 1979 New York Film Festival, the nonprofit IFP has evolved into the nation’s oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers, and also the premier advocate for them. Since its start, IFP has supported the production of 7,000 films and provided resources to more than 20,000 filmmakers – voices that otherwise might not have been heard. IFP believes that independent films enrich the universal language of cinema, seeding the global culture with new ideas, kindling awareness, and fostering activism. The organization has fostered early work by leading filmmakers including Charles Burnett, Edward Burns, Jim Jarmusch, Barbara Kopple, Michael Moore, Mira Nair and Kevin Smith. For information: www.ifp.org.
