March 2024 Newsletter

Image description: In this still from Dan Habib and Samuel Habib's MY DISABILITY ROADMAP, Samuel Habib, a smiling young man with light skin and short brown hair in a magenta tuxedo jacket, moves down a beaming spectator-lined path in his wheelchair with his prom date, who has light skin and long dark hair and is wearing a long satiny pink dress.

LEF-supported project, THE RIDE AHEAD (dirs. Dan Habib, Samuel Habib: prods. Dan Habib, Erica Lupinacci), an expansion of their short film “My Disability Roadmap” which follows co-director Samuel as he itches to move out, start a career and find love all while navigating life with a disability, will have its world premiere in the Special Presentations program at HotDocs. The festival will run from April 21–May 5 in Toronto.

Revolutions Per Minute (RPM) Festival, an artist run festival dedicated to short-form poetic, personal, cinematic work in experiments, essay film, animation, documentary, video and audiovisual performance, will run a mini festival from March 14–16. In the program is LEF-supported project, THE APOCALYPTIC IS THE MOTHER OF ALL CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY (dir. Jim Finn), a psychedelic portrait of St. Paul the Apostle, the founding theorist of Christianity, on March 16 at the Harvard CAM Lab, followed by a discussion with the filmmaker. As part of a 30th Anniversary screening of Film Farm works, a short film by prior LEF-grantee Sarah Bliss (UNCOVERED), UNLESS YOU'RE LIVING IT, will screen on Friday, March 15.

Salem Film Fest will run from March 21–24, and features the work of prior LEF-grantee David Abel (ENTANGLED), with INUNDATION DISTRICT, and prior LEF grantee and current Harvard FSC-LEF Fellow Milton Guillén (MY SKIN AND I), with TIERRA DE LECHE.

On March 28 at 6pm, LEF-supported project PLAYLAND (dir. Georden West; prods. Russell Sheaffer, Hannah McSwiggen, Danielle Cooper), a "hybrid film centered around the raucous activity of a time-bending night in Boston’s oldest and most notorious gay bar," will screen at SMFA Tufts in conjunction with two of its ongoing photography exhibitions about the history of queer nightlife in Boston.

A screening at Emerson College on March 29, organized by prior LEF grantee Malic Amalya in collaboration with two Emerson graduate students as part of a year-long 100th birthday celebration of 16mm film, will feature work of AgX members and prior LEF grantees Kathryn Ramey, Sarah Bliss, Michelle Trujillo, Wenhua Shi, Brittany Gravely, as well as past LEF Flaherty Fellow Alison Folland. The screening will be followed by a Q&A. RSVP is required for attendees without Emerson IDs.

From April 5–14, Wicked Queer will be presenting its 40th edition of LGBTQ+ films at a variety of venues in the Boston area. In the program on April 7 at the Coolidge Corner Theatre is DESIRE LINES, a new film from prior LEF grantee Jules Rosskam (PATERNAL RITES).

Chicken & Egg Pictures announced the recipients of its ten $40,000 Egg(celerator) Lab grants, one of which is LEF-supported project NINE (dirs./prods. Rachael DeCruz, Jeremy S. Levine), which documents the relationship between two men that forms in prison and spans generations, decades, and a long struggle for justice.

This year's Big Sky Pitch, an opportunity for film teams to "pitch" their works-in-progress, took place on February 23, and included LEF-supported project UNLESS SOMETHING GOES TERRIBLY WRONG (dirs. Kaitlyn Schwalje, Alex Wolf Lewis; prods. Justin Levy, Rebecca Stern), about a wastewater treatment facility in Portland, Maine, and COMMERCE CITY, a project directed by prior LEF grantee Raúl Paz-Pastrana (BACKSIDE).

Last month's Berlinale included ON THE BATTLEFIELD, a short from the prior LEF grantees of the Little Egypt Collective, Lisa Marie Malloy, JP Sniadecki, Ray Whitaker, and Karin Chien (UNTITLED CAIRO, IL PROJECT).

LEF-supported project THE PHILADELPHIA ELEVEN (dir. Margo Guernsey and Nikki Bramley), about a group of women organizing their own ordination to the Episcopal church in 1974, has screenings scheduled across the country through May and beyond.

Image Description: The Flaherty logo, "69", and text reading "Seminar registration is OPEN" and "Fellowship registration is OPEN" appear on blue, green, white, and yellow tiles.

LEF New England Flaherty Fellowship

LEF will support two New England-area documentary filmmakers to attend the 69th Flaherty Film Seminar, To Commune, in Salaya, Thailand, from June 27–July 2, 2024.

If you have received a Flaherty Fellowship to attend the Seminar in the past, or if you are enrolled in an undergraduate or master’s degree program at the time of application, you are not eligible to apply for the LEF New England Fellowship.

The Flaherty will select two LEF New England Fellows. A travel stipend of $1,750 US dollars is included.  



Image Description: Points North Institute Logo

LEF/CIFF Fellowship

The LEF/CIFF Fellowship creates a cohort of five New England-based filmmaker teams for a week of mentorship, peer-to-peer professional development, and workshops designed to strengthen their feature documentary projects. In-person and virtual 1:1 meetings connect these filmmakers with industry decision makers, building filmmaker’s networks in the global non-fiction ecosystem.

The fellowship workshops will take place in conjunction with the Camden International Film Festival, September 12–15, 2024.

The fellowship is open to projects in production or post-production with New England-based directors. Prior LEF/CIFF Fellows are not eligible to participate in the program again with the same project. However, prior LEF/CIFF Fellows may apply with a new project.



Image Description: The People of Color Documentary Ecosystem report cover, featuring an orange, pink, blue, and white line drawing of an engine system connected to a film reel on a dark blue-green background.

The People of Color Documentary Ecosystem: Engines for a New American Narrative report is the culmination of two years of research, case studies and analysis chronicling the accomplishment, challenges, and growth of Color Congress members into a powerful ecosystem. It introduces a range of powerful filmmaker and audience-serving organizations that are changing the film industry. Members collectively identified sector interventions, along with recommendations for how philanthropic partners can fund, support, and protect this growing ecosystem, all of which are contained in the report. Color Congress invites their partners, colleagues and anyone interested in strengthening the ecosystem of filmmakers of color to read and share the report.

Image Description: Undocumented Filmmakers Collective logo.

We appreciated reading the thorough, impressive, and enlivening year-in-review from the Undocumented Filmmakers Collective, sent out last month. Initiated in 2018, the UFC states its goal to be: "a filmmaking landscape where undocumented people have the autonomy to tell our own stories for ourselves by having access to sustainable careers, pipelines, and resources to thrive as artists and storytellers." We encourage any undocumented film workers in New England to consider joining the ranks of the UFC's nationwide membership, and we urge regional allies, in turn, to consider how they might uplift and learn from the work of the Collective. Places to start are the Undocumented Filmmakers Collective website, as well as a useful guide released last year by Define America, Creativity is Boundless: An Inclusive Guide. The guide outlines recommendations and practical next steps for making artist support opportunities more inclusive and accessible to all, with a focus on supporting immigrant, migrant, and undocumented artists with fellowships, grants, and residencies.

Image Description: An orange graphic with the blue Distribution Advocates logo and white text that reads: "Distribution Advocates presents."

The new Distribution Advocates podcast has released all six of its current episodes, including its most recent one about distribution itself. Hosted by Avril Speaks and featuring a number of industry guests, episodes cover topics like sales agents and exhibition. You can listen to the podcast on Substack and many podcast platforms.

Thanks for reading,

The LEF New England team

Lyda, Gen, & Matthew

LEF Foundation

PO Box 382066

Cambridge, MA 02238

617.492.5333

lef-foundation.org

A private family foundation dedicated to the support of contemporary arts, LEF was established in 1985 with offices in Massachusetts and California. The Moving Image Fund was launched in 2001 through the LEF office in Cambridge, MA to support independent film and video artists. Since its inception, the Moving Image Fund has awarded over 450 grants to New England-based independent filmmakers with over $5 million in funding. The goal of LEF New England is to fund the work of independent documentary film and video artists in the region and to broaden recognition and support for their work locally and nationally. It also supports programs that highlight the rich history and ongoing legacy of innovation within New England's independent film community. The overarching goal of LEF New England's philanthropic investment is to help build a sustainable and strong community of support for artists and their work.